Official Insurance Thread

Eric is right if you add it to your existing policy but sometimes a little insanity is good for the soul. I can only speak for State Farm, but one option is to have your agent write a seperate personal article policy, sometimes called an "all perils" policy to cover your gear. About $26K in coverage currently cost $260US a year, no deductible. If you have a claim it does not effect your homeowners and there is no surcharge (upper) on the personal articles policy. (According to my agent) They can choose not to renew you if your gear keeps falling off the boat but it wouldn't effect your homeowners. It would be separate insurance as Eric suggests.

It's worth a phone call to your agent to get a quote and to ask the questions that Eric rightly raises. I'm guessing that coverage costs varies depending on your area, length with the company, phase of the moon, etc.

Disclaimer; I'm not an isurance guru and no one in their right mind should ever consider taking legal advise from me.

Cheers,

Steve

Steve, that's exactly what I had - the State Farm supplemental insurance that you can get if you have home owners with them. After much back and forth Iwas told no way. So I'm shopping around. As I said to my agent I find it hard to believe that no one else with State Farm has the same type of items insured through them as an amateur photographer...seems like you're another one. Don't be suprised if they start to question you sometime in the future. I'm looking at the DAN insurance but it's almost 3X more expensive than State Farm.

Thanks

rinjani

As I said to my agent I find it hard to believe that no one else with State Farm has the same type of items insured through them as an amateur photographer...seems like you're another one. Don't be suprised if they start to question you sometime in the future.

 

rinjani

Sorry partner, I'm confused by your statement. What kind of questions should we expect?

Steve

I have "any perils" insurance with State Farm and my D2Xs flooded last Monday in Yap. Salt water and my body battery made a bubbling brown mess.

Have just reported it and will see how it goes, my fingers are crossed.

Elmer

Salt water and my body battery made a bubbling brown mess.

Sorry to hear that Elmer. Do you know what caused the leak? While painful, it might help one of us avoid the same thing happening. Good luck with the insurance claim. Let us know how it goes.

Condolences,

Steve

Not really sure if the the port o-ring got pinched somehow or the port got twisted when the rig was handed to me. The housing flooded immediately upon entering the water and it was a catastrophic flood. The leak detector went off and I handed the rig back to the boat driver. The housing was half filled with sea water and bubbling from the battery acid. I have over 400 dives on this setup and I am really dumbfounded by this flood. But I had just flown from Palau leaving at 0100h that morning and was tried, so perhaps I was inattentive.

Elmer

Sorry partner, I'm confused by your statement. What kind of questions should we expect?

 

Steve

They told me that they couldn't possibly insure me because of the nature of my photography, including the use of underwater housings (plus, I could possibly make money from the resulting photos !?!). I just meant they may question your use of UW housings at some point and say it's not something they can cover.

Rinjani

They told me that they couldn't possibly insure me because of the nature of my photography, including the use of underwater housings (plus, I could possibly make money from the resulting photos !?!). I just meant they may question your use of UW housings at some point and say it's not something they can cover.

 

Rinjani

I'd find a different agent partner. Mine didn't even blink at the underwater concern. If you're selling images, that's a different story and they may have an issue. It could also be a location thing. I'm guessing Insurance agents in Arizona don't get many requests for underwater coverage. I'd still give another agent a call.

Steve

When I purchased the policy my agent specifically asked if I did professional photography since the "any peril" policy does not cover professional photographers. By definition if one sells a photo one is considered a professional photographer and needs to declare the income for taxes.

Elmer

Anyone had a claim with DEPP lately? If so, how was your experience? How long did you wait to get a reply?

I have a claim with them and are starting to get really worried! How long is it reasonable to wait? I made a claim on 10/19, go a reply on 10/21 from DEPP and a confirmation that claim had been made from AWRY on 10/28. Now 31 days later, I still don't have a go-ahead to have the equipment repaired, and it just sits there at Canon, presumably corroding away. I had an email from DEPP saying it could take "up to 30 days" to get a reply, but its now been over 30 days? Subsequent phonecalls and messages asking for information have not been replied to.

Am I being impatient? How long is it reasonable to wait for an answer? What to do?

The "any peril" insurance covered my flood. State Farm covered the loss of my Nikon D2Xs and repair of my Subal ND2 housing. If I had an inflation cost rider they would have covered a D3s replacement since the D2Xs is no longer made. The policy covers replacement if the item is not repairable, so they covered the rebuild with replacement of the electrical parts of the housing. I am pleased with State Farm's coverage and they were professional in the treatment of my claim.

In retrospect I am sure the flood was operator error, assembling my rig with only a few hours of sleep was the culprit.

I've picked up another D2Xs body to use until uncle Nikon comes out with a D700 or D3X replacement, then it will be time to help our economy.

