One thing worth adding to the provider comparisons: whichever policy you land on, the claim itself will hinge on what you can prove you owned. Most UK specialist policies (Eversure, Hiscox, Photoguard, Aaduki and the rest) ask for a schedule of items with make, model and serial number, and at claim time they will usually want a receipt or some other proof of value for anything sizeable. If your kit list only lives in your head or in an old email chain, that is the bit that slows a payout down.
Practical steps that cost nothing: photograph the serial plate on each body and lens, keep the box labels or at least a photo of them, save purchase receipts as PDFs in one folder, and note the date and price paid so you can argue replacement value rather than a guessed figure. Keep that copy somewhere off the premises, since a fire or burglary that takes the gear can easily take the laptop too. If something does walk, the serials are also what let you register the items as stolen and what a police report needs.
On the short term question raised above, annual cover is generally cheaper than repeated single trip add-ons once you have more than a body and a couple of lenses, and single trip travel policies often cap a single item at a level well below a decent lens, so read the per item limit before assuming holiday cover does the job.
Full disclosure since it is relevant: keeping track of this stuff is the reason I ended up building GearDex, a small kit inventory tool. Not linking anything here, just saying where the interest comes from. Even a spreadsheet does the job as long as it exists before you need it.
Practical steps that cost nothing: photograph the serial plate on each body and lens, keep the box labels or at least a photo of them, save purchase receipts as PDFs in one folder, and note the date and price paid so you can argue replacement value rather than a guessed figure. Keep that copy somewhere off the premises, since a fire or burglary that takes the gear can easily take the laptop too. If something does walk, the serials are also what let you register the items as stolen and what a police report needs.
On the short term question raised above, annual cover is generally cheaper than repeated single trip add-ons once you have more than a body and a couple of lenses, and single trip travel policies often cap a single item at a level well below a decent lens, so read the per item limit before assuming holiday cover does the job.
Full disclosure since it is relevant: keeping track of this stuff is the reason I ended up building GearDex, a small kit inventory tool. Not linking anything here, just saying where the interest comes from. Even a spreadsheet does the job as long as it exists before you need it.
