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Gear Insurance

Aaron Schnobrich

Aaron Schnobrich

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I'm curious who everyone uses for insuring their gear here in the United States. How well does your insurance respond to claims? Do they cover you when you go abroad?

If you don't mind divulging yearly premiums and generally what you have covered that would be a big help.

I'm needing as many of us are around 85K-100K worth of insurance that will pay total value if all is lost and cover 30-50K when traveling abroad. Full coverage while abroad would be incredible but could be too expensive.

Thoughts? Thanks !!:auto:
 
this is a good question. It took my insurance agency about 6 months to come up with a plan to cover my gear, and I really dont know if I trust it. The key for me is finding out ways of getting a policy that will cover damaged gear... and idiot proof policy. Talking with your rep is a good place to start, and make sure they understand exactly what you will be taking, how you'll be using it, and the risks involved.
 
Arts and Entertainment Insurance

Arts and Entertainment Insurance

dean merrill said:
this is a good question. It took my insurance agency about 6 months to come up with a plan to cover my gear, and I really dont know if I trust it. The key for me is finding out ways of getting a policy that will cover damaged gear... and idiot proof policy. Talking with your rep is a good place to start, and make sure they understand exactly what you will be taking, how you'll be using it, and the risks involved.
Click to expand...

Dean, we use Arts and Entertainment Insurance out of Marblehead, Mass (or somewhere near there) Andy McDonough or his son. They seem to understand our business pretty well, although I can't say they're particularly inexpensive. Nice guys though. Don't know our premiums off the top of my head.

David
 
Insurance

Insurance

I have used Dennis Reiff in NYC since I opened up my first film production company there in 1972. I highly recommend Dennis and his knowledgeable staff.
http://www.reiffinsurance.com/specialties

Insurance is not inexpensive and most rates are competitive around the country.

What matters are the people you deal with.

Good luck!

Fred Salaff
 
Oscar Ubilluz said:
..Once you sign up, ($100 annual fee), you can then use their services to get insurance.

I have about $100K insured with them right now. The overall carrier is Travelers Insurance through Hays Group Companies.
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How much are you paying to insure at $100K ?
 
A while ago we had this discussion and many people were very pleased with www.insuremyequipment.com. Many had great luck with them, and since i've bought insurance several times with them. They're also great because if you have equipment insurance with them, they offer production insurance and rentals insurance as add-on riders that are much cheaper than buying those separately - so you can buy them when you go into production, but have your owned gear insured year-round.

I have not made a claim with them, however, so I cannot speak about that process.
 
Ryan Patch said:
A while ago we had this discussion and many people were very pleased with www.insuremyequipment.com. Many had great luck with them, and since i've bought insurance several times with them. They're also great because if you have equipment insurance with them, they offer production insurance and rentals insurance as add-on riders that are much cheaper than buying those separately - so you can buy them when you go into production, but have your owned gear insured year-round.

I have not made a claim with them, however, so I cannot speak about that process.
Click to expand...

GREAT COMPANY---they offer all sorts of riders when you rent gear as well. My RED was in for repair, needed to get a loaner and they insured it for $50usd for a full two weeks. Had this on several occasions with gear rentals and additional insured with them.
 
Also curious about this. I've asked before and even started threads on this subject ... but since I have an S2 coming and it's very "steal-able" where I am now ... just curious about anyone's experience with a claims process.

I'm sure it depends on the company, but on another thread I heard that if you get something stolen, the insurance company must determine that it's IMPOSSIBLE for the item to be recovered before they pay the claim.

That's a little crazy because it could take months (depending on their definition) and then what are you supposed to do in the meantime?
 
Johnny Friday said:
GREAT COMPANY---they offer all sorts of riders when you rent gear as well. My RED was in for repair, needed to get a loaner and they insured it for $50usd for a full two weeks. Had this on several occasions with gear rentals and additional insured with them.
Click to expand...

Same here. Great Company, easy to work with.
 
claims

claims

AnthonyFlores said:
Also curious about this.

I'm sure it depends on the company, but on another thread I heard that if you get something stolen, the insurance company must determine that it's IMPOSSIBLE for the item to be recovered before they pay the claim.

