camera gear insurance

[josephz1994]

Hi guys, looking to invest in some insurance for my camera gear including public liability I currently run a photography business doing engagements, birthdays and christenings, I’m not that busy probably 2 gigs a month.

Got a couple of questions.

1. How much public liability is enough? 5m, 10, or 20million?

2. When insuring my camera gear (+ my laptop), should i include the accessories such as lens filter , battery, memory cards?


Also what do you wedding photographers do with your equipment to avoid theft, do you keep a lock on your bag and keep a close watch on it ?
do you have a tracker inside the bag also?
any suggestions would be great!

Thanks

 

[Vivid Color]

I recently got all of my gear insured through Hill and Usher and they were great to work with. Since I'm not working with other people, and was mostly concerned with theft or loss, I did not focus on liability issues, but I did list all of my filters, cards, etc. Although each one wasn't a lot of money, collectively, I was really surprised at how much all of accessories added up to. If something catastrophic happens and I lose all of my gear, I am glad that all of the accessories are covered as it would be a lot of money to lay out all over again. That said, I would include only those things that you would want to replace. For example, an accessory you bought but didn't find useful and never use, I would exclude that from the inventory. At the very least, you should list all of your stuff and add up the replacement cost to make your decision. H&U sends you a great Excel spreadsheet that makes this task very easy. (Don't bother with the PDF version as it is not detailed enough.) Hope this helps.

Vivid