Info Photographic Equipment Insurance - considerations and providers

lindsay

lindsay

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Lindsay
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We photographers invest sometimes ridiculous sums of money in kit. Not all of us, but most people, I suspect, after doing this as a hobby (never mind the pro’s) for a few years, will have suffered from GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) at least to some degree. There may be some amongst us with remarkable and enviable self-control (or scary partners) who resist, but I think a majority of photographers who actively engage in the hobby will have at least a DSLR and a couple of lenses which would cost a couple of thousand pounds to replace as-new. A lot of us have much less control and you can add an extra nought and then some!

So, we ought to look at insurance for this kit. Many people, perhaps most, will take a view that it’s covered on their Household Contents policy, and that may well be the case when it’s at home, insuring you against being stolen in a burglary or lost in a fire, or even maybe when the partner throws it against a wall on learning what we spent. However, I’ve not come across a Household Contents policy that covers you for All Risks, when out and about ‘togging; I found this out to my own cost a couple of years ago when my car was broken into and a camera bag taken – car insurance cover was risible, after excess; household cover was only for items specified on the policy, and I hadn’t updated it with all of my current list of kit. That is when I started looking at specialist insurance cover. By the way, if you claimed for a DSLR and lens that fell in a river, on your household contents policy, how does that affect the next years renewal of that policy? It may not be the most cost-effective solution, putting all of your eggs into one insurance basket. Again, something I have learned from bitter personal experience.

There are some things to consider when buying insurance to cover camera kit:
  • Does the insurer require you to provide proof of original purchase with any claim, and must the purchase be from a UK business?
  • What is the excess on the policy? This can be a dealbreaker in the case of some claims being perhaps not worth it.
  • Theft & Accidental Damage – this is probably fine for kit if it never leaves home, but if you are out and about with a bagful of gear, home insurance rarely provides appropriate cover, so look at specialists. Would your policy cover, for example, a cracked lens element after a fall?
  • Will your insurance provider replace old with new, ie a new lens to replace the broken old one, or a new equivalent?
  • Does the policy cover theft from your vehicle (providing you’ve locked it)? It may be an extra-cost clause, but probably the best thing you ever did if you want to avoid what happened to me.
  • Does the policy cover the cost of hiring replacement equipment whilst awaiting repair or replacement, for example whilst on a photographic holiday? Does the policy also cover any hired equipment?
  • Does the policy cover the travel you plan to do, eg EU, worldwide, including USA?
  • Does the policy cover a tablet or laptop as well?
  • If you vlog, does it cover video kit and accessories?
  • Does it cover a drone?
  • Are there options for public liability cover, especially if you use a drone?
I’ve pulled together a list of specialist photographic equipment insurers, to give TP’ers a head-start in looking for such cover. This implies no preference or endorsement of any of these companies, this is simply meant as a resource for members on this site. Premium rates mentioned are gleaned from ads and cannot be relied on, but are indicative.

Eversure Insurance

Covering all levels of photographic activity, with good underwriting backup. Policies easily amended by phone or email. New for Old, £100 excess on theft, loss and accidental damage, Feefo Trusted Service Award, prices start at £19.99 pa.

Ripe Photography Insurance

Aimed at all levels of photographer and videographer, with flexible options for cover including accessories like tripods, studio gear, phones and tablets and public liability. Prices appear to start from £33 pa.

Photoguard Insurance

Covering all levels of activity and offering a high total cover value if you have expensive kit but optional low excesses. Pro cover can include “associates” such as second shooters. Can cover hire of equipment. Prices appear to start from £33 pa.

LoveIt CoverIt

Aimed at amateurs, with some restrictions on what can be covered and needing UK VAT receipts in the event of claims. Single item value limited to £3k. Prices appear to start from £65 pa.

The Insurance Emporium

Aimed at all levels of photographer, with a lot of flexibility and high total value of cover, including various options to add on for pro’s including public liability. Standard excess is £110. Prices appear to start from £28 pa.

Tinhat Insurance

Aimed at amateurs, and limited to items purchased in the last year and maximum item value of £1k. Prices appear to start from £53 pa.

Aaduki Insurance

Aimed at all levels of photographer but very flexible cover, with quotes generated by an advisor on a call instead of online, so ideal for non-standard situations where a broker can work on your behalf to find the best solution. Prices appear to start from £90 pa.