Elmer

Something I have come to learn:

When choosing insurance options, in addition to plan cost and deductibles, one must also consider the cost of responsiveness and resolution time. Being without your gear for months might necessitate renting equipment, buying new equipment, event and trip cancellations, maybe even loss of gigs.

Insurance is supposed to be about buying peace of mind, not supposed to add stress and worry into your life.

When a housing floods, does it do that much damage to the inside of the housing. I would expect to have to change the bulkheads and the wiring for the leak detector, but would everythibng else not be ok once it had had a good soaking in fresh water. Obviously the camera and lens will be kinda Kaput, but would they not be insured on your home contents insurance. You dont have to tell the insurance that it was in a housing that flooded. Just tell them that you were taking some beach pano shots and your tripod collapsed and it fell forwards into the sea. I know this isn't very honest, but come on insurance companies make a killing from us all and it isnt as if we are being that devious. After all we are paying a premium for the body and lenses.

I have my gear insured for anywhere in the world for theft, ACCEPT, and this is a nasty one, ACCEPT when it is not in my possession, so if it is checked into checked baggage and it gets stolen, then I am not able to claim from my insurer. This is the same with most policies and unless you ask specifically or magnify those "small print" T's and C's you will just assume that it is insured when you check it at the airport. If I am unlucky enough to drown my rig then I will just use the tripod collapsing event on my claim form. I will try and clean the housing as much as possible on surfacing and expect to replace the wiring.

Try and claim from your chosen airline, and they will tell you it isn't their fault and that you need to speak to the baggage handling company, who will then direct you back to the airline. Then you will get a set of T's and C's from both the airline and the baggage handling company and then you will find out that they have a maximum cost for each specific item. Oh and usually electronic goods are not insured and that you are supposed to carry them on with you. Even though they do not give passengers enough hand luggage allowance.

Insurance is a great thing until you come to claim that is.

Stew

Insurance is a great thing until you come to claim that is.

Stew, you are so right! I am wondering why I even bother with insurance of belongings anymore. I don't think I want to live through another claim where I am without gear for close to two months, cancelling trips and gigs, worrying and dealing with non-responsive insurance company, while gear is sitting at the repairshop untouched corroding away because nothing can be done until sloth-paced insurers have exasperated every bureucratic possibility of finding an excuse not to pay or wearing you out, making you wait... and wait.... and wait... They sell you on "peace of mind", but when push come to shove, nothing works as smoothly as you are made to believe when your credit card is being charged (that bit you don't have to wait for, it happens automatically and not one day late).

Stew, you are so right! I am wondering why I even bother with insurance of belongings anymore. I don't think I want to live through another claim where I am without gear for close to two months, cancelling trips and gigs, worrying and dealing with non-responsive insurance company, while gear is sitting at the repairshop untouched corroding away because nothing can be done until sloth-paced insurers have exasperated every bureucratic possibility of finding an excuse not to pay or wearing you out, making you wait... and wait.... and wait... They sell you on "peace of mind", but when push come to shove, nothing works as smoothly as you are made to believe when your credit card is being charged (that bit you don't have to wait for, it happens automatically and not one day late).

That's why you buy trip cancellation insurance. Yes the process is slow but it beats trying to buy a whole new set of gear without any compensation. I drowned my Camera in a dunk test and they took 3 mths to pay. I could afford to buy new gear while they deliberated but when the money finally came, I'd already had my replacement.

H20insurance from DAN (US/CAN only) covers quite a few things. My homeowner insurance + travel insurance covers my stuff to a point but I now buy specific insurance for equipment. DEPP replaces gear at their cost, while H2O and other insurance pay cash, which is nice if the camera is no longer manufactured.

If it costs about 2-3% a year of the value of the equipment to insure them, I think it's worthwhile... especially for those who travel a lot.

Trip cancellation insurance doesn't really work for me since for 99% of my diving happens in my backyard. DAN unfortunately doesn't insure in the Virgin Islands and DEPP, whom I have insured with since 2004, is slower than molasses. I am thinking I will start a little insurance fund of my own, because having your gear sit at the repair-shop for over a month while waiting for someone at DEPP to answer your phone calls or emails just doesn't work for me anymore.

My cup runeth over. I have now sought advice from the department of insurance.

This is off of the Virgin Atlantic website.

It is important however that you pack valuable or fragile items such as jewellery, keys, money/credit cards, cameras, laptops and other personal electrical items in your cabin baggage allowance and keep it with you at all times. If you decide to pack them in your checked in baggage you should have them adequately insured as our liability for damage to these items is strictly limited.

Stew

My insurance company has now started to communicate again with a new person handling teh communication, so for now I will not say anything but give them a chance to to their thing and see how they handle it. I miss my gear tho and hope it will all be back really soon.

H20insurance from DAN (US/CAN only) covers quite a few things.

Canada is not covered; I wish that it was.

Cheers,

Marli