Gear Insurance Woes

[masterdrago]

It's been an interesting several days. This may not be CC fodder but I think it is relevant to the discussions. I've been compelled by my insurance company, Liberty Mutual, to hunt other options. I sent them an email (to my agent) last week to explore the cost of insuring the camera gear I was taking to Alaska valued at close to $5,600. Was told I needed to schedule or rider it on the home owners policy and that I would need receipts or appraisals. Every time I asked questions or advised them that nobody did appraisals on amateur gear, I got a reply from a different person. Four times. I had called KEH, Houston Camera Exchange, Adorama, and several other stores local to Houston. So I gave up. Went hunting. I also decided that if I'm going to schedule my gear, why not all of it. Of the 26 pieces of major gear I own, I have receipts for only 8. Below is what I've discovered: Annual $$$ to cover home, car, truck, rv and schedule all the gear:

Liberty Mutual: $4,740 -maybe cover gear - sent then list w/serial# & used replacement cost
TWFG: $3,721 + ~90/yr on gear - local independent, uses Travelers, Progressive and >dozen others
Integra: $5,464 - local independent uses Progressive mostly
Mitchell: $4,528 - independent uses mostly Travelers
Farmers: $4,172 + ??? for gear may not cover anything valued at <$100 = ~5 older lenses
Beathard: no quote - cannot cover any gear w/o receipts - another local
State Farm:$4,537 including ~$90yr for scheduling all gear

 

I'll look very closely at what TWFG is offering in the morning but at ~$1,000 less than what I'm paying now, it should be a no-brainer. Farmers is close also.

 

[BDRebel]

I'm not sure I am following correctly - you are contemplating buying insurance at $5K a year to cover $5K worth of camera equipment?

If so, it would be better to put the $5K in the bank and use it to simply replace the equipment if necessary.

[pierces]

8 minutes ago, BDRebel said:

I'm not sure I am following correctly - you are contemplating buying insurance at $5K a year to cover $5K worth of camera equipment?

If so, it would be better to put the $5K in the bank and use it to simply replace the equipment if necessary.

 

"Annual $$$ to cover home, car, truck, rv and schedule all the gear: " explains it a bit.

 

Dave

[kenevenpar]

I mentioned in a previous thread of my woes, that all turned out good.

 

I use Nationwide (who also does my homeowners), and my agent arranged a "valuables plus" (I think that was the name) policy, which covered about the same amount as you are looking for for $61, NO deductible.  I did not have to provide receipts or appraisals.

 

I had a loss in January, and filed a claim.  I was asked for receipts at that time, which for me was not a problem as I only insured cameras and lenses, and they were purchased from major retailers and NIKON.  It might be worth a call to a local Nationwide agent. 

 

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, kenevenpar said:

I use Nationwide (who also does my homeowners), and my agent arranged a "valuables plus" (I think that was the name) policy, which covered about the same amount as you are looking for for $61, NO deductible.  I did not have to provide receipts or appraisals.

 

We also use Nationwide for our homeowners insurance.  For years, we’ve had a separate “valuables plus” policy with them that covered my scheduled camera gear.  This year, Nationwide got rid of that separate policy and added it as an endorsement to our H/O policy.   I agree, it is not expensive to insure your camera gear this way.

[kenevenpar]

21 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

We also use Nationwide for our homeowners insurance.  For years, we’ve had a separate “valuables plus” policy with them that covered my scheduled camera gear.  This year, Nationwide got rid of that separate policy and added it as an endorsement to our H/O policy.   I agree, it is not expensive to insure your camera gear this way.

 

I had not heard that.  My policy has an expiration date in October, so I imagine I will hear from them then.

[masterdrago]

2 hours ago, pierces said:

 

"Annual $$$ to cover home, car, truck, rv and schedule all the gear: " explains it a bit.

 

Dave

Thanks Dave. You "spained it Lucy" ;=]

[masterdrago]

I'm most likely going to go with Farmers. The $4,172 includes the rider/endorsement for all my gear as well as a few firearms. It's also going to save me $600 over what I'm paying now with LM. The independents that quoted at the high ends were using Progressive. Turns out to get identical coverage with the independent, it was going to jump to $4,424.

[kenevenpar]

9 minutes ago, masterdrago said:

I'm most likely going to go with Farmers. The $4,172 includes the rider/endorsement for all my gear as well as a few firearms. It's also going to save me $600 over what I'm paying now with LM. The independents that quoted at the high ends were using Progressive. Turns out to get identical coverage with the independent, it was going to jump to $4,424.

 

Glad you found a solution!

[peety3]

USAA offers a "Valuable Personal Property" policy which can be used for cameras, guns, jewelry, art, and I think three other categories but they escape me at the moment. I had most of my camera gear under a VPP until I opened my business (and moved almost all the gear to the business policy). I didn't track it extensively, but VPP usually cost about 1-1.5% of the listed value per year, and was a full-replacement-cost, no-deductible policy. For the one loss I incurred, they asked me to send them a link to a local retailer's listing of the current equivalent model, and they cut a check for the listed price plus the prevailing sales tax in the area, direct-deposited the next day. I realize not everyone qualifies for USAA, but perhaps mentioning Valuable Personal Property and/or guns/art/jewelry will trigger the right thought in your agent's mind for what you seek.