Infocus Insurance

Aimed at all levels and associated with Hiscox for business insurance including professional indemnity and public liability. Prices appear to start from £199 pa based on total value of kit.

Towergate Insurance t/a Camerasure

Aimed at professional photographers and videographers, or maybe semi-pro’s, covers computer breakdowns and data loss as well. Members of the RPS get a discount.

Photoshield

Aimed at pro’s and semi-pro’s. Flexible cover can include a lot of different types of item and pro insurance requirements. Prices appear to start from £99 pa.

I hope this info and review help to save some TP'ers time searching in Google and ultimately provide compensation should disaster strike.

Glover and Howe

Covers Amateur and Semi-Pro, claim handling appears to be very good based on feedback below.
 
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I would like to add Glover and Howe to that list - cover Amateurs/Semi Professional (ie not main income)/Professional.

I had to claim a couple of weeks ago for an accidental total loss (Fujifilm GFX + lens), I claimed on the Monday via email, and by 6pm on the Thursday the full replacement value (less excess) was in my bank account - thats 3.5 days from claim to payout! They are not the cheapest, but usually competitive when all cover is analysed, but they certainly IME deliver.
 
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Happy to add them David, thanks
 
One thing to take into account with buying any insurance is potential cashback to make it better value. I went with photoguard insurance and through Quidco got £30 cashback (on a £120 policy). The current rate is £19.20 cashback.
 
Lindsay, you are right that it is not a good idea just to assume that Home Insurance provides cover. Your useful checklist confirms that my Insurer meets most of the requirements. I have only ever bought kit from the UK and have proof of purchase for all anyway. I also draw up a list of the kit I want covered with Serial Numbers (and send to the insurance company) so there is no doubt if it comes to a claim. I now have several bits of old kit that I have removed from the list as I do not use. I bought my first Canon SLR 50 years ago and since then have bought an additional Canon SLR and 3 DSLR's and recently a Sony ML. I have always been aware that my kit would not be covered if left in the car other than in a locked boot. My cover is New for Old and includes accidental damage. While I have travelled overseas many times in the past, I do not anticipate doing so in the future but this is included. I could use specialist insurance through my Camera club which is with Darwin Clayton and costs 3.36% p.a. of the insured value. I do not have a drone but would not have assumed that it was covered as it raises different risks.

I have claimed from my insurance in the past with no problem.

Dave
 
My interest in this was prompted by having circa £3k of cameras and laptop stolen from the locked boot of my car whilst very briefly stopped at a services, and my More Than home contents policy did not cover it despite an all risks element to the cover. If using contents cover, you need to be explicitly clear about what is covered and when, as you have done.
 
Interesting, though some years ago now, all my camera equipment was stolen from a locked hotel room. I was fortunate that, as a guest of the Dutch government, my host helped sort everything with the police and hotel and I was supplied with clear evidence to take to my insurance company. The host even followed up with the Hotel Manager (it was new and had only been opened for 6 weeks) who had suspicions about a member of staff. He was even considering claiming from their insurance and refunding me but I shut down the offer because I know that having two insurance companies involved leads to a prolonged arguments which can result in a lengthy and often poor settlement.

Dave
 
I have just gone through a very quick quote from Eversure. For my equipment -- which for the sake of argument I have entered as £4000 give or take (although it's probably a lot more), including a drone, a PLI of £1m, and legal cover up to £250k -- they are quoting me £119 plus a few pence. Now at first glance this seems quite reasonable but I have had expensive camera equipment for fifty years and pound for pound I expect it has always come to around four grands worth of stuff taking inflation into account, give or take a bit, with premiums being pro rata very similar. This means that for fifty years I would have been paying the equivalent of £119 per year which is more than the value of equipment for which I presently wish to insure, meaning that now, for every premium I pay, I am losing money even if all my kit was lost today, assuming I had paid for insurance all those years. All figures are very rough approximations.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not knocking insurance in any way, I certainly wouldn't be without house insurance even if it was ten times what I pay now (it would only equal my council tax for which I personally get almost sod all anyway), but it really comes down to two things: Are you a) out and about with all your camera equipment almost all the time and/or b) do you feel lucky? For me, I have already saved the cost of replacing all my equipment by never taking out insurance so therefore taking out insurance now might be considered throwing money away. An odd way of looking at it I suppose. Couple all this with the fact that I have no receipts for any of my kit anymore and I cannot prove if I bought it new or used or even where I bought a lot of it (although LCE has made a lot of money out of me over the years) and while I might take out insurance, the chances of them paying out enough for me to re-purchase the whole lot seem slim.

