Page 3 of 7 FirstFirst 12345 ... LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 61

Thread: Insurance Questions

  1. #21
    Alan Klein's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    New Jersey was NYC
    Posts
    2,580

    Re: Insurance Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by djdister View Post
    My approach when traveling with gear is: 1) keep it within my arm's reach; 2) locked in vehicle that is within my direct line of vision; or 3) secured someplace that is not easily pilferable. This has meant constantly hauling all my gear into and out of the motel with me (as Michael noted), carrying on my equipment onto the plane, eating in restaurants with large windows that allow me to see my vehicle while I eat, and just generally staying as glued to my equipment as possible during all phases of travel. The minute you aren't thinking about the security of your gear (p.s. you are not on a "vacation" when you have $$$ of gear with you), you will lose it. Be paranoid my friend.

    This approach has worked for me for 40 years.
    One advantage of not taking expensive equipment with you on vacation. It's hard to enjoy anything you're doing when your mind is on your equipment in your room or the car.

  2. #22
    Alan Klein's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    New Jersey was NYC
    Posts
    2,580

    Re: Insurance Questions

    Be careful with home insurance for my rental apartment I had it once that covered stuff in the trunk of my car. I got hit twice in one year and after the second claim (both were for under $1000), the insurance company blackballed me so I couldn't get home insurance from any insurance company in the US for three years. So my apartment was not covered for theft or fire for those three years.

  3. #23
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,337

    Re: Insurance Questions

    Alan, I don't know the laws in your state, but any practice like that would be highly illegal here. I would have called their bluff, at least after I got past my own early adult initiation into the ways of the world. Insurance agents are often given an incentive to lie and stall as much as often as possible. They just want to wear you out trying. One sometimes has to play hardball with them.

    I haven't personally had any issues with homeowner policies. I've stuck with the same firm for a long time due to that. But
    after all our terrible urban fires twenty years ago, being deeply involved at the rebuilding supply end of things, I saw up close all the dirty tricks which certain insurance companies used to keep their policy holders outright homeless for up to five years. That did amount to a tremendous cumulative layout of insurance funds all at once, given both the quantity and sheer expense apiece of all the lost properties in a very uppity area. But insurance companies are in the game of risk, and bet wrong sometimes, and are expected to pay out.

    But every time they can delay or frustrate the process, even over a small petty payout, it means that they're still earning interest on what they hold. It's a for-profit game. They teach corporate underlings simply to say "no" over the phone, and serious lawyers or negotiators only as a last resort. Messing with one's credit or using threats can be a risky game, because it potentially carries felony implications. Once someone points that out to them, and lets them they're not ignorant of the law, things start to happen. But gosh, what did any of us really know when we were young adults?

  4. #24
    Pieter's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    939

    Re: Insurance Questions

    Insurance companies are in the business of not paying.

  5. #25
    Alan Klein's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    New Jersey was NYC
    Posts
    2,580

    Re: Insurance Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Alan, I don't know the laws in your state, but any practice like that would be highly illegal here. I would have called their bluff, at least after I got past my own early adult initiation into the ways of the world. Insurance agents are often given an incentive to lie and stall as much as often as possible. They just want to wear you out trying. One sometimes has to play hardball with them.

    I haven't personally had any issues with homeowner policies. I've stuck with the same firm for a long time due to that. But
    after all our terrible urban fires twenty years ago, being deeply involved at the rebuilding supply end of things, I saw up close all the dirty tricks which certain insurance companies used to keep their policy holders outright homeless for up to five years. That did amount to a tremendous cumulative layout of insurance funds all at once, given both the quantity and sheer expense apiece of all the lost properties in a very uppity area. But insurance companies are in the game of risk, and bet wrong sometimes, and are expected to pay out.

    But every time they can delay or frustrate the process, even over a small petty payout, it means that they're still earning interest on what they hold. It's a for-profit game. They teach corporate underlings simply to say "no" over the phone, and serious lawyers or negotiators only as a last resort. Messing with one's credit or using threats can be a risky game, because it potentially carries felony implications. Once someone points that out to them, and lets them they're not ignorant of the law, things start to happen. But gosh, what did any of us really know when we were young adults?
    This happened to me 30-40 years ago. So laws could have changed. It wasn't that they didn't pay. They did. They just wouldn't renew my insurance after the second rather inexpensive claim in about one year.. And every other company I called wouldn't provide imsurance. I found out I was on a three year "blackball" list that was industry wide.

