Insuring camera equipment

Paid work is a different policy, not an add-on

Filming a wedding for a friend in return for expenses looks harmless, but it is professional use. Personal valuables policies exclude it, even where it is only a few assignments a year. Declare the actual use on the application and report it as soon as it changes. That is the essence of Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code. If you do not, then after a loss you will not be discussing the camera but your declaration, and that is an argument you rarely win.

Hired lenses fall under care, custody and control and therefore outside the cover

Hire companies' contracts place the full risk with the hirer, including theft from a locked vehicle. Your own equipment cover does not contribute to that: damage to property belonging to someone else that you have in your care is excluded by the care, custody and control exclusion. Insure hired equipment as a separate section with its own sum insured, matched to the most expensive combination you hire on a single production, and keep the hire contract with your claim file