Equipment insurance-Anybody heard of or use these guys?

[boomerd35]

I found equipment and GL insurance with a company through photo.net. The insurance is with Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs of Philadelphia. The insurance company seems to be legit, but I don't know if anybody's had any experience with them or ever had to file a claim. You have to be a paid member of photo.net to get access to this insurance ($25 to be a member), but I think photo.net is a good site anyway (not as good as this forum, but still good ). Here's a link to the info sheet. Anybody hear of these guys or ever use them?

http://photo.net/info/photo_insurance_specs.pdf

[RKDauph]

The "I wonder" part:

"Theft and mysterious disappearance claims are covered
as long as there are signs of forced entry."

How does a theft on location always produce 'signs of forced entry'?

[boomerd35]

There was a discussion about that on photo.net somewhere. One person I think had the same concern as you, and then I think somebody else said no that was just lawyer speak to say that if you misplace equipment or leave it unlocked it wouldn't be covered. It is a valid point to get clarified.

[Al Buckner]

I just have a special policy addendum to my home owners to cover my stuff. It's good anywhere (US and Overseas). Price depends on what you have and what it is worth and what it will cost to replace. My D70, flash, lens, and P3000 are all covered for about $100 per year (Haven't added the D200 yet).

Check with whoever you have home owners insurance with. I thnk most companies can provide you with a rider.

[boomerd35]

Nope. My homeowners won't provide a rider and I wouldn't want to risk an equipment claim causing my homeowner's insurance company to drop my home coverage anyway.

[Jakster]

"Theft and mysterious disappearance claims are covered
as long as there are signs of forced entry."

I work in the insurance industry - I would bet they would not cover a claim unless there is evidence of forced entry. If your bag is sitting at a location and someone grabs it, you are out of luck. If they break into your vehicle and steal your equipment, it would probably be covered.

[CobyPhoto]

If you want true ALL RISK - including "Theft and mysterious disappearance" coverage, there is only a couple of companies that know and understand the risk here and are willing to write that total coverage. #1. Marsh Affinity Group. (Have to have PPA membership to qualify.) Marsh's All-risk covers ANYTHING. Period. Deductible is 100.00 per incident. As long as you don't have three to four claims a year, you will be fine with this coverage. #2. Hill & Usher. Pretty much same coverage, however, the deductibel is 500.00 - 1000.00 per incident! For me, that is too high. I am more likely to lose a single item rather than my entire bag.

One other great thing about Marsh...that is WORLDWIDE coverage. Not just USA.

What is the deductible for the company you are looking at Troy?

CJ

[boomerd35]

Deductible is $250 per loss. I need to revisit the Hill & Usher and see what the premiums are. The one I posted here only has a premium of $1 per $100 of scheduled equipment (based on replacement cost).

Originally Posted by CobyPhoto

If you want true ALL RISK - including "Theft and mysterious disappearance" coverage, there is only a couple of companies that know and understand the risk here and are willing to write that total coverage. #1. Marsh Affinity Group. (Have to have PPA membership to qualify.) Marsh's All-risk covers ANYTHING. Period. Deductible is 100.00 per incident. As long as you don't have three to four claims a year, you will be fine with this coverage. #2. Hill & Usher. Pretty much same coverage, however, the deductibel is 500.00 - 1000.00 per incident! For me, that is too high. I am more likely to lose a single item rather than my entire bag.

One other great thing about Marsh...that is WORLDWIDE coverage. Not just USA.

What is the deductible for the company you are looking at Troy?

CJ

[CobyPhoto]

Troy,

That isn't a bad deal. The premiums for Marsh and H&U are more expensive, but pretty close to the same. H&U just have that extrememly high deductible for the premium cost.

You are going to have to make a decision based on options here. I couldn't do the others, I would have to stay with Marsh. I am more susceptible to Mysterious or Theft loss at an event and therefore need that coverage. Don't get me wrong, I take alot of precautions to prevent loss, but there are people out there targeting wedding photographers and KNOW they are pre-occupied and easy targets many times. Just watch the news paper and show up in a suit like your a guest!

I can't do my job like I need to, If I am always worried about my equipment over in the corner. I keep two bodies on me, and only the back-up bodies are in the bag along with a couple of lenses. So I wouldn't lose everything, but I want the peace of mind that if it did happen, I can call Marsh Monday morning and have a check on the way Tuesday to get replacement equipment.

Weight your policy benefits compared to cost and what your risks are. If you don't shoot regularly, you aren't as exposed as someone that is shooting almost every weekend and on location 4-5 times a week. The more often you are on location and working outside of a physical location, the greater the risks you incurr.

I have had to claim a lens or two over the years...dropped an expensive lens from up high on a job. Do they cover this type of claim? Marsh covers it all...excluding fraud, of course. Make sure you are listing your equipment at REPLACEMENT value as well. (i.e. A 1D MkII is listed for 4.5K as they are no longer available new...you would have to get a 1D MkIII.)


CJ

[Teddington]

First, Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs in a national insurance brokerage and not an insurance company. You'd have to ask who actually writes the policy. This is nothing more than "co-branding" marketting playing on an endorsement by Photo.net.

Second, "evidence of forced entry" means just that. No evidence of forced entry - no theft coverage. I'd caution you to read this part of the actual policy carefully. You might successfully argue coverage for items stolen from a locked case with evidence the lock was forced but not if they take the unattended case from a location.

Third, note the coverage territory limitation to the U.S. and territories plus Canada. No coverage in Mexico, Europe, on a cruise outside US waters or any of the Carribean Islands or anywhere else in the world. Unless you don't travel internationally, this is a big deal.

The coverage highlights presented in the flyer are pretty typical but there is better coverage out there as referenced in prior replies.

[ShaneKislack]

Who is your liability insurance with? That's way more important.

[CobyPhoto]

My entire Business Liability, E & O, Income disruption etc. is through Zurich, NA who actuaklly Underwrites the All Risk for Marsh and PPA. I just had to go through Marsh and not my local agent to get the great premium and deductible.

CJ

[boomerd35]

Thanks for all the comments, everybody.

Originally Posted by Teddington

First, Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs in a national insurance brokerage and not an insurance company. You'd have to ask who actually writes the policy.

Yeah, they're all brokerages and middlemen. That's just the way insurance works. Would be nice to buy directly from underwriters instead. On a separately related incident, the insurance agent for the company I work for called me yesterday and said they forgot to include 130k of additional fees on our July 1 renewal. If we didn't pay the 130k that day, the underwriter would cancel the entire policy. The agent thanked me so much for paying so quickly. What choice did I have? That's like the gunman thanking you for giving him your wallet.

[Howard Barlow]

It gets worse than that, Troy. My dad got a bill from an agency he hadn't used in years. They claimed he owed $20-30K (don't recall exactly) for past coverage. He, of course, challenged it. They persisted, but could not document coverage. In the end, they sued him. They could not present proof of coverage. They won. Welcome to southeast Texas courts.

[Howard Barlow]

Originally Posted by CobyPhoto

My entire Business Liability, E & O, Income disruption etc. is through Zurich, NA who actuaklly Underwrites the All Risk for Marsh and PPA. I just had to go through Marsh and not my local agent to get the great premium and deductible.

CJ

Direct to Marsh, rather than through PPA? If so, please tell me why, unless you have to .