  6. #26
    Paul Ron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    692

    Re: Insurance Questions

    its common for a insurance carriers to drop you or put you in an assigned risk pool which will charge you triple premiums. they hate paying out... they are legalized mobsters.

    remember glass insurace for small businesses? mobsters were going around breaking neighborhood store windows unless the owners payed a kick back. now its legal extortion. cant drive without insurance! gotta have mortgage insurance, n fire insurance... etc... etc

  7. #27

    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Posts
    232

    Re: Insurance Questions

    I worked for an insurance company for a few years, years ago. Someone who worked in claims told me they just pay out on a first claim without worrying (unless the policy was very new), but got suspicious second time around. Someone fully trained in being awkward (much as Drew outlined above) would poke through the details generally trying to catch people out or hassle them into giving up on it.

    This is not entirely unjustified on their part. Years back I bought a broken turntable on eBay thinking I could fix it (main bearing snapped after a big drop). No such luck, but I called the manufacturer to see if it was repairable at the factory - they weren't interested, but immediately asked if I had new for old house contents cover suggesting that if I claimed I could get the latest model of that turntable, even though the broken turntable was about 20 years old. The new model of that deck was around £6,000 at the time, they didn't care if an insurance company paid for it through fraud on my end (I had explained that I'd bought the deck broken on eBay). I didn't have any further dealings with that audio company. The common scam in those days actually often involved cameras, but I won't go into details of how to defraud insurance companies here.

    One of the more costly forms of insurance fraud went on in Nepal, trekking. I heard they are trying to stamp it out, but a few years back anyone with travel insurance could trek high into the Himalayas, then say they had a bit of altitude sickness and get a helicopter ride back to Kathmandu. Local pilots charged about $5000 for this flight at the time, payable by the insurance company. It's impossible to prove that the altitude sickness was fake, and the symptoms generally disappear right after you lose some altitude so no acting sick is required thereafter. I met an eccentric fellow who did exactly this to get out of Everest region in a hurry. He'd trekked around asking everyone he met if they'd seen a bear - I thought he was joking around, but later heard from his guide that he'd brought some cured salmon thinking the smell would lure Himalayan bears out. This quite bemused the locals. Maybe he'd read too much Reinhold Messner. Anyway, he tired of this quest after reaching Kala Patthar and feigned altitude sickness to claim on his insurance cover for a chopper evac. He had confided to someone that he was just a bit tired and wanted a proper hot shower and breakfast. Word spread and a small group of people turned up to watch the drama of his evacuation. I heard that he played almost dead while being carried into the helicopter before suddenly getting excited and asking for his camera before takeoff. He was last seen excitedly snapping photos from a window with his DSLR.

  8. #28

    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    Greenbank, WA
    Posts
    2,605

    Re: Insurance Questions

    My thoughts on all this:

    1. If you earn money being a photographer, then you should not rely on your homeowner's policy to cover your equipment. The "adjuster" (interesting job title, if you think about it) will nonchalantly try to get you to say something after the loss to trigger that exclusion.

    2. Typical homeowners' policies (up to their limits) are likely to cover. They do have much lower limits as to certain kinds of property, that will be spelled out in the policy. You have to read the policy to look for that. Stamps and coins, for example, are usually limited to $100 or something like that. Firearms usually have low limits. Jewelry always has a low limit. To be cynical about it, most of the valuable non-household stuff will have a much lower limit, for some reason... But read the policy, you don't need a lawyer to look for this. They tend not to put limits on camera equipment, but check and see. Once you see no such limit, send a confirming email to your agent indicating that's how you view it and get their confirmation. Having a long-term relationship with an agent is a good thing. They are much more on your side than an adjuster.

    3. CRITICALLY IMPORTANT is getting REPLACEMENT coverage. You get a new one of whatever was stolen, not some depreciated used value aka 'fair market value at the time of the loss.' If it is the latter, you will be fighting about it forever. If the replacement, current model, is 'better,' you should be getting that. When my F2 was stolen I got a new F3HP. If you want the older version you lost, the carrier will be delighted to help you replace it in kind and save themselves some money.

