Insurance - Best Practices

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Rather than the usual, who are the best insurer question, this is an insurance related question with a little bit of twist.

I had a quick search but nothing cropped up, so if someone else can find a related thread, please link it up.

What I’m after and what I think would be handy for TP as a whole is an insured equipment ‘best practices’ thread.

Having read a couple of nightmare scenarios, including one on here regarding a massive loss from a locked vehicle I think it would be beneficial to have a couple of scenarios penned out and what and how you keep your gear to ensure you’re covered should the worst happen.

I will shortly be with Photoguard and having spent some time with the policy wording, it’s clear to me that the first piece of advice to everyone with cover should be to make sure you read the wording and understand the conditions of the cover thoroughly as they can be intricate with exclusions that unless you’re aware of them, could give you a false sense of “I’m covered” security.

The first scenario I’m going to pop up with is as a none professional with less the £10k equipment and no single item worth more than £3k. The policy has in vehicle cover which I think is an essential extra for anyone wanting to photograph anything other than your kitchen surfaces or bedroom carpets. Perhaps this thread will be most useful to none professionals like myself, as those who make a living off of photography will probably literally make it their business to understand their cover inside out.

Anyway, onto my scenario(s):

If I’m away from home and I have my equipment with me, whatever isn’t on my person or in use at any time should be locked, out of sight in the boot of my car. Out of sight means that the parcel shelf is on and seats are upright, or if it’s an estate, the cover is drawn over the boot space. It has to be the boot or glove compartment as they are the only designated “luggage compartments”. In the foot wells, under the seats or covered in the back are no good. Even though it’s away from me, outside the building and seems like it’s a million miles from me at times, the car if properly secured like this is the only place I can guarantee I’m covered. If the venue I’m at has a locked store or safe bag room, I won’t use it. If I’m in a hotel for the night and out for a drink or something to eat or otherwise away from my equipment, my equipment stays locked in the boot of the car, not left locked in the room. The reason for this is that if anything goes missing, it has to be by forced entry and with a wedding venue, hotel room or whatnot – I don’t know who else has a key or access to that area and it just isn’t worth the risk. There is also issues with lock standards, if a venue offers me space in a luggage or bag room, I don’t want to be ****ing about with a magnifying glass examining the BS standards on the locks etc.

Hopefully this thread will fill with useful advice for people looking for insurance, or even people already insured. If it’s useless and just bombs, oh well, it only took me 15 minutes to type out :D
 
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