Equipment insurance – recommendations?

[kendal larson]

I need to get some – and wondered if anyone had a good experience with any specific company, or perhaps more importantly, had a really bad experience with a specific company.

I’d appreciate any feedback ya’ll might have to offer.

[Don Thompson]

I am with State Farm for all my insurance needs and have never had a problem. Fortunately, I have never had to use the policy for my photography equipment, but should I need to, I would expect that it will be handled like other claims over the years, to my satisfaction.

[anonymous]

Kendal:

There have been some threads on this in the past. I know Zach has posted on this.

If you are treating your photography as a business, you need commercial insurance coverage. Most home owners policies do not cover business use of anything.

Ask around and find a local agent that writes general liability insurance for businesses. They will probably be able to get you some inland marine equipment coverage. That covers you for all kinds of loss especially around water. Make sure your coverage extends to anywhere you plan to travel.

I carry a $1,000 deductible to keep my premium down to a reasonable level, but have all my photography and computer equipment covered, so if I am on the road I don’t have to worry so much about a major theft. Never had to file a claim, so don’t have any advice on any particular company.

Suggest you investigate some of the professional photography organizations also. Unfortunately, there are not any specific to the outdoor/nature photography business, unless you include NANPA–which is pretty “light.” Most have insurance connections for the kind of coverage you need. I joined PPA. They are geared more towards studio and portrait/wedding photography, but they have a lot of business helps in their publications and on their website.

Have enjoyed your photos. Best of luck with your business,
Scott

[kendal larson]

Kendal:

There have been some threads on this in the past. I know Zach has posted on this.

If you are treating your photography as a business, you need commercial insurance coverage. Most home owners policies do not cover business use of anything.

Ask around and find a local agent that writes general liability insurance for businesses. They will probably be able to get you some inland marine equipment coverage. That covers you for all kinds of loss especially around water. Make sure your coverage extends to anywhere you plan to travel.

I carry a $1,000 deductible to keep my premium down to a reasonable level, but have all my photography and computer equipment covered, so if I am on the road I don’t have to worry so much about a major theft. Never had to file a claim, so don’t have any advice on any particular company.

Suggest you investigate some of the professional photography organizations also. Unfortunately, there are not any specific to the outdoor/nature photography business, unless you include NANPA–which is pretty “light.” Most have insurance connections for the kind of coverage you need. I joined PPA. They are geared more towards studio and portrait/wedding photography, but they have a lot of business helps in their publications and on their website.

Have enjoyed your photos. Best of luck with your business,
Scott

Thanks to you guys for the feedback.

I’d tried to search previous articles/posts here, but apparently didn’t do a good job with my query, as I couldn’t find much about this topic. I blame it on my norse ethnicity (old dumb Minnesota Norwegian here).

[patrick mccormick]

isn’t there specific photography gear insurance? I’ve heard its about $70/ yr for like $10000 worth of lenses and bodies and such…

[kendal larson]

This page that I managed to google has some really good info on insurance.

http://photo.net/learn/insurance

They also offer a policy to members of Photo.net

I’m having problems logging in with the passwd they provided, but it looks like it could be a pretty good site.

Kendal

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