    4. Be able to document your stuff. Have a Word file somewhere with each item and its serial number. Shoot some photos of the stuff and if you have photos of you using your stuff in the field, keep those. Receipts for what you bought or some proof of purchase is great too. Print Craigslist or Ebay pages if that is how you got your older stuff. Adjusters are used to complete and utterly fraudulent BS from policy holders. If you are the exception, with your ducks in a row, you'll get paid. If they don't pay a legitimate claim, get a lawyer and you'll come out considerably ahead if they are wrong.

    5. Whatever you do, don't exaggerate one little bit. Don't cheat.

  9. #29
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,337

    Re: Insurance Questions

    pjd - an aside, but the very first helicopter rescue done in relation to Everest was done by an uncle of mine, an engineer sent by the US to replace certain rope bridges in Nepal with steel ones, who had the only helicopter in the country at that time. He rescued the two famous frostbitten climbers from the first successful US expedition up Everest, namely, the two who had pioneered the West Ridge route, Unsoeld and Hornbein, if I am spelling their names correctly. It was an extremely expensive expedition sponsored by National Geographic Society. And it was a risky helicopter operation never attempted before at that kind of altitude, and Natl Geo never did reimburse even the fuel expense, let alone publicly acknowledge the favor. They always prefer to toot their own horn.

    I was 12 at the time, and my uncle and aunt invited me to spend a year in Nepal with them. But I was rather sick at the time, so a cousin went instead.

  10. #30
    Alan Klein's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    New Jersey was NYC
    Posts
    2,580

    Re: Insurance Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin Crisp View Post
    My thoughts on all this:

    1. If you earn money being a photographer, then you should not rely on your homeowner's policy to cover your equipment. The "adjuster" (interesting job title, if you think about it) will nonchalantly try to get you to say something after the loss to trigger that exclusion.

    2. Typical homeowners' policies (up to their limits) are likely to cover. They do have much lower limits as to certain kinds of property, that will be spelled out in the policy. You have to read the policy to look for that. Stamps and coins, for example, are usually limited to $100 or something like that. Firearms usually have low limits. Jewelry always has a low limit. To be cynical about it, most of the valuable non-household stuff will have a much lower limit, for some reason... But read the policy, you don't need a lawyer to look for this. They tend not to put limits on camera equipment, but check and see. Once you see no such limit, send a confirming email to your agent indicating that's how you view it and get their confirmation. Having a long-term relationship with an agent is a good thing. They are much more on your side than an adjuster.

    3. CRITICALLY IMPORTANT is getting REPLACEMENT coverage. You get a new one of whatever was stolen, not some depreciated used value aka 'fair market value at the time of the loss.' If it is the latter, you will be fighting about it forever. If the replacement, current model, is 'better,' you should be getting that. When my F2 was stolen I got a new F3HP. If you want the older version you lost, the carrier will be delighted to help you replace it in kind and save themselves some money.

    4. Be able to document your stuff. Have a Word file somewhere with each item and its serial number. Shoot some photos of the stuff and if you have photos of you using your stuff in the field, keep those. Receipts for what you bought or some proof of purchase is great too. Print Craigslist or Ebay pages if that is how you got your older stuff. Adjusters are used to complete and utterly fraudulent BS from policy holders. If you are the exception, with your ducks in a row, you'll get paid. If they don't pay a legitimate claim, get a lawyer and you'll come out considerably ahead if they are wrong.

    5. Whatever you do, don't exaggerate one little bit. Don't cheat.
    My camera equipment isn't covered but jewelry is as a rider. Every year it seems to go up in value according to the insurance company so they raise the premium to cover the additional valuation. I wonder if it's worth it? It sounds a little like a gimmick.

    Also, I'm curious about homes today. My homeowner's fire/liability/etc. insurance required by the mortgage company was set up 8 years ago at the price we paid when we bought it then. But with houses going up lately due to inflation, it's worth a lot more. Does it pay to increase the coverage? Hasn;t the cost to rebuild gone up a lot too adding to my concern?

Similar Threads

  1. insurance
    By Wayne in forum Location & Travel
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 22-Feb-2009, 11:24
  2. Health Insurance
    By QT Luong in forum Business
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 28-Dec-2006, 05:33
  3. Insurance ?
    By Steve H in forum Business
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 13-Jan-2006, 09:44

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •