Anyone using RVNA insurance for their gear?

[Brownie]

With the addition of the A1 and considering the venues I spend the most time in, I think I need gear insurance. I don't run a professional business in the formal sense, so I don't need liability. I found a company that rates pretty high that will provide gear insurance only. Their price for my rough estimate of gear value is $220 annually, or about $18/month. This is for replacement cost with new gear, not based on used value of equipment.

Any thoughts? Who else is insured? Any other companies that provide gear only? Most seem to want to insure a regular business.

 

[Unframed Dave]

I looked into it here, found it incredibly expensive and quite a slog as each item had to be insured.

Ended up renting on my house contents insurance instead.

 

[Brownie]

I looked into it here, found it incredibly expensive and quite a slog as each item had to be insured.

Ended up renting on my house contents insurance instead.

Must not be the same company. With RVNA you set your own limit. NO list of gear. You simply say I want insurance for $X.00 and that's it.

 

[Unframed Dave]

Must not be the same company. With RVNA you set your own limit. NO list of gear. You simply say I want insurance for $X.00 and that's it.

It was a different company.

 

[Landshark99]

My insurance is high because I am under the delusion I might want take a paying job again, so I still have liability coverage along with theft and damage

 

[Brownie]

So, after three weeks of investigation, asking questions, talking with agents, and just generally being frustrated, I ended up joining the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and activating the insurance that comes with membership. It's a blanket coverage policy (no gear schedule) of up to $15k which is fine, I rarely have more than that with me at a given time. It is full replacement value, not depreciated.

The reason I chose PPA is because I don't think I'm done looking at insurance yet, and you can pay your dues monthly. The problem I'm running into is that the majority of these policies are treated as a secondary insurance. So, if something happens at home your homeowner's would be the primary and the specialty would cover the rest. That would likely lead to your homeowner's policy being rated, which means increased premiums. By paying monthly I can opt out if I find something better by simply cancelling my membership.

 

[iamdlewis]

How much does it cost to insure 15k?
I have a separate rider to my home insurance that runs $192 a year for about 19k in listed gear.

 

[Brownie]

How much does it cost to insure 15k?
I have a separate rider to my home insurance that runs $192 a year for about 19k in listed gear.

The problem I have with using my homeowner's policy is that if you have a claim, it could cause you to be rated, at which point your premiums could go up. If you're like me, I have homeowner's, auto, and a $1M umbrella liability policy all through the same carrier. I would rather not file a claim for drop/impact damage if possible. What appears to be a good deal in the form of lower premiums could be a bad deal in terms of coverage.

Cost for one year through PPA is $320 for the full membership and all benefits attached thereto (none of which I'll probably ever use). If you want to spend $425 a year, you can get more coverage plus $1M in professional liability. Biggest difference is that this does not require a list of gear. They cover losses up to $15,000 for whatever was stolen.

If you haven't done so, it'd be a good idea to read the policy thoroughly for payout maximums, exclusions, etc. Will your HO cover mysterious loss? Does it pay based on scheduled values and depreciated replacement, or full replacement? What if the item you insured is no longer available, do they offer next model upgrade? What about water damage? What is the max single item payout, is it enough to cover the A1?