:) What a wonderful trip and amazing scenery. I loved every minute and didn't want to leave. Please check out the photos if you get a chance.Austria - Germany At the last minute I decided to leave my good lenses at home. Traveled with my mother-in-law and she was uncomfortable with me taking too much gear to draw attention to us. I probably would have taken it anyway but couldn't get my home owners to add a schedule to cover my equipment and found out they'd only pay $200 coverage tops. Anyone have any good insurance recommendations for camera gear? Thanks.
I just called them up yesterday to check some coverage if I jump in a swimming pool and damage my gear - it's covered up to $10k. I also asked about strapping my camera onto a bike. It's also covered if I fall off/ drop the camera along the way.
Putting camera gear on household insurance seems generally to be a bad idea - there's quite a few stories of people claiming lost/damaged camera gear and then finding they were declined for the next renewal of their house insurance (which can cause you mortgage problems too)
Also, you'll struggle to get covered via that route if make any money at all with your gear. In some cases, even selling prints might invalidate your policy - worth checking with whoever is providing you the cover if they insure it if you have any commercial use.
Thanks for the response.
I was trying to get them to write a separate policy for a business and when that didn't work asked them to tack it on to my homeowner's. I really wanted to take my gear on the trip and was desperate.
Not my first choice, for sure. Since home, I've been calling around and can't find anything. :(
Thanks for the response.
I was trying to get them to write a separate policy for a business and when that didn't work asked them to tack it on to my homeowner's. I really wanted to take my gear on the trip and was desperate.
Not my first choice, for sure. Since home, I've been calling around and can't find anything. :(
Yup, you probably want some sort of inland marine policy. Varies very much from state to state and company to company on what's available it seems.
We travel because, no matter how comfortable we are at home, there's a part of us that wants - that needs - to see new vistas, take new tours, obtain new entrees, introduce new bacteria into our intestinal tracts, learn new words for "transfusion," and have all the other travel adventures that make us want to French-kiss our doormats when we finally get home. - Dave Barry
Back to the original post, I encourage folks to travel with their camera always. Seeing, editing, captioning, and sharing the photos reinforces in my mind the trip I took and what it taught me. Maybe I've been lucky to never have had a camera stolen, or damaged (on a trip at least) but it certainly could happen. By all means insure it.
Many homeowners policies will allow you to buy an additional rider for camera gear which would insulate you from some of the issues mentioned if you have a claim. Our home owners insurance is with State Farm and they have these riders. The riders may also be "replacement value" which would buy you a new camera or lens rather than pay you depreciated value for your old camera.
And when you have insurance ... relax about it. At that point it's just a "thing." Replaceable. But your memories are not. Don't let anxiety about the risk of loss spoil your trip.
