26 November 2008
What Happens if Someone Steals Your Gear? - TWIP
Posted by
Scott under:
Articles
Photo by Scott Bourne
It’s every photographer’s nightmare. You park your car at the bank, or the dry cleaners for just 10 minutes. You come back and all your gear has been stolen from your car in a smash and grab.
You’ll certainly have that sick feeling in your stomach, followed by panic, rage and ultimately resolve.
But how will you be made whole again?
A friend recently lost more than $30,000 worth of gear from his studio in a burglary. Unfortunately, he didn’t have insurance. That means, unless the police find his gear, it’s gone, and he’s out the money he paid for it with no recourse whatsoever.
Guess what - this caused me to recently update my insurance policy.
If you’re NOT a professional, and have less than $10,000 worth of camera gear, MOST homeowners and/or renters policies will cover theft of your precious cameras. Note that you can’t insure your images under such a policy for their replacement value, i.e., if you shot them on film and paid $4.00 to have print made, you’ll get the cost of the film and the print, but not the cost of making the image, or the lost potential income it represents.
These policies will cover your gear, but not at face value. Instead, they’ll give you “market value” for your lost gear. This means that your nearly new Nikon D3, once stolen, is probably going to bring you a check for $3000 (or less.) You’ll have to come up with the rest out of pocket or buy used and hope you can find one that cheaply. Good luck.
If you want full coverage, i.e, replacement cost coverage, you need a special separate policy. Some companies call this an “inland marine” policy. This sort of policy will cover the cost of replacing your used D3 with a new one. Make sure you ask for this type of policy (you will usually have to pay extra for it) or you won’t be covered.
If you’re a professional, or if you have more than $10,000 worth of gear, you should consider buying separate gear insurance. Most homeowners/renters policies won’t cover you. This can come in the form of simple business insurance or something more specific like gear insurance offered from/through one of the photo associations, such as the program offered by NANPA - the North American Nature Photography Association. They have partnered with Rand Insurance to underwrite photographer’s gear.
I purchased a policy from them this week for about $1000. It covers all loss (except unexplained absence) for around $40,000 worth of gear. I didn’t cover everything I own. Instead, I covered the typical amount of gear that I would put at risk while in the field. There is a $250 deductible and after that, Rand pays for replacing any lost gear.
Most professional photographic associations offer a similar program. The NANPA http://www.nanpa.org/ program through Rand has a good reputation of quickly and even cheerfully paying claims in the event of a loss. If you do buy insurance for your gear, be sure to check out the reputation of the underwriting company. Your state insurance commissioner should have publicly-available records that detail complaints and resolution thereof regarding insurance companies in your area.
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14 Comments so far...
P.T. Korson Says:
26 November 2008 at 8:48 am.
Hey Scott, thanks for bringing to attention that homeowners insurance might be able to cover theft but would it also cover damage? Does the NANPA also cover damaged items?
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Scott Says:
26 November 2008 at 9:29 am.
@P.T. I haven’t read the policy that clearly so I’d suggest contacting Rand, the underwriter, to find out. I think they only cover loss - if the damage renders the gear unusable, that might be covered.
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gfurry Says:
26 November 2008 at 9:36 am.
Scott,
For those that aren’t pros I thought I would pass on a tip that my insurance agent recently told me. At my father’s suggestion I inquired about itemizing my gear and getting a separate endorsement on the policy to make sure everything was covered. My agent told me he would be happy to do that but if I did, I would only get “market value” for the items at the time of loss. As you pointed out above this is not a good thing.
Since the value of my gear was less than $25K under the normal policy if they were stolen I would get replacement value. Sometimes trying to do that right thing will cost you. I am sure policies may vary so check with your agent.
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Mike Smith Says:
26 November 2008 at 10:04 am.
A great topic to bring up Scott. I do have an inland marine policy that covers my gear and it was very inexpensive. Something like $10 for every $1000 worth of coverage.
One thing that people should look into with this type of policy is whether or not it covers “professional” use. I know my insurance rep told me that my gear would not be covered if being used professionally.
At the time I purchased my policy, I wasn’t making any money with my photography so it wasn’t a bid deal. Now that I do make some money selling photos, I’m not sure if my policy would still cover me. I don’t know how they determine “professional use”. Definitely something I should look into. If I’m on vacation and take some photos that I plan on selling later, is that professional or not? It could became an issue with the insurance company if something were to happen.
