High personal possession insurance?

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dancook

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Looking at renewing my home contents and building insurance - and need high amount of personal possession.

If I upgrade to Directline Line 'plus' they provide up to £5000 unspecified per item, but only £10,000 max possessions.

Are there any providers out there with, say, £20,000 + max possession?
 
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If its anything like mine you will have to have the item(s) valued and declare them separately which is what I have to do with my watch as it is over the individual limit for my insurer, short answer ask them.
 
troutfisher said:
If its anything like mine you will have to have the item(s) valued and declare them separately which is what I have to do with my watch as it is over the individual limit for my insurer, short answer ask them.
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I've already spoken to directline, I could specify items over £5000 - but they said they cannot change the max combined amount from £10,000. So if the total of possessions are more than £10k I'm stuffed.
 
Does that include clothes, furniture etc ?

I can't check, but am fairly sure we have something like £40,000 worth of contents, and we don't have anything fancy or expensive aside from camera-type items which are detailed


Edit - am I being a fool as the title of your thread is personal possession ....
 
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dancook said:
I've already spoken to directline, I could specify items over £5000 - but they said they cannot change the max combined amount from £10,000. So if the total of possessions are more than £10k I'm stuffed.
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Try Aviva-I find them very good for cars and their household quote is very good although I have not changed to them -yet
 
troutfisher said:
Try Aviva-I find them very good for cars and their household quote is very good although I have not changed to them -yet
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I will phone them up then, since their online presence doesn't suggest they can provide 20k+ possession cover..

I don't aim to phone every insurance company.. so if anyone has first hand experience related to what I need.. that would save me some time.
 
Archie747 said:
Try Hiscox, I think they offer unlimited insurance.
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I will have to ring them up too, i tried their online form - but as soon as I mentioned building work in 'last 3 months over £75k' they said 'call us'
 
Hiscox did sound promising but they won't cover a house with building works in progress :( even if we are 80% done
 
I popped £30,000 cover into photoguard and it's over £600 :( similar with eversure
 
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Dan, as you're doing some paid work, you should consider pro insurance, as an insurer would love to charge you a fortune to add your photo gear then refuse to pay out because the small print says personal and not business equipment.

The bad news is that it's the gear value that pushes premiums up there too.
 
Phil V said:
Dan, as you're doing some paid work, you should consider pro insurance, as an insurer would love to charge you a fortune to add your photo gear then refuse to pay out because the small print says personal and not business equipment.

The bad news is that it's the gear value that pushes premiums up there too.
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When I'm shooting a wedding I have the gear I take on my possession (still 20k+) I'm unlikely to get mugged during the wedding. So it seems reasonable to get something that covers me for personal use, with some worldwide cover - if only limited to 20-30 days.

If pro insurance is what photoguard or eversure are quoting - I'd have to do 3-4 weddings just to cover it .. if it's not.. then it'll be more
 
dancook said:
When I'm shooting a wedding I have the gear I take on my possession (still 20k+) I'm unlikely to get mugged during the wedding. So it seems reasonable to get something that covers me for personal use, with some worldwide cover - if only limited to 20-30 days.

If pro insurance is what photoguard or eversure are quoting - I'd have to do 3-4 weddings just to cover it .. if it's not.. then it'll be more
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Like I said though, general insurers would use the fact you do pro work to refuse to pay out, you're considered a bigger risk, not just when you're 'on the job'.
 
Phil V said:
Like I said though, general insurers would use the fact you do pro work to refuse to pay out, you're considered a bigger risk, not just when you're 'on the job'.
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Thanks Phil, I just spoke to Adrian Flux - they asked if I used them professionally - which I do, so they won't cover them even for personal use because of that. Maybe I should have asked what about 'semi-professionally'? :)

Oh this is a royal pain... using high value photography gear to make low amount of money - you could eventually save money by not doing any professional work at all :D
 
Dan... can you get them insured for personal use, but then when you do something professional pay for cover with a separate company?
 
dancook said:
Thanks Phil, I just spoke to Adrian Flux - they asked if I used them professionally - which I do, so they won't cover them even for personal use because of that. Maybe I should have asked what about 'semi-professionally'? :)

Oh this is a royal pain... using high value photography gear to make low amount of money - you could eventually save money by not doing any professional work at all :D
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It would be the same if you tried to insure a Ferrari but said that you only drive it over 50mph 3 times a year. The insurance company is going to charge you according to those 3 times a year rather than the other 362 days.

Unfortunately, £30k of photography equipment is a huge risk to any insurer so they've not going to let you off lightly.
 
Hiscox do me all manner of professional insurance inc EL, PL etc plus £60k of kit worldwide for just over 600 inc vat.
 
Phil V said:
Dan, as you're doing some paid work, you should consider pro insurance, as an insurer would love to charge you a fortune to add your photo gear then refuse to pay out because the small print says personal and not business equipment.
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And then the house becomes a business place and whoops goes the house insurance ... or something like that (and if a photographer, I believe car insurance would go up too).
 
