Camera Insurance Guide

Are you aware that you can get specialist insurance for your valuable camera and photographic equipment?

There are a great number of benefits to covering these items separately to your home insurance (see our guide: Cameras & Home Insurance). Whether you are an amateur, semi-professional, or fully professional photographer, there are a number of schemes available for you to choose from. www.camerainsurance.co.uk provides a range of insurers to suit your needs.

This camera insurance can often be more tailored and suitable for your needs than the more general home insurance covers you may have already looked at, and usually home insurance will not cover professional use.

Cover Provided
Depending on which cover you decide to go with, you will normally be covered for accidental damage, theft, physical loss or destruction of your cameras and/or equipment, usually on a new for old basis. Some policies also offer public liability cover and equipment hire cover.

Equipment Covered
Most of the equipment associated with your camera gear will be covered by the policies we have available, including such items as lenses, film, sound and lighting equipment, camcorders and video equipment, binoculars, telescopes, and other audio visual equipment.

Type of cover
New for old – The sum insured represents the full replacement cost of your cameras and equipment. If you own an item that is no longer manufactured then your sum insured should represent the cost of an available equivalent item.

Limits
Depending on which camera insurance you are looking at, there will normally be a maximum limit to your policy which should be equivalent to the overall total value of all your equipment. You will normally find that there will be a "single article limit", the maximum cost of one individual piece, above which value each item will need to be listed separately. For example, if the single article limit was £500, and your total value of equipment was £2,500, any individual lenses or other items that have a replacement cost of £501 or more would need to be listed separately. (Up to the overall total). Any items individually under the single article limit would not need to be specified. Often there will be certain security restrictions on the policy and you may find there is a maximum limit to your cover if these security measures are not adhered to.

Territorial Limits
Some camera insurance policies will offer a choice, either UK only cover, UK and Europe cover, or Worldwide cover. There will often be a time limit on cover abroad, so be sure to check the policy documentation.

Excess
There are variations on excesses between the camera insurance policies we have available; from zero excess on some to others being a set rate depending on the section you are claiming under.

Claims
Claims are handled by the individual camera insurance companies. Most of the time, claims are handled quickly and efficiently, if the claims process is followed properly. It is a good idea to keep a record of receipts for the cameras and equipment that you purchase as that will help to make things move quicker in the unfortunate event that you have to make a claim. Some companies may have certain restrictions for claims, for example theft from an unattended vehicle may have a time frame where the cover is not applicable. Please read the policy details carefully to check for any claim restriction or mandatory security fixtures.

Claim Exclusions
Certain activities can cause a claim to become invalid, generally damage caused by wear and tear, cleaning, repairing, defective design, grit/sand, insects, vermin or leaking batteries may be excluded, amongst others. You may also find that scratching of lenses or breakages of bulbs may not be covered unless the containing camera apparatus is damaged at the same time. Be sure to check your documentation before purchasing a policy so that you are aware of any terms and conditions applying.

So there are just some of the reasons why you should consider camera insurance. As you can see, there are a great number of benefits that you can take advantage of.

Why not get a camera insurance quote from one of the companies available through our website and see just how little it may cost to insure your camera and photographic equipment?