That's a little crazy because it could take months (depending on their definition) and then what are you supposed to do in the meantime?
Click to expand...

Anthony asks the right question. Id be interested to hear peoples experiences with this company insuremyequipment.com (or others in this thread) as to how claims have worked out. Its one thing to be fast, easy, and reasonably priced (on the front end when they take your fee's) but if they bog down in a long process or ultimately deny a claim that is legitimate and should be paid, that's what you should be also concerned about.

I have been threw the claim process with a few different companies with very different results. One was very fast to get me a check, and then when the next premium bill arrived they hiked my premium by 250%, I guess id become a riskier client at that point, even though it was just a random theft that could have happened to anybody. I believe that was a very good insurance company but they priced themselves off my books and I took my business elsewhere.

The 2nd claim with another company attempted to deny the claim. When I confronted my sales representative that Id take them to court over the claim he decided to settle and we split the loss rather then drag it to the court process. It was a painful experience to say the least. You have to realize the insurance industry needs to protect themselves as a business (ie make it hard to claim) and if it looks to good to be true... it may be just that.

Insurance is an important issue and worthy of your time and attention. Nobody thinks they will need to make a claim.... you are careful and it wont happen to you.... but stuff happens. Ive had 2 claims over 35 years owning camera gear, not too bad I suppose. Its always when you least expect it.
 
Aaron! Whats up man?

I have my policy through http://www.auto-owners.com/ via my insurance rep.

It is an "inland marine" policy and it also covers me traveling abroad with my equipment.

I don't have quite as much gear as you do though so I can't tell you if they will cover that much or not.

PS. Coming back to Nashville soon?
 
Reiff News

Reiff News

Chris -

Just got back from Vegas - I'm hoping to be back out your way soon! Let's put this MX to work :)

I just got my quote back from Reiff insurance and am waiting to hear what my coverage will be abroad. Looks like the policy will be around 1150/year. That's covering 85K dollars of depreciated replacement value instead of retail purchase prices. Deductible at 1500.00

I'll let everyone know what the international coverage is.
 
I'm with insuremyequipment.com and I've had 2 claims, 1 for a stolen laptop and 1 for a expensive repair for a zoom lens/case dropped in transport. On both occasions, I had a check within a week with a minimum amount of hassle. I just provided the report of the loss and the appropriate receipts. I am very happy with their service.
 
Reiff News

Reiff News

Just heard back from Reiff. Coverage is worldwide for replacement cost. Flood and Earthquake coverage not included.
 
Coverage Bound!

Coverage Bound!

Bound my coverage with Reiff out of New York. Policy will be running right around 1150.00 a year with a deductible of 1500.00.

Coverage is for ~100K package so your costs may be higher or lower depending on needs. They seem to be very helpful and responsive answering questions which leads me to believe in the event of a claim they would respond positively.

If you look them up mention my name as a recommend and maybe they'll discount my policy next year :thumbup1:
 
I'm thinking about looking into a more Film-Familiar Company. Right now all my insurance is through State Farm. My house, our cars and the business. The business is a decent deal, $650 a year that gives me a million in liability and covers equipment up to 100k. They do COI's for the rental houses and properties I work on. I'm mostly happy, but some of the Cine rental houses require more specific and stringent riders that they don't do.

Yada ya,
CB
 
Florian Stadler said:
I'm with insuremyequipment.com and I've had 2 claims, 1 for a stolen laptop and 1 for a expensive repair for a zoom lens/case dropped in transport. On both occasions, I had a check within a week with a minimum amount of hassle. I just provided the report of the loss and the appropriate receipts. I am very happy with their service.
Click to expand...

For those of you that use insuremyequipment.com, how much do you pay yearly for your Red insurance?
 
Guys, you need to talk apples and apples for any worthwhile comparison. First, the larger the policy, the unit price normally comes down. Your deductable and claim history is also very important. Where you live (Las Vegas is far more expensive than say Boston). Will coverage be for local shoots or international? Are you scheduling your equipment or just a general coverage? And most policies don't include third party rentals. that's another type of policy. I'm sure someone in the industry can come up with more variables.

Be careful when using your homeowners for coverage. Coverage my only include recreational losses, not business losses. You need a good agent who knows your business. And then read the policy!!
 
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