One thing I do though, I am a member of the British Model Fliers Association which gives me a shedload of insurance in case I drop my drone on something or someone expensive.

I do have home insurance but I doubt it would pay much, if anything, in the event of loss because I would have had to note every single thing over £500 individually which would have sent my premium into orbit from the pittance I pay at the moment.

I suppose I'll have to continue to risk it and hope for the best. This may not be the best policy for a lot of people :)
 
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It's a fair point Martin, and an approach I take to some other insurances (pets, phones being the main ones). However in my case, when I go out on a togging trip (not often admittedly in the recent past). I'll have eith £4k of Nikon gear or £5k of Olympus gear, plus at least two vintage film cameras with lenses, all in the car, and having been burned once in the recent past, I'm anxious about it because both my cars have keyless entry which cannot be disabled for all practical purposes. Keyless entry is great for thieves and just a laziness option for car owners, and that's the cause of this issue for me.
 
Taking a positive decision to carry you own insurance is fine and I do this myself for many things. If the amount could clearly be covered and you are average risk, it makes sense. As you suggested, few of us could cover all the costs if our house burnt down and car insurance is mandatory. However, I never pay for extended warranty or phone insurance. Where I now feel I made a mistake was paying for medical insurance which I have had for 34 years for my wife and myself (used to include the Children as well). When we total all of the claims including significant operation for me and a similar recent operation for my wife, it is about 1/6 of what I have paid over the years. A friend of mine took a decision long ago to cover such costs himself and has not regretted this. The problem now is the probability of me requiring significant medical treatment is increasing as I age so stopping cover just at the time I may need it may not make sense. I just wish that I had not started but saved the premiums instead.

Dave
 
Insurance is useless, until you need it.
The amount of premiums on insurance I've paid over the years whether it's pet, home, life, car, health and even camera equipment, were taken out knowing that it's only any good if something happens, also hoping nothing happens.
A friend had his camera gear insured with photoguard for maybe 7 years and was about to cancel in the next month when it came to renewing it. He got a D850, 24-70mmf2.8 and 70-200mmf2.8 stolen from his car, which was paid out reasonably quickly. He's never thought of cancelling since.
 
We had pet insurance for our dog many years ago and even claimed on it for a long-term condition but each year, they paid a smaller and smaller percentage and the excess went up and up until it became pointless. Just like human health insurance, it's only any good when the insured is young, fit and highly unlikely to make any claims, once a dog reaches, say, five years old, and a human reaches fifty, nobody really wants to know.

A short tale:

When I was 43 I had heart disease and had to have a stent fitted. I subsequently contacted BUPA and asked about health insurance and they told me that they wouldn't cover pre-existing conditions and therefore would not cover my heart in any way, so even though I had coronary heart disease, they wouldn't cover for, say, mitral valve failure. I said 'well, if you won't cover my heart and the heart is responsible for 1 in 4 deaths, can I have 25% off the premium?' He replied that it didn't work that way. No, I'm sure it doesn't. I didn't take out any insurance in the end and now, at 67, I can't imagine what the premium would be!

As for pet insurance, every month we put fifty pounds in a savings account and now have over £4000 in it so we are good for a few problems at least.
 
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ShinySideUp said:
We had pet insurance for our dog many years ago and even claimed on it for a long-term condition but each year, they paid a smaller and smaller percentage and the excess went up and up until it became pointless. Just like human health insurance, it's only any good when the insured is young, fit and highly unlikely to make any claims, once a dog reaches, say, five years old, and a human reaches fifty, nobody really wants to know.

A short tale:

When I was 43 I had heart disease and had to have a stent fitted. I subsequently contacted BUPA and asked about health insurance and they told me that they wouldn't cover pre-existing conditions and therefore would not cover my heart in any way, so even though I had coronary heart disease, they wouldn't cover for, say, mitral valve failure. I said 'well, if you won't cover my heart and the heart is responsible for 1 in 4 deaths, can I have 25% off the premium?' He replied that it didn't work that way. No, I'm sure it doesn't. I didn't take out any insurance in the end and now, at 67, I can't imagine what the premium would be!

