If you think you don't need gear insurance, think again.

[Calson]

A thief is going to places where tourists will leave their vehicles unattended. I had the cab of my pickup broken into and fortunately it was near my house as the window needed to be replaced by a dealer. The sheriff deputy told me that the parking area at the beach was frequented by thieves who would look for women who left their purses behind in the vehicle and so a good prize with its credit cards.

With my trucks and the lock box a thief is going to need to break a window in the cab and then break the locks of the camper shell and then remove 4 turnbuckles and then remove the strong box and put it inside a truck or van to carry off and do so undetected. Very few if any thieves are going to do that when the lock box may be empty.

I am more focused on the loss of the use of stolen gear that may take months to replace everything and in the meantime it is not available for me to use. On a trip that may have cost be $10,000 the loss of my cameras would render that investment worthless.

 

[RecalcitrantRon]

A good cautionary tale, but one that I won't follow. If I were to lose the majority of my equipment I'd be temporarily upset, but ultimately would view it as an opportunity to upgrade. That might be one of the few things that would get me to transition to mirrorless.

But would you feel that way if you had just upgraded everything to mirrorless the month before?

 

[Calson]

What if your gear was stolen a few weeks before heading out on a trip or in the middle of a trip? It costs my wife and I roughly $1000 a day in total on our trips and that is our potential loss if our gear is stolen.

 

[Whiskeyman]

But would you feel that way if you had just upgraded everything to mirrorless the month before?

Good point! But' I'd be ticked either way. Earlier today, I had a manager at a local store tell me a lie, and I'm ticked off about that!

No, it wasn't a camera store. Good thing, though.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

Same here with Liberty Mutual. It cost me a little over a $100/yr. for $17,000 coverage

@ButlerKid posted the link. Everyone with their photography gear on their homeowners let me ask you. Did you see the fires in LA? Of course you did. We just got our renewal in AZ for next year. 21% increase. No claims.

Excuse the pun, you are playing with fire to have your camera gear on your homeowners. The HO insurance market will continue to change rapidly. Many in LA lost their coverage just months before the fire. We have seen many pull out of AZ. This will impact the entire market. Florida is a mess for sure with HO insurance.


Why risk a claim on your HO? Not worth it. I documented many of the choices by editing the first post. I still believe joining NANPA and getting the Chubb policy is best for HO's.


Photography Equipment Insurance Options (retitled discussion)

 

[Archibald]

I'm self-insured. That means I accept the risk of loss, pay no premium, and will finance gear replacement out of my own account if necessary. I have the means to do so without problem. In the long run, this policy saves me money, and time too.

 

[harshilsharma63]

Here in India and there is no photography gear insurance. Best you can do is if you are a home owner, to include the camera gear into your "list of items" that are included in home coverage. But no option for those living on rent.

 

[GG1]

For those of you who follow Scott of Wild Alaska on YouTube he just had $30k worth of gear stolen out of his locked truck which was in his locked garage. Fortunately, he has insurance. But let this serve as a cautionary tale (says the guy who still has no insurance).

I have used my insurance twice for damage repair. I only have about $11,000 worth of stuff but it's well worth it. I don't think my wife would let me go out with out it.

 

[glsmith9823]

All of my gear is listed on a rider with my Home Owners plan. I had to use it one time, when kayak flipped & camera/lens ended in water. Only thing they asked for was to go on Google Maps and get an approximate location of where incident occurred.

 

[LynnO]

If not a professional, can get coverage through your home owners, but need to check to see what it actually covers. I'm with USAA which does cover international travel (nonprofessional), loss/theft, damage, etc., without deductible. Like always, make sure you have receipts of the purchase price. Luckily, have not had to use it yet.

Check the payout on USAA. They only pay replacement for a couple years, then it's discounted heavily.

 

[mmontuoro]

For those of you, non-professional photographers, who don't use your homeowners insurance can you suggest some insurance companies that cover camera equipment that won't break the bank. Thanks

 

[Jojo]

@ButlerKid posted the link. Everyone with their photography gear on their homeowners let me ask you. Did you see the fires in LA? Of course you did. We just got our renewal in AZ for next year. 21% increase. No claims.

Excuse the pun, you are playing with fire to have your camera gear on your homeowners. The HO insurance market will continue to change rapidly. Many in LA lost their coverage just months before the fire. We have seen many pull out of AZ. This will impact the entire market. Florida is a mess for sure with HO insurance.


Why risk a claim on your HO? Not worth it. I documented many of the choices by editing the first post. I still believe joining NANPA and getting the Chubb policy is best for HO's.


Photography Equipment Insurance Options (retitled discussion)

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I live in St. Pete, FL which had the unfortunate luck of getting hit by two hurricanes a couple of weeks apart. I would never use my homeowners policy to make a claim on camera gear as it would drastically increase my rates or I might even get dropped from coverage. The ripple effect of these very expensive natural and man-made disasters will be felt across US in the forms of policy increases. Eventually parts of the country may become uninsurable - I could see this happening in FL.

 

[Capmike]

Have a rider on my homeowners, Farmers. $25,000 worth of gear, premium $250. Dropped my Z8 with a 24-200 attached. Lens destroyed, camera fine. Homeowners sent me a check in 2 days for the purchase price, which was the same price when I replaced it. $800. Small price to pay.

 

[tegel]

I used to have a rider on my home owners policy (State Farm). When it came up for renewal I decided to instead join the PPA which was about the same cost and includes coverage up to $15k with $350 deductible. SF required me to provide a detailed equipment list with receipts, serial numbers and replacement costs, which had to be updated whenever you bought/sold gear. You do not need to provide this to PPA. They also provide coverage up to $100k, for an additional fee if needed. I haven’t had to file a claim, so I can’t comment on how that works. Hopefully, I won’t need to, but in the meantime, I can enjoy the other benefits of the PPA (video, webinars, etc…).

 

[macwalter]

I’m very paranoid about my gear both musical and photography gear. I like some carry my camera into the restaurant with me although I will hide my binocs. Also I have disabled the trunk release in my car (a Corolla ) so in a pinch I can put it there. I only do this on occasion but if someone is going to break into my car they would most likely go into the cabin not the trunk and it does make it harder. Not to say they couldn’t jimmy it open. I also try to stop in well secure areas and only in the daytime. Also if I know I am carrying valuable gear I will try to avoid stops.However Peeing is a constant problem in my later years. I don’t hesitate to stop and pee as needed And in areas with lots of homeless people bathrooms are usually locked and by the time I get the key etc. I’m peeing in my pants. A major pain in the ass.

 

[ahawkins]

I bought insurance, State Farm Personal Articles for my camera gear just before going to the solar eclipse in April 2024. I was traveling with five bodies, 8+ lenses, teleconverters, plus the tripods and mounts and I knew that my homeowners nor my auto insurance was gonna cover anything that happened on that trip.

I paid ~$15 / $1000 of insured gear. I insured the rest of the gear that stayed home, which was not much. Like others have mentioned you have to have a receipt and a serial number. I sold a few things after the Eclipse and simply removed them from the list and got a small refund for the remaining time/vaule.

I’m coming up on the anniversary of that insurance policy and now reconsidering. So, thanks to the OP for posing this question. Because the State Farm cost if about 2.5x what I saw in the posts above

My Homeowners or Auto will cover if items are stolen from the home or the car. But if I drop a lens or we capsize the kayak or…
Options I’m considering are
1) Insure everything again
2) insure the gear that I use the most camping, canoeing, hiking, etc with and
3) Insure nothing and pay out of pocket if something bad happens.

Right now I’m leaning towards #2. That gear has the highest risk of bad things happening.

 

[SilverSurfer]

I’m very paranoid about my gear both musical and photography gear. I like some carry my camera into the restaurant with me although I will hide my binocs. Also I have disabled the trunk release in my car (a Corolla ) so in a pinch I can put it there. I only do this on occasion but if someone is going to break into my car they would most likely go into the cabin not the trunk and it does make it harder. Not to say they couldn’t jimmy it open. I also try to stop in well secure areas and only in the daytime. Also if I know I am carrying valuable gear I will try to avoid stops.However Peeing is a constant problem in my later years. I don’t hesitate to stop and pee as needed And in areas with lots of homeless people bathrooms are usually locked and by the time I get the key etc. I’m peeing in my pants. A major pain in the ass.

Now you're bringing up another form of "insurance". Having been on diuretics myself, I understand your pain.

While I recognize everyone's sense of decorum is different, I normally mitigate that type of emergency risk with window covers for every window (not usually necessary) and a plastic urinal or wide mouthed bottle like a Gatorade bottle.

 

[BWP]

I have an article policy thru State Farm for all my gear but even having insurance, I never ever leave sight of my vehicle for one second when I have gear in the truck. I won’t even walk in a gas station if I’m able to see my truck. I have seen so many items stolen from cars over the years and one instance was with the driver standing beside the car lol.

I was in Costa Rica a few years ago with a ton of photography gear, and it never left my line of sight except when I was in a remote biological research station in the jungle (no thieves hiding under the bushes). Several people who I was with on that trip had their stuff stolen, and from all accounts this is very common in all countries, not just poorer ones.

Photography gear is just too attractive to thieves, and I would never leave my gear unattended in a vehicle. It's asking for trouble. I feel bad for Scott as it's a tough lesson to learn.

 

[mathjak107]

i would never ever use my home policy …

if you ever need to shop for insurance there is a data base called CLUE

Clue is the reporting agency for insurance.

every claim not reimbursed to your insurance company regardless of fault dings your insurance score.

insurers use that data to quote you.

fault is irrelevant when it comes to claims paid out and any dings can hurt you badly .they can either not get you accepted or you will get quotes in the stratosphere compared to what you were paying

you can get one free copy a year . you need to run home and auto separate.

make sure it’s correct as far as what it shows.

i use PPA membership for my insurance

 

[vbnut]

I have a Scheduled Personal Property rider on my AAA homeowner's policy with about $30K of photography gear listed. I discovered a minor problem the last time I needed to add more gear to the list. You can only list 25 items, so I had to remove a couple of the least expensive items. When I purchase an R1 or R5II (still deciding which one) in the next few months, I'll have to remove my Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip to add the new camera. Fortunately, I've never had to file a claim, for either loss or damage. I have wondered whether I could get better insurance elsewhere without paying substantially more, and more recently I've been considering self-insuring like @Archibald.

 

[mathjak107]

for 28 a month i joined ppa and have 15k coverage . i can increase it but rarely is more than 15k at risk

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

For those here who have mentioned PPA, feel free to read what I wrote in my post in the other thread, call them and clarify. I found their responses uncertain at the time and they did not match expectations or what some had mentioned in that thread. I would love clarification if any PPA members wish to see what they say.

 

[ButlerKid]

Check the payout on USAA. They only pay replacement for a couple years, then it's discounted heavily.

You might check out Armed Forces Insurance. We have a scheduled policy covering jewelry and gear. We specify the amount we want to insure for each item. That is what they pay out regardless of age of the item.

 

[Edward Cusick]

If not a professional, can get coverage through your home owners, but need to check to see what it actually covers. I'm with USAA which does cover international travel (nonprofessional), loss/theft, damage, etc., without deductible. Like always, make sure you have receipts of the purchase price. Luckily, have not had to use it yet.

Have the same, USAA. Have been happy with what they offer in regards to insurance for non-professionals.

 

[Maljo]

Nikon serial numbers should make reselling the gear difficult.