Camera insurance & moving question

[KarenAylwood]

I'm currently living in an apartment and have renter's insurance through Met Life. I had bought separate insurance for my bridge camera and P&S (which was helpful since we got broken into!). I moved, and I never added my dSLR, and have subsequently bought 3 more lenses for it.

So now I'm looking at over ~$3K instead of ~$800. I didn't update my insurance to cover the dSLR (stupid I know). This is partly because I'm lazy, and partly because I figured where I'm living now is much safer (there's inside doors, a garage and security cameras).

Now I'm moving in with DBF. He owns a house. Would his homeowners insurance cover my camera stuff??

Do you need receipts for all of your equipment? I bought one off ebay and received the two others as gifts. Do you update your insurance company every time you buy a new lens?

 

[YesDear]

No
Yes
Yes and Yes!

Your stuff not covered under his policy. You are not an insured.

Personal camera coverage can be a double edged sword. I schedule all of my stuff. (I am also an insurance agent). The schedule shows the make model and serial # of the items insured. I put a value on them. That value is market value not replacement value. The benefit of the schedule is that I have coverage if it gets broken.

Your normal homeowners policy would cover it on a replacement cost basis but will potentially limit the perils it is insured for. Breakage not on that list.

So if you think theft is your biggest worry, not scheduling may be the best for you. Otherwise.... It is your choice.

If you have the receipt the company will ask for it, but not required. A 50mm 1.8 nikon lens is well known in the market place. If you got something rare or unique, I would have some written evidence of it's value.

 

[dmccarty]

I would doubt that his coverage his going to cover you since you are not married but you need to ask his company or read the policy.

I update my insurance coverage every time I buy/sell equipment.

Later,
Dan

 

[WVDisGeek]

YesDear nailed it. As a former insurance agent, I agree with everything he said, but I would have added that you need to make sure you continue your renter's policy when you move in with your DBF.

And don't forget to let your agent know about your new toys!

My current agent has accepted printouts from the web (Adorama/B&H/etc) as proof of market value for some of my older equipment that I didn't have original receipts for. You can ask your agent if they will accept the same.

Only my opinion but scheduling your camera gear gives you many advantages relative to the additional cost. Also, if you don't schedule, your renter's policy may have a sub-limit on electronic gear (including cameras) that might not cover all of your loss. Again, just my opinion!

 

[YesDear]

Each state has their own minor variances in coverage. Check in your agent about yours. My experience has been that most insurance companies will accept your value for coverage, but if there is a loss they are only going to pay current market value.

That being said, used DSLR lens are selling for about retail in very good condition. If you have a D70 however you will not get the 1000 dollars you paid for it.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I have personal article insurance for cameras and computers etc... about $5K is costing me $120 a year. They tell me it covers anything. From theft to dropping it in a pool. But I have not tested that yet.

I think the policy is with state farm.

Mikeeee

 

[KarenAylwood]

Thanks for all the replies.

Forgive me if this sounds dumb.. but what is a "schedule"?

I was planning on updating my renters insurance once I moved in. His place isn't unsafe, it's just more suseptible to theft than where I am right now.

When we got broken into before and my camera was stolen (little P&S) they said the current equivalent model value was $350. Meanwhile the actual camera I had was a year and a half old and you could get it on amazon.com for $250. So I bought the newer model. I'm assuming this means my insurance company goes by current price of the equivalent product if the one I have is out of date?

Would renters cover it if I lost it or had it stolen while on vacation? I should probably look into personal article insurance like JR6 mentioned. I'm worried about breakage/theft outside the home too.

 

[Todd_H]

I took out a separate inland marine policy on my major photography gear (camera body and lenses and also my wife's jewelry). This protects me when I travel with it and my deductible is lower than it would be if I wanted to cover it under my homeowners policy.