Camera insurance?

My insurance company (Farmer's) informed me that because I have a website with the INTENT of selling my photos that I am a pro and am not covered under my homeowners policy. They said I'd have to take out a business policy that is expensive.

Who do you folks insure you're camera gear with? I was always under the impression that I could get a rider for my gear, but I guess that is not the case anymore.

Thanks!

Jerry

Try here

http://www.mainemutual.com/inland.htm

And page down through the page. Inland marine is a type of insurance policy, not a specific insurance company.

Many of us are members of the North American Nature Photographers Association. As a member you can get insurance through Rand under written by Chubb to cover $15,000 of equipment insurance covering all risks world wide. The basic premium is $ 350.

Check out http://www.nanpa.org/insurance.html

I'm an adjuster in North Carolina. The insurance laws may be different where you are. It is true that if you intend to sell your photos, or even if you sell ocasionally and don't make any profit that it is considered business and your equipment would not be covered (or covered with limitations) on your homeowners policy. However I find it strange that they would advise you to take out an expensive business policy. I have my equipment covered on a rider on my homeowners policy, and it is not very expensive. I would check with your agent again and specifically ask about a rider (endorsement), or check with other companies about it. I think there are policies available through NANPA (North American Nature Photographers Assn) also. Steve states correctly that "inland marine" is a type of coverage, not a company. You can take out a stand alone IM policy or have one as a rider on your homeowners policy in North Carolina. Do some shopping and you should be able to find some good coverage.

I have a business policy that covers $20,000 (full coverage) worth of equipment and $500,000 worth of liability for just a little over what Ed stated that he pays. I think it's a great deal.

I have heard too many horror stories not to have full coverage.

I have mine through State Farm, where I have my homeowners and auto policies. I believe it's called a Personal Property Policy and they have one rate structure for hobby use and a higher one for business use. The business rate applies if you sell even one penny's worth of photos. Mine is the business policy at 100% replacement cost with no deductable and currently covers around $30K worth of stuff including my laptop and external drives and all my camera gear including bags, cards, batteries...everything for about $350 or so depending on the current value. I change the list quite often so it fluctuates and it's hard to keep up with the combined cost but that's a close guess.

I recently had to ship some of my gear home when I was caught on the road (flying) during this last terrorist scare. I checked with my agent and my gear was covered even while being shipped via Fed-Ex so I didn't have to declare the value with them.

I can't imagine not being insured. I'd go nuts.

Would anybody know a good Canadian insurer? NANPA only covers American members. I too recently had the call and was informed my household policy no longer covered the gear as I made an income with it. I found it a bit strange as my previous company in southern Ontario did.

The insurer recommended by Canadian Association of Illustrators and Photographers only covers central Canada. One insurance company I contacted had a good rate but didn't cover the gear on my premises as it was their opinion household insurance should do that. Contacting a local commercial insurance agent and explaining what I wanted got the reply of "Huh?" Not a lot of photographers here.

Dave

Check with WPPI David. They're international with chapters in Canada, so I suspect they must have some arrangement. Membership in WPPI is $80 US a year as I recall over and above the insurance. We have ours through PPA rather than WPPI simply because we started there first and have had no reason to change. Friends report great happiness with their WPPI policies.

Just checked with my agent and mine is now at $480 per year if the equipment list stays like it is ...yeah, right, like it's gonna stay the way it is

Just checked, and we're paying a premium of roughly 1% of insured value per year. Best thing about our policy, it lets us put the value on each piece at the time we list it- whether new replacement or used. We audit our list each year and adjust values according to use. Newest gear is insured at replacement, while older stuff is listed at current used values. We're also packing substantial liability coverage ($2 mil/person/incident) on our activities in the field as well as on the business property itself, and I can't say whether that's affecting our rate for equipment.

I'm not insured yet. Soon. I'll be doing the Inland Marine thing, and as a rider to my homeowners insurance. I know several longtime shooters who do it this way, though I don't know about costs.

I'm not insured yet. Soon. I'll be doing the Inland Marine thing, and as a rider to my homeowners insurance. I know several longtime shooters who do it this way, though I don't know about costs.

This question and variations crop up every few months here at NPN and over at TPN. Here, is the most recent I could find in past NPN threads. Here and especially here are a couple of useful threads from TPN.

There are additional sources, and especially points to consider in these additional threads. As I point out in that last one, be especially careful to read the fine print and learn which activity is covered and which is not. It can be a horrid experience to think you are covered and learn you are not.