Photo insurance. Any experience when making a claim?

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Gregory

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Hello to everybody

I need some help related to photo insurance. I bought a new camera recently and decided I need insurance for it. I’ve found a few companies. I’m the most interested in: PhotoGuard, Aaduki, Glover & Howe, Imaging Insurance, InFocus Insurance and Towergate –Camerasure.

Well, that’s quite a few terms and conditions to read... Some cheaper and some more expensive quotes... But I don’t want to talk about the prices. I’d prefer to concentrate on a different subject. I’d like to know what happens if things go wrong and I’ll have to make a claim. I wouldn’t like to talk about policy details like: in vehicle cover, public liability, professional indemnity, UK vs worldwide cover, etc. if the details are not related to making a claim, thanks.

Have you got insurance from the above companies and have you ever had to make a claim? If yes, have you experienced good, bad or very bad customer service? Any of them tried to avoid paying out for a claim and why? Please, share any experience.

Thanks a lot for your help guys. :)
 
This subject comes up regularly, it might be worth doing a search.
But my experience is, don't use E & L. They are pretty useless. Actually, totally useless. Don't even get me onto the subject of cover if your gear is in the car with them!
I moved over to these and had to make a claim in my first year. It was a painless efficient experience. The cheque arrived within 5 days if I remember correctly. I've just renewed with them again.
The most important thing I found with companies, was trying to suss out the cover for gear left in a vehicle. Absolute minefield. Absolute joke with E & L.
Hope that gives you a bit of insight. Some will say just use your household insurance.

Kev.
 
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andy182 said:
Photoguard have a good reputation for being easy to deal with
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yup, a good reputation for not paying up

had £2500 worth of camera equipment nicked from Brands Hatch Media centre. PG refused to pay up because it was unattended and there was no sign of a break in

i also used their cycleguard policy for my mountain bike. they decided they wouldnt pay up the whole amount because my bike was nicked from the secure cycle area in the secure underground car park (bike locked, cycle area locked, car park locked) which counts as a communal area.. had i locked it to the other side of the railings (i.e. out on the street) it would have been OK (or at least they would have wriggled out of it a different way.

from my unpleasant experience of this company i have learned two things
1) use a general insurance policy rather than specific
or
2) Just dont let anything you own of any value out of your site and dont waste money on photoguard.


(sorry to all those who've seen this rant a 100 times before)
 
What are Aaduki like? I've just had a quote from them and it's £70 less than my Photoguard renewal..:shrug:
 
I’ve just checked many other similar threads. Wow, there is a lot about insurance here! Good to read about your experience Kev, cheers.

Gary, I’ve seen your post about Photoguard earlier. This thread is all about sharing experience, so thanks for you time and for posting it here too.

Thanks Neil, very useful. That’s the thread I’ve seen earlier.

Okay, so when it comes to paying out for a claim, I’ve seen just 1 negative opinion about Photoguard and a few positive ones – not bad. Nobody had problems with Imaging Insurance, Glover and Howe, nor AAduki. Not much about InFocus Insurance and Towergate. And yeah, it’s certainly better to avoid E & L!

I’ll still read T & C of 4 most popular and often recommended photo insurers – Photoguard, Aaduki, Imaging Insurance, Glover and Howe and phone some of them too. Anyway, your help gave me direction where to go! Thanks guys! :-)
 
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I've been with Aaduki for a few years and had to claim once. Friendly to deal with and my claim was handled without hassle. Submitted a claim form and days later had brand new replacement kit. I'm still with them to this day.
 
DigitalRelish said:
I've been with Aaduki for a few years and had to claim once. Friendly to deal with and my claim was handled without hassle. Submitted a claim form and days later had brand new replacement kit. I'm still with them to this day.
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How many times did the premium go up after the claim? I doubt they are charity rather than very blood thirsty business.
 
daugirdas said:
How many times did the premium go up after the claim? I doubt they are charity rather than very blood thirsty business.
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The premium did rise the following year, but not by a huge amount and it's stayed at a similar level since.

I'm not sure what you're suggesting or how else you'd expect them to react. Seems reasonable to me that those who make claims pay more those who don't.
 
Only have one experience - I insured with Glover & Howe and dropped a bunch of gear off the side of a mountain.

They asked me to send an email explaining what happened, which I did, then I just sent them a list of what I'd lost with a total price and they sent me a cheque.

Very helpful people and seem to have a good reputation.
 
I'd have a look at Marks & Sparks home insurance, they do cover for personal gear (bikes, cameras etc) upto £4k without having to name/list bits, it even covers away from home and when I had a cycle nicked they were very easy and promt to settle without agro.
 
shooter560 said:
I'd have a look at Marks & Sparks home insurance, they do cover for personal gear (bikes, cameras etc) upto £4k without having to name/list bits, it even covers away from home and when I had a cycle nicked they were very easy and promt to settle without agro.
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I’ll choose a photo insurance. If I want to shot some local sport it’s better to have public liability included. Besides the most valuable items I have in my rented flat is photo gear anyway. Cheers
 
By the way, as you can see I’m new to this forum. Quick question: why does my flickr page not appear under my posts? I’ve put a link to it at “Home page URL” part of my details.
 
Gregory said:
By the way, as you can see I’m new to this forum. Quick question: why does my flickr page not appear under my posts? I’ve put a link to it at “Home page URL” part of my details.
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If you click on your username (to the left of your posts) then a link to your homepage should now appear as a result of you doing the above.

For signatures which appear under your posts, you need to read this.
 
Gregory said:
Thanks mate, your help + a bit of search and I've got it done.
EDIT: I will have it done... It appears in preview but doesn’t in a post!
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Your sig only appears once in a thread, so as you'd already posted in this thread I would assume that it wont show your sig even if it's enabled after your 1st post.
 
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