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TLR-330 said:
And then the house becomes a business place and whoops goes the house insurance ... or something like that (and if a photographer I believe car insurance would go up too).
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:D that's it I quit.. I can't afford to shoot weddings any more..
 
TLR-330 said:
And then the house becomes a business place and whoops goes the house insurance ... or something like that (and if a photographer, I believe car insurance would go up too).
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House insurance is fine for a small business that doesn't have customers visit. Likewise car insurance including business use if photography isn't your primary source of income.
 
Spoke to Hiscox about camera cover including business use

cover for £33,368 is £512.51 a year ~ £42.60 a month

it's a shame to pay someone half a grand every year as a 'just in case' :( but i guess it's good value compared to eversure and photoguard
 
dancook said:
Spoke to Hiscox about camera cover including business use

cover for £33,368 is £512.51 a year ~ £42.60 a month

it's a shame to pay someone half a grand every year as a 'just in case' :( but i guess it's good value compared to eversure and photoguard
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Better than paying for a new Leica if you drop it.
 
Phil V said:
House insurance is fine for a small business that doesn't have customers visit. Likewise car insurance including business use if photography isn't your primary source of income.
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Car insurance surely you need to include business use, while most insurance as standard is “social use and commuting”. It’s usually a option when buying insurance.
 
If I don't get paid for weddings and go for the kicks.. is that business use :D
 
dancook said:
If I don't get paid for weddings and go for the kicks.. is that business use :D
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Depends if you're asking a company to replace the £30k of kit that was stolen, that you happened to have on you while you were passing the wedding.
 
Just done this years combined buildings and contents. Have £40k high value ( easily nickable and transportable in insurance parlance irrespective of the actual value) in total with £20k limit out of house for my camera gear and laptop and only need to declare any item over replacement cost of £3k. Not yet hit d5 or 500/600mm f4 so nothing on there. I report clerical business use for my wife and i, both non photography pro's, which allows 10 customer visits to home per week. £100 excess, contents insurance element £ 170 p.a. with halifax

I think weekend warriors might look more at contents insurance and declare on contents to see if it works. I've still got the total contents at £100k+ on that and its new for old plus accident. Have to be sensible in not leaving boot unlocked or walking away from gear but not convinced pro insurance covers stupidity more than domestic contents does.
 
Phil V said:
House insurance is fine for a small business that doesn't have customers visit. Likewise car insurance including business use if photography isn't your primary source of income.
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I wrote...

Phil V said:
House insurance is fine for a small business that doesn't have customers visit. Likewise car insurance including business use if photography isn't your primary source of income.
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Ive had business use added for ever, and the addition is tiny, much cheaper than if I was full time photographer, and oddly they don't care what the 'business' is.
 
If you require specific camera have a look at Glover and Howe. I am a mere amateur but I was surprised when I calculated the replacement cost of my gear and found out my house insurance policy had restrictions like a low level of in car cover and no cover for hotel rooms. I also did not want any potential claim to impact on my NCD. The G&H policy had far less restrictions and as much I didn't want to pay for more insurance, the price was reasonable. No idea how they deal with building work in progress and I have not read their business policy.
 
Pro cover often covers gear left in cars, a lot of household policies don't cover this especially overseas. Also you effectively get separate public liability insurance, business PL is rarely covered on domestic household policies. IMO better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather know I'm covered than hope I'm covered.

I'm with Glover and Howe as well for my photo gear and PL insurance.

Hiscox though do offer good tailored policies, but when equipment values get high specialist insurers like Chubb are often a good bet.
 
My camera gear is covered "all risks" on my Santander home insurance. It is not the cheapest home insurance but gives me cover for £25K + of gear so long as it is on this planet.

Worth a look?
 
johnf3f said:
My camera gear is covered "all risks" on my Santander home insurance. It is not the cheapest home insurance but gives me cover for £25K + of gear so long as it is on this planet.

Worth a look?
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thanks I went with Santander, i get a % back from direct debit on my 1-2-3 debit account which is a small bonus.

Premier, unlimited cover buildings, contents, up to £2500 for bicycle in outbuilding.
Covered £33368 specified 3 bodies / 5 lenses covered worldwide - except during any business use.

Specified £500 excess on buildings/contents, fixed £50 excess on personal belongings and specified photographic gear.

£610.58

Took some time to get it all past the underwriter..
 
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Interesting, bit less than I am paying for similar cover, looks like I may need to check Santander out before next year's renewal as we have an account with them.
Thanks.
 
dancook said:
Premier, unlimited cover buildings, contents, up to £2500 for bicycle in outbuilding.
Covered £33368 specified 3 bodies / 5 lenses covered worldwide - except during any business use.
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So does that mean you're not covered for Business use at all?
 
I did mean to say. Considering you've spent over £30k on the kit over the last 18 months, it seems odd to be haggling over £500 per year to cover that kit for theft/damage ;)
 
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