kmohr3 Loc: Rockford, IL

Yes, but do you have those items 'Scheduled' individually. You should have a separate 'Personally Articles Declaration' that lists each item with model and serial number. This costs extra and you must not use this equipment professionally. Personally, I insure everything that is worth $300 or more. Right now I am insuring $6000 worth of stuff and my yearly cost is $68.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I believe (it have been a while since I did this) you must give the make, model and S/N along with the value. I use State Farm

photoman43

With USAA (and most other companies) you have to have your homeowners with them and then you add the photo equipment (jewelry, rare books, etc) under a separate policy that is called different names by different companies.

aggiedad Loc: Corona, ca

Check out State Farm for a personal property policy.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

As a wedding and event photographer I need allot of equipment on-site to cover a variety of situations. But I'm constantly moving and can't stay near my camera case 100% of the time, leaving thousands of dollars of equipment sitting unattended. Very few policies will cover this kind of loss should some or all my stuff get stolen. Most companies would consider this negligence without a broken car or house window documented in a police report. Since I'm a member of PPA I have signed up for the upgraded insurance provided by Lockdon Afinnity. It's not cheap. $507.00 for 100% replacement on about $18,000 worth of gear. For me it's worth the piece of mind knowing I could get reimbursed in case of a disaster of any kind.

jrconcours Loc: Ocean View, DE

ck out mygearvault.com. It is an app that you enter all your gear and then you can request quote. Look for some YouTubes on this.

dyximan

Interesting I have Home owners insurance and had 2 cameras stolen from my car and I claimed it under my homeowner's policy at their direction and they covered it. They were depreciated and not full value but better than nothing. Also I recently bought new equipment from Mike's camera and they offer an insurance program that's good for 3 years I want to say Mac insurance and it's for the full value as I fell in the river and ruined a camera and lens and they replaced them both.

Bill P

But having good coverage is a part of a good business plan. For wedding photogs some sort of liability policy may be a good idea too.

dyximan

I'm not sure this applies if you're buying new equipment you can buy insurance for it I think it's called Mac insurance I purchased it and fell in the river ruin a camera and lands and got full replacement it's good for 3 years. As far as existing equipment my insurance when I had to camera stolen from my car replaced it but it's at a significant discount and rate

Bill P

All depends on what you pay for. I can get replacement cost insurance on my rider on my household policy. MAC insurance? But I use a PC.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

When considering what insurance carrier to use, start out with the notion that all insurance companies are bad - some worse than others. Then select the one that least causes the sphincter tightening reaction.

If you pay the premium for replacement cost, all you need to provide is the serial number, or some document that shows that you own the gear - repair invoice comes to mind, but if you register your gear with Nikon's NPS program, at least they have a record of your qualifying equipment.

It's not about "taking your word" about anything - it's about being able to charge more for a policy that does not depreciate the value of your gear. I suppose if I were a thief, I would have provided the serial number for my 600mmF4, then claimed it was stolen after I sold it, and I would have gotten a brand-spanking new 600mmF4 FL - but I am an honest guy, and the ensuing legal entanglements resulting from the new owner trying to have it services being lead away in handcuffs, as well as the authorities having me arrested for insurance fraud - keeps me that way.

My policies have always been for replacement value - ever since the 70s - and though I have paid a fortune in premiums, I have saved even more $$ over time with the thefts, breakdowns, accidents (I even had a vehicular accident where my gear was fried - insurance covered it all for the replacement values - D700, 14-24, 24-70, 150 macro - etc. Insurance company even covered my Peter Limmer and Sons hiking boots - which had become burnt bacon during the fire - at the replacement cost of $750 - I paid $200 for them in 1991. But make no mistake about it - I paid the premium to be whole in a couple of days - they wrote checks, and I replaced all the gear within a week - but I had to wait 2 yrs for the boots which are custom made. My total claim was over $12,000. My only out of pocket was driving up to Intervale NH to be re-measured for my boots.

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bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

You can add an all risk camera floater to most homeowners or renters insurance policy for a very low cost. A floater is a clause in your insurance contract (policy) that covers extra items such as jewelry, artwork, cameras, etc. for an additional cost to your insurance premium. I have a Farmer's homeowners policy and my $10,000 floater costs me about $25-$30 a year. It covers all my cameras and lenses 100% at and up to $500 in accessories at home or anywhere I travel in the world. At home, the accessories are covered by my basic homeowners policy in addition to the floater.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

My policies have always been for professional gear - I would typically carry up to $30K for gear I traveled with and was subject to theft or damage, or act of god. I paid extra for replacement value - but I could be anywhere in the world and the gear would be replaced, or I'd get funds wired to my account which I could use to purchase stuff while traveling or on assignment - this is a far cry from a VPP policy. If you buy coverage for $6K worth of gear - the most you will ever get will be $6K if all is lost/broken. Periodic appraisals are fairly typical, but USAA will make the determination if they will pay to fix it or replace it. And they specifically exclude gear used professionally, which would not have worked for me in any case. Even after I retired, I still make pocket change which would disqualify me from a USAA policy. I also think they have a $2500 limit per item, so a D5 or a big lens would not be covered.

All in all, it's not a bad deal.

Have you ever made a claim?

This is who I have been using for a while:

https://www.randinsurance.com/services-we-offer/nanpa-photographers/

Rand is the insurer, but the policies are underwritten by Chubb.

brooklyn-camera I Loc: Brooklyn, NY

LittleBit Loc: St. Louis, MO

Jared Polin has a website: fro@froknowsphoto.com where he offers a free inventory app “MyVault”. He also offers info on insuring your equipment. In his app you can list/post receipts/pictures of equipment/and it add them all up giving you a total of your collection of equipment. Worth checking out.