Insurance on Gear?

[TrailerPark]

Hi, so I was walking through my city the other night and I came to the realisation that I have quite a substantial amount of money sitting in my backpack!

Do you guys have insurance on your gear and am I crazy not to?

Or is it just a BE CAREFUL situation? Because I doubt that I could afford to pay insurance but then again, I definitely couldn't afford to replace my gear!

[Coldfuzion]

Only thing I have is regular insurance on it. As in everything is covered short of being stolen lol. All my equipment is insured against water and accidental damage. From my MacBook Pro (The MBP costed $1000, the insurance was $450 lol) to my Maschine, to my Mouse lol.

[GrahamO]

An Equipment Floater is the type of policy that you'd be looking for........coverage can be provided on a Worldwide basis, and it can include theft. Generally you'd want to purchase a separate policy for those who are relying on their Homeowners or Renter's policy to cover a loss. An Equipment Floater Policy will have far less exclusions in term of use and territory.

[josh@firestorm]

a mate of mine also from melbourne has house and contents insurance with CGU, and he has his dj gear and computer covered if the are stolen or damaged away from his house. i dont remember how much he pays a year, but it wasn't that expensive from what i recall.

[itajeN]

Only thing I have is regular insurance on it. As in everything is covered short of being stolen lol. All my equipment is insured against water and accidental damage. From my MacBook Pro (The MBP costed $1000, the insurance was $450 lol) to my Maschine, to my Mouse lol.

jesus man, where did you buy your macbook at that made the insurance that much?? lol

[GrahamO]

a mate of mine also from melbourne has house and contents insurance with CGU, and he has his dj gear and computer covered if the are stolen or damaged away from his house. i dont remember how much he pays a year, but it wasn't that expensive from what i recall.

There's a couple downsides to this if you're going to use your Homeowners Policy.

Most of the Homeowner policies usually have deductibles around $1000, at the least.

They will also have certain sub-limits to how much it will pay for a particular type of item. Jewelry, Fine Arts, Electronics, and some other items have sub-limits regardless of the total limit on the policy. Even if your policy insures a total of $200,000 in contents (household possessions), it will have sub-limits for those items I mentioned above, i.e. $10,000 in jewelry, $15,000 in Fine Arts, etc. To get around these sub-limits you could specifically schedule each item. But this will cost an additional premium.

I don't know specifically about domestic coverage in Australia, but I don't think his policy will completely cover him if his car is stolen with the gear inside. He should ask his agent, and I think he'll be surprised. My advice would be to look into an Equipment Floater policy, they are also referred to as Inland Marine sometimes. Insurance terminology continually changes, but an Insurance Agent should know what I'm referring to.

[josh@firestorm]

There's a couple downsides to this if you're going to use your Homeowners Policy.

Most of the Homeowner policies usually have deductibles around $1000, at the least.

They will also have certain sub-limits to how much it will pay for a particular type of item. Jewelry, Fine Arts, Electronics, and some other items have sub-limits regardless of the total limit on the policy. Even if your policy insures a total of $200,000 in contents (household possessions), it will have sub-limits for those items I mentioned above, i.e. $10,000 in jewelry, $15,000 in Fine Arts, etc. To get around these sub-limits you could specifically schedule each item. But this will cost an additional premium.

I don't know specifically about domestic coverage in Australia, but I don't think his policy will completely cover him if his car is stolen with the gear inside. He should ask his agent, and I think he'll be surprised. My advice would be to look into an Equipment Floater policy, they are also referred to as Inland Marine sometimes. Insurance terminology continually changes, but an Insurance Agent should know what I'm referring to.

hmm.. good to know. i've copy and pasted your reply and passed it onto my mate so he can have a chat with his insurer and see what he's actually covered for.

[Sherlock Ohms]

For those in the UK I heartily recommend djguard.co.uk - covers your gear at home, in a club, and locked in the car or a secure area in somewhere you played, and gives you public liability insurance and accidental damage (which has just paid out on my last laptop)

[josh@firestorm]

For those in the UK I heartily recommend djguard.co.uk - covers your gear at home, in a club, and locked in the car or a secure area in somewhere you played, and gives you public liability insurance and accidental damage (which has just paid out on my last laptop)

there are similar options here in Australia too I believe. but they cost a fair bit more than putting it through house and contents (if you can - refer to GrahamO's post above).

[GrahamO]

there are similar options here in Australia too I believe. but they cost a fair bit more than putting it through house and contents (if you can - refer to GrahamO's post above).

You might save a little by including it within a Homeowners policy, but I've issued floaters with a minimum premium of $200. The $200 insures approximately $24,000 in equipment, without all the stipulations of a Homeowners policy. The Homeowners policy is not intended to insure equipment away from the house. It is meant for Fire, Theft (and wind, depending on your state) to the house itself. Not to say it doesn't cover other occurrences, but that is not it's intention. The Equipment Floater is a policy specifically designed for this exposure.