Warranty and Insurance Information

First, my heartfelt thanks to all of you who advised me on cameras and housings, and helped me make a decision (finally!) Varied input from a variety of sources convinces me that I made a good choice...now time to protect my investment...

OK, got the Nikon D70, and the Aquatica housing is on the way, so here's the next question...the Nikon comes with a years manufacturers warranty...B & H Camera offers the "Mack" warranty,( I can buy it up to 30 days after the purchase of the camera...) a three year extended warranty plan which they refer to as an "International Warranty"...it's about 90 dollars...is it woth its salt? I have heard from some consumer advocates, Clark Howard to be specific, that in general, extended warranties (the non manufacturer sort ) are a way to get a little more $$ out of you, and they are relatively innefective when it comes to practical application...are the nature of problems that happen to UW photography equipment the sort that would be covered by ANY warranty ?Do any of you have experience with needing to resolve a warranty issue using an extended warranty? Next, now that you have all this expensive gear, beyond your homeowners policy what nature of insurance do you use, what covers you at home and abroad...theft?...flooded housings?...etc. D.A.N. has a program of some sort, does anyone have experience with their equipment insurance, and how much does this type of insurance cost..what should I look for, and what should I avoid....I look forward to input from the community, thanks, -Kyle

The convensional wisdon is to skip the extended warranty offers. If electronics are going to fail, they are going to fail early in their life (e.g. within a year, probably sooner). I have all of my camera gear and other portable electronics on a rider as part of our homeowners insurance. This is a much better investment for me since it covers everything from breakage to theft (And in a few cases stupidity when I flooded my camera). The rider covers up to the documentable value placed on the item (e.g. the price you paid for it, or if purchased used the new price). I have to up date these values every year.

Cheers,

Allen

I agree with Allen. Skip the extended warranty and get a rider or apersonal article policy with an insurer that covers ANYTHING that will happen to your equipment while in your country or abroad. I have one with State Farm, and it actually paid off when I got my bags stolen from an hotel (can you believe that!!!) in La Ceiba, Honduras. I got back home and showed them a letter from the hotel stating how the incident had happened, and they gave me the money to replace my equipment right away, no questions asked.

Hope this helps,

David.

Most Credit Card companies will extend the manufacturer's warranty, matching the warranty of the things you purchase with that Credit Card. I think it's up to 3 years.

The focus accuracy had started to drop off a bit on my 10D. I'd purchased it about a year and a half ago. It cost $185 to fix. My CC company is picking up the tab.

I would advise you to call your credit card company and ask what their policy is on this. If they don't extend the warranty, I'd use a different credit card to by all your gear.

I typically buy extended warranties when they are not expensive when comparted to the product. For example, I will buy a $40 7-year Mack warranty for a $1500 lens. (or whatever)

I also use American Express for purchases, which doubles warranties up to 5 years long (10 years).

The right way to do it is to get proper insurance. Please check the insurance thread, here:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4305

I am currently working through the claim process for my gear stolen in April enroute from Bonaire to Austin. I have a Personal Floater Policy attached to Renter's Insurance through USAA. It appears that I am not going to be disappointed by any unexpected depreciation tricks and all items on the floater are being compensated for at the purchase price which a year later is higher than the price of most of the gear. Excellent coverage and customer service. I have been pleased thus far. Bottom line is that I recommend the use of the homeowner's policy with a writer or floater attached as being an excellent way to cover your gear in event it is stolen or destoryed. Now, I don't know if this covers a flood. Others may be able to comment.

cmm1970,

I asked my insurance agent at the time of purchase of the policy about flooding, and she said it that yes it would cover it, as well as any type of accident like falling from your hands, etc. Of course I have not flooded my equipment yet, so I have no "real" experience on if they will pay, but I checked and it is writtent in the policy that any accident will be covered.

Mine is called a personal article policy, but it seems to be the same as what other companies call a floater or rider policy. The beauty of this policies is that they pay the full purchase price with no depreciation, and NO deductible!! And for insuring all my UW camera equipment (D70, ikelite housing, 2 ports, 2 DS-125, 3 lenses, and ULCS arms) along with my scuba gear, it only costs me around $80 dlls. a year. Now that's a great price for my piece of mind.

One problem with this policies is that it WILL cost more to insure equipment if they are part of your business or you are profiting from them, but it depends how much you profit from them and several insurance companies have different policies about this.

David.