Insuring your own equipment

[Michael LaVoie]

I'm looking to add a commercial blanket policy over my equipment. I have basically about $20K worth of camera and lighting gear. Not much but enough to be concerned about if my van was stolen. Can anyone recommend a good insurance company to go with?

[Alessandro Machi]

I'm looking to add a commercial blanket policy over my equipment. I have basically about $20K worth of camera and lighting gear. Not much but enough to be concerned about if my van was stolen. Can anyone recommend a good insurance company to go with?

 

 

State Farm actually may have what you are looking for. But be careful, some insurance policies no longer cover anything stolen from your vehicle. Sometimes exceptions are made if the vehicle is within a certain distance from your home, was properly locked, and there is a clear sign of an actual break in versus a thief who perhaps gained access via a spare key or some other method that an acquaintance might know to use.

 

If you are on location, keep your vehicle in a line of sight to your filming location whenever possible.

 

One nice benefit to having an insurance policy is it becomes a lot easier to get an emergency equipment rental. The insurance company can send a loss payee certificate to the rental vendors. Also, these policies may carry on location liability so if your gear falls on someone and injures them, you actually may be protected by the insurance policy.