As for pet insurance, every month we put fifty pounds in a savings account and now have over £4000 in it so we are good for a few problems at least.
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One of the points of taking health insurance in middle age that you are healthy and premiums are reasonable. The crunch came when I retired and income falls but the premiums rise every year. One thing is you do get the benefit from continuing long term in that conditions which develop along the way are still covered. However, at the point I retired, the premiums were crippling so I contacted a specialist broker who did mange to half my premiums and at that time I had no pre-conditions. Since then I have moved several times and picked up a couple of pre-conditions so no longer have full coverage. After the most recent move the broker warned me that this was likely to be a first year offer so expect a large hike next year but he would try to do the same for me. It also occurred to me that the insurers probably did not want old folks but that is not true. The Broker explained that many now have medical insurance paid for by the company they work for until they retire. Not surprisingly this led to many insurance policies being terminated then. The loss of income was painful so the insurance companies started to compete to grab back some oldies from who they can make a profit on average.

Dave
 
I used to work for one of the companies above for a number of years, leading a team. absolutely relished my time there.

Happy to field any prospective/generic scenarios based on experience but my key advice would be:

Always check what cover you have and the amounts you've got covered! Better to Over-Egg than Under-Insure and that goes for ALL insurance!
 
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I've edited the post above to remove the apparent self-promotion/advertising, and emailed the author to explain and suggest other ways of approaching the topic
 
dolina said:
I considered camera insurance before but I wasn't using it for income so had difficulty justifying the cost.

By the time it gets stolen/damaged the cost of insurance may be equal to just buying a replacement of the shelf.

I totally get if it is used for work or used nearly daily for personal use but if you shoot once every month or so... money may be better used elsewhere that generates revenue
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I think this depends on the value of the kit. If it is a cheap point and shoot or something below £200 it may be okay to not insure, but when it is over £1k or higher it does make sense to insure unless you have that kind of cash sitting there doing nothing.
 
dolina said:
Consider the 2014 EOS 7D Mark II. MSRP was £1599.99. Today, after 8 years it goes for less than £599.99.

8 years of insurance cost vs less than £599.99 today.

Again, it depends on the likelihood of damage or theft.
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But isn't insurance intended to 'return you to the position you were before the loss' i.e. in the scenario you suggest the insurers will not just pay out the current value of £599.99 second hand value but the insured value of £1599.99 the purpose of insuring your camera gear is to allow you to replace spec for spec what you have lost!

It is for that reason the insurance company advise that you don't under insure and update, if needed, the insured value(s) at renewal time.
 
...and at this point I wish to make clear that this thread is for Information not debate. If anyone wants to continue to debate the value of having camera insurance, please start a new thread.
If there is further debate about it here, I will ask @Cobra to move debate into a separate thread from this one.
 
Some years ago, I had a Canon SLR and two lenses stolen from a hotel room in The Netherlands, It was covered by my house contents policy New for Old. The insurance company actually paid out about 30% more than the original prices I paid as the camera model was discontinued so they had to pay for the next model up. The assessor helpfully said that there was no reason for me to use the money as they had calculated but suggested I started again with a new range which I did.

Dave
 
We have M&S Premium home and contents so it is covered away from home - it has to be out of sight and locked in the boot if we leave it in the car.
 
Chipper said:
We have M&S Premium home and contents so it is covered away from home - it has to be out of sight and locked in the boot if we leave it in the car.
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But wouldn't you do this anyway. Anyone who leaves a car with valuable items showing is virtually asking for the items to be stolen.

Dave
 
Dave Canon said:
But wouldn't you do this anyway. Anyone who leaves a car with valuable items showing is virtually asking for the items to be stolen.

Dave
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Well, yes. I was pointing out that I have found a policy that will cover kit in the car, locked in the boot. That was not the case for someone who wrote on here.
 
It certainly didn't cover my kit stolen from a locked boot (MoreThan home insurance) which is one of the reasons I opted for dedicated camera insurance and kicked off this info topic with help from Eversure.
 
hi :) I would like to insure my equipment, but I am not sure what to choose when it state semi-professional or professional. I am working full time as photographer and retoucher, but very rare I am doing freelance job. This second income is rather small comparing with monthly salary.
Also does anyone use Eversure or Photoguard claim after camera was damage?
Thank you
 
Interesting/useful thread. I've never had expensive equipment until I upgraded to Sony this year so have never bothered with photographic insurance. I'm currently going through a protracted claim for a smashed Sony 100-400GM. My home insurance is with Privilege who've assured me I'm covered with accidental damage cover. Unfortunately they've passed the claim onto Davies who are absolutely woeful (check their google/trustpilot reviews). 5 weeks on I've got nowhere with them. Although only an amateur, I'm going to be getting specialist photographic insurance in future (and check that the company don't deal with Davies!)
 