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Dave Smith Says:
26 November 2008 at 10:37 am.
Depending on what kind of environments you shoot in, you might want to ask about comprehensive insurance. My uncle owns an insurance company and recommended this to me because he knows I do a lot of risque shooting. It cost me more and covered me for less $$$…but if I drop my camera in the lake when I’m kayaking, I’m covered!
Do note that I live in Canada and have no idea about insurance policies elsewhere!
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moe Says:
26 November 2008 at 11:11 am.
hmmm makes me think… I need to call and verify that mine is replacement value not market value
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Martin Howard Says:
26 November 2008 at 12:12 pm.
Great advice. As obvious as it must be, I have to add that copies of receipts with photographs of gear showing serial numbers stored somewhere other than with the gear greatly expedites resolution of claims, and in my case, recovery, of some of the stolen gear by the police. The police do recover a lot of stolen property but cannot locate the owners. Providing them with photos of the gear and serial numbers really increases your chance of getting it back.
Thanks for the tips.
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Steven Price Says:
26 November 2008 at 12:32 pm.
Another thing to consider, how well are you covered on your modern darkroom ie your Computer. I recently talked with my agent and discovered I was woefully under insured for my computer equipment. They really don’t understand that hobbyists might have more than $5,000 in computer equipment. Replacing what I have would be a bit more.
However it does appear that I have enough coverage on my homeowners for what I normally carry around to take pictures. Macbook, Camera, Couple of lens, GPS data logger. But none of it would be covered it I accidentally broke it, that is an additional bit of coverage. Only theft and I guess loss..
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Craig S Says:
26 November 2008 at 1:30 pm.
Brilliant Topic. Thanks for not letting this site get stale.
As Dave Smith said, typical policies in Canada allow for replacement value up to a prescribed limit. Sometimes it’s free in the premium. Otherwise it’s a small increment - like $25/yr. All you need to do is provide proof of purchase and claims are easy. I thought about it. Although I have hardcopies of all my receipts, I also have complete purchase history with the local stores I deal with + the big 3 in NYC. Proving ownership is not as hard as it used be.
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DustinFinn Says:
26 November 2008 at 10:51 pm.
I for one, can say that my experience with NANPA organization and the RAND Insurance Policy has been Spectacular.
I was at BushKill Falls in PA, I fell and dropped a tripod with a body/lens attached and a light bag that had another body/lens in it. the gear did not fare well.
The experience with RAND/CHUB Insurance was just great. Got everything itemized per single incident (this helps keep that deductible lower) and was shipping gear to the manufacturer for repair and working with the rep to get reimbursed the expense.
I have many friends that use a combined policy with another company that also covers liability.
Hint: Scot, you might want to discuss what liability insurance can do for people in/when the event arises that they are out in public and someone decides to not see your tripod and trip, fall and break a hip…
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Scott Says:
26 November 2008 at 10:57 pm.
@Dustin I’ll cover liability insurance in a separate post, along with errors and omissions insurance.
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Gary Hamburgh Says:
27 November 2008 at 1:27 pm.
Good article Scott. I have been covered through nanpa for the last couple of years. I lost a tripod and ball head over a cliff about a year ago. They covered it immediately minus my $250.00 deductible. Definitely worth having the insurance.
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Quin B. Says:
29 November 2008 at 5:59 pm.
Yup, and don’t forget to maintain a master list of serial numbers for every piece of gear…
Back in the film days, I lost a brand new $3K Canon A-1 system in a B&E….it was so new I hadn’t even jotted down the serials so I didn’t even have that to give the cops. 
I felt sick for a week…
Curiously, I’m not as uptight about losing my digital gear…the pace of obsolescence and blinding new features being so rapid, my Rebel has lost most of it’s resale and trade in value, and I’ve moved on to focus my lust on the 5D2. (However, when that cam is in the house, you can bet it’ll be insured up to the Tetons.) 
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DJ Paine Says:
29 November 2008 at 11:56 pm.
scot & the twip team - please cover this topic in an upcoming show! this is a MAJOR issue for most photographers. one week ago i had a smash and grab out of my car after a wedding and lost about $9000 {aussie dollars, so thats about $6000 US dollars} worth of my kit… i am in the middle of my claim - i have new insurers as of this year so it’s all a bit worrying…
again- please do a show on this and get a couple of people who specifically deal in photo insurance - all aspects!
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