insuring your gear

[Davi]

presumably those of you with higher end equipment insure your camera gear separately, to cover accidental damage / theft by scrote etc? where is good?

[itsnotarace]

Marks and Spencers

[bramley]

I use Aaduki and have done for a few years. They cover all my kit, wherever it is, and sort my professional indemnity and public liability too.

[AndWhyNot]

bramley said:

I use Aaduki and have done for a few years. They cover all my kit, wherever it is, and sort my professional indemnity and public liability too.

+1

If you're a member of any of the societies who collaboratively call themselves The Societies (SWPP etc) Aaduki will discount you to pretty much the equivalent of the membership fee

[Muncle Trogg]

I use PhotoGuard but may look at the other suggestion if my SWPP membership gets me a nice discount.

[Davi]

I'm not a member of any societies at all yet, would you recommend joining one first and then looking at it again after? I've been enjoying time with the camera so much I've decided to definitely invest in something a bit pricier, and have actually been offered a couple of gigs for some shots (which I've turned down, definitely not ready for that yet LOL)

[Cybertronian]

I'm with Towergate Camerasure.

They were the cheapest for me and had more options than Photoguard or Aaduki. I'm not a professional and they offered unlimited international use so long as each trip was for up to 45 days.

I'd say none of the big players are bad, just make sure you get quotes from them all and play them off against each other.

[AndWhyNot]

Davi said:

I'm not a member of any societies at all yet, would you recommend joining one first and then looking at it again after? I've been enjoying time with the camera so much I've decided to definitely invest in something a bit pricier, and have actually been offered a couple of gigs for some shots (which I've turned down, definitely not ready for that yet LOL)

There's only a saving to be made if you're interested in joining the society anyway. Look at the membership offers and see if there's any value to be had for your circumstances.

[14-7]

I do it through my home insurance, it's an extra £40 a year for all my gear plus accidental and Europe wide cover, which is handy when taking everything away with me.

[minky monkey]

Home insurance here as well. Theft and accidental damage cover. Didn't add a great deal IIRC.

[Davi]

AndWhyNot said:

There's only a saving to be made if you're interested in joining the society anyway. Look at the membership offers and see if there's any value to be had for your circumstances.

Well, definitely very interested in taking my photography further if I can, so guess it may well be!

[Elderly]

If you put your camera equipment on your home insurance, you may find that between the extra premium, an excess and losing a NCB,
you might have little actual benefit over not having any cover at all.

[markmullen]

I'm with Photoguard, luckily I've not needed to claim so can't vouch for that side of their service but buying the policy was painless and easily adaptable, I wanted international, in vehicle and 3rd party liability and it was all easily sorted.

[danyeates]

Marks and Spencers Premium (or Premier?) home contents cover. Not cheap, but covers any item up to £4,000 without having to disclose it separately. It also covers your belongings away from home, anywhere in the World. Covers my bike, iPhone and camera gear without having to take out loads of different policies.

[ian in lancs]

Contents insurance (AXA) for me and im well over £1250 up!

[tog]

I've been with Glover and Howe for years for kit and liability insurance. I looked at Aaduki a couple of years ago as they were offering a discount through the BPPA, but found they were no cheaper and had more restrictions on cover (particularly theft from unattended vehicles) than my existing policy with G&H. Claims have always been dealt with quickly and efficiently.

[Thunderace]

I'm with Aaduki. Up to 60 days p.a. worldwide, excess is £100 (or £250 from unoccupied car). Main exclusions with car are no convertibles, no cover between 21:00 and 06:00, kit must be in locked and covered boot. Excess leaps up to 25% or £500 if house security isn't up to their standard.

[tog]

Thunderace said:

, no cover between 21:00 and 06:00,

That was the problem - what if i'm on a job at night, returning from a shoot, etc etc, and have left a load of gear in the car? I wouldn't leave it there overnight, but might need to leave it for several hours at a time, sometimes in less than salubrious areas.

[Davi]

danyeates said:

Marks and Spencers Premium (or Premier?) home contents cover. Not cheap, but covers any item up to £4,000 without having to disclose it separately. It also covers your belongings away from home, anywhere in the World. Covers my bike, iPhone and camera gear without having to take out loads of different policies.

I'm extremely wary of that sort of policy. My uncle had one of those, he had his camera bag stolen with a shed load of kit in it, each item worth a fair bit, but when he claimed they refused 90% of it, saying that camera cover was for a "unit" - i.e. body, lens, flash... completely the opposite to what he was told when he took out the policy, he lost out massively.

[onomatopoeia]

Davi said:

presumably those of you with higher end equipment insure your camera gear separately, to cover accidental damage / theft by scrote etc? where is good?

Mines on my home insurance, they said as long as I did no paid work it was covered, no limit on value of my kit and they didn't need to know about what I have, what it was worth or anything aside from the total value of my contents.

(Hiscox btw)