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G'day

I would like some advise on camera insurance please.

At the moment I am sort of supposing that my home contents insurance will cover me if the unthinkable happens. Now if I get broken into, that will probably be covered. If I am out and about and get mugged, or more likely forgetful and put a camera down and forget it - then I doubt my insurance would cover it.

So, what do you guys do about insurance?

What sort of cost would be typical for a comprehensive loss/theft type of policy? I have a D70S Kit 18-700mm, Sigma 70-300mm, F1.8D 50mm, an old SB26 flash, couple of cheapie tripods but of course I am *dreaming* of more gear esp a SB600 and maybe a second spare body (film).

Bob in Bull Creek

Bob,

I was thinking of the same as you a few months back and rang up my contents insurer (CGU) and was told that not only my gear is covered against break-in and stealing, it is also covered against accidental breakage including while travelling interstate and o/s. Pays to check with your current insurer, you may be already covered for most things you need.

Alex

Insurance - I've extended my home contents insurance under "specified portable valuables" to cover my gear. It's covered for theft and other damage anywhere, but I don't think it includes at fault if I destroy it (have to check).

I think it worked out to be around $10 extra per $1000 of coverage.

You might need to supply the serial number, description and the replacement value.

Add to your Home Contents policy with specified items and increase the sum insured.

As Birdy says.

You are better to add the items specifically to your contents insurance as your normal insurance may not cover the amount of replacement. (Remember to add them with serial numbers and take photos of all your items.)

This will have the effect of increasing your annual insurance cost (significantly), but you will have to decide whether that increase is worth it to you.

A few hundred dollars extra per year is worth the peace of mind in my opinion, but that's MY opinon.

I had all my gear stolen a few years back from my daughters flat in Melbourne. Luckily I had a list of every item & serial numbers and I keep receipts for EVERYTHING. We put in a claim for almost $7000 of gear to the previously mentioned company and then the fun started. First the loss asssessor took nearly 2 months to complete his report which recommended settling up. Then because I had all the receipts they decided the robbery was probably a set up and so put a PI on it.

A further 3 months went past and after dozens of phone calls we finally got agreement to settle 2 days before Xmas. We had to go to a specific store in Melbourne and had to use all the money in one sssion (according to the store) or forfeit anything not spent, we couldn't do it in 2 sessions. I had to fly to Melbourne so as to choose everything with my daughter or lose the balance not spent.

The insurance company denied that spending everthing at once was their policy as the camera shop claimed. There were several other side issues around this to do with mobile phones and laptops but too much to recount here.

Yes, you may be covered under your general household contents policy but be careful, the delays in settling are horrendous.

If anyone wants info re some of the shonky things that happen when making a claim then PM me & I'll share more of the sordid details to be aware of.

curly,
Great contribution to this thread.

Bob

I'd also suggest doing a search of the forum since there's lots of useful info here. eg I searched on CAMERA AND INSURANCE and found this and this and this all of which address the topic pretty well

Very interesting Curly, I want have a chat with you about that one day. Appreciate your feedback and information.

Paul

G'day Curly

I had a similar experience with an insurance clain in Melbourne in about '96 after a burglary where my CD collection was stolen.

After being investigated by an insurance assessor who told me he got paid as a percentage of the money he saved the company - he eventually recommended they pay up. Well, I was given a note telling me to go to Brashes in the city and buy 3,000 cds !!

I went in with my wife and we searched every shelf and cupboard and rack in the store and found about 250 that we wanted or could tolerate. I guess I'm just not a top 20 kind of listener, never have been, never will be.

Anyway, we further *discussed* the matter with them. Eventually after a year we were allowed to go to 5 different retailers and replace what we could. Because I had a library / listing on my computer I was only allowed to buy discs that were on it !!

Bob in Bull Creek

Bob, I have hundreds of CDs and DVDs. I present my insurance company with a list at renewal time every year for the very reason you touch on. (FWIW I use programs from http://www.collectorz.com which are reasonably priced and easy to use)

I wonder if you can claim bit torrent music/DVD files if your PC was stolen?

I have upped my content insurance and have all my gear under the "specified portable valuables" so i am covered where ever i go etc...
I had to up the house contents to th extent where they would cover all the gear as it would only cover so much, then i had trouble with them when i got the D2x and have to prove ownership and was a bit of a hassle but got it sorted.

Not sure ring and ask.
I know i used to be with CGU, but changed to SGIC as CGU could not get near the quote i got from them who i was with for many years, pay to check on others now and then.

OK, so adding to home contents policy is one option... and as we've read, there are pitfalls when it comes to claim time.

Addressing the OP's question, are there any other methods? eg. Nikonians specific photography equipment insurance.

Not sure Chi, but i forgot to mention i supplied a full list of gear with serial numbers with mine.

Onyx wrote:Addressing the OP's question, are there any other methods? eg. Nikonians specific photography equipment insurance.

There is Chi - it's covered in one of the other posts I saw when I searched on insurance, but I'm too lazy to look for it now. I think Vince (shutterbug) may be the one who mentioned it. It's a company specialising in professional camera insurance.

Having gone through a break in last year where we lost many thousands of dollars of items, my advice is:

- Get it listed as special cover items on your insurance. I have mine listed because the $$$ amount alone is higher than the limits in insurance policy provisions (you will find they max out at about $2000 in camera equipment by default), but also for australia-wide coverage.
- List it for the full, replacement value here in Oz. I use the RRP off Canon's website. Do not insure it for the price you got it through Birddy or some HK supplier (or even haggling at a camera shop) because insurers will only give you what you can get a quote for, and no retailers will discount for insurance replacements (and you can't get insurance quotes from HK suppliers!).

We found out the hard way on both counts when we got robbed (we had more than the limits on some items, and then got screwed come replacement time as we always haggle on our purchases). It was due to a difference of opinion when reading the policy, I now err on the side of caution and get advice when reading insurance policies ...

I concur with Dion. Mine is all insured for full replacement at Maxwell's inflated RRPs and it's separately itemised and covered for anywhere including outside the home (like if it gets stolen from my car for example). Cost a bit extra, but what price peace of mind.