For information only - I recently added a new lens to my kit 'bag' - looked at a few specialist insurers and wasn't happy with the high quotes, my household insurance was due so took the time to talk to my broker, explained that I wanted cover for my gear when out of the house AND to make sure I had 'mugging' cover included.

They came back with a Royal Sun Alliance policy that includes and I quote:

"Loss or damage to your contents and valuables anywhere in the world.
Worldwide cover & they do not class Photographic equipment (Used for amateur/hobby use only), as valuables.
Therefore it does not need to be specified as before. As long as the Contents sum insured of £100,000 is adequate to include all these items & your household contents.
Also, the new Insurance will cover the personal items as long as they are on your person, i.e. in your hand luggage, they would not be covered in a hold of an aeroplane" I asked her to confirm and that is correct, I sent a copy of kit with serial numbers etc. which they didn't need but took anyway 'just to cover all bases'

I think it added about £20 to my annual policy so happy with that.

Worth asking the question for sure.

.DAVID.
 
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I also have added my kit to our home insurance policy, the larger items are listed seperately and camera gear is covered as all risks my laptop etc are also covered
only thing that it does not cover is if I left my gear in the car, but I would not do that anyway
if I was a professional I would probably go for a specialist insurance though like the ones listed
 
In regard to cover included in household contents insurance or separate 'specialist cover '

Under what basis is the cover i.e. replacement cover (new for old) or value at time of loss?
 
Mine is new for old - so in the case of the R3 I would get a new R3 ;-)

.DAVID.
 
I realised a few days ago just what it would cost me to replace all my photographic stuff and I found this thread. I contacted Eversure as they were the first one on the list. Very helpful staff who gave clear answers to my questions and, given the cover offered, received what I consider to be a very reasonable quote. Obviously I have no connection with them other than that of a satisfied customer, I'm posting this as it might help others.
 
I've just renewed my cover with Eversure, it's a pity they stopped advertising with us though...
 
In the last ten years my gear insurance has paid out more than I have paid them. They even covered the cost of having the sensor replaced I scratched while cleaning it (Nikon D4)... and yes, I told them it was scratched during cleaning.
 
Currently going through a claim with PolicyBee/Hiscox

I had a canon 400 f2.8 lens (the older original IS version) I bought from MPB for £3.5k in 2019 to replace my old one (long story) Anyways before xmas the autofucus went and knowing canon no longer support the lens and its a bad one to get fixed I put a claim in

upshot being .. they are replacing it with a £13k canon 400 2.8 mkIII

So the insureres have come up trumps and i end up being happy my autofocus went haha.. even though I loved that lens.. pin sharp wide open :)
 
Earley Man said:
I realised a few days ago just what it would cost me to replace all my photographic stuff and I found this thread. I contacted Eversure as they were the first one on the list. Very helpful staff who gave clear answers to my questions and, given the cover offered, received what I consider to be a very reasonable quote. Obviously I have no connection with them other than that of a satisfied customer, I'm posting this as it might help
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I must have the wrong name or something.:D

I can’t get Eversure to call me back. Even though they’ve emailed me twice with a firm time and date for doing so…

I used their contact form late last week. As there’s a few things I’d like to confirm before going ahead with the cover. They replied with a second date and time for today (4th March) at 4:30.

Nothing…
 
Can any one recommend a company to just do short overseas cover, just for the camera equipment. My usual travel insurance only covers up to £250, with expanded cover up to £500.
 
Same here, which insurance would you guys suggest for short time trip cover?
Or would annual cover be better?

I don't know much about camera insurance, but was wondering if they, as default, cover new and used equipment?
What happens when camera is stolne on a street, pickpocketing, on overseas trip - what I would need to do to proof this?
 
Anyway...
Bought Eversure insurance, £3000 full equipment, including accidental loss, New for Old etc
£74 annual, sounds not bad I think, never had my camera insured, but now when bought brand new Zf, I'm scared to death taking it out every single time :D
Hopefully now I will feel better.

What happens when camera is stolen on a street, pickpocketing, on overseas trip - what I would need to do to proof this?
 
I think you’d need to report it to local police and get a copy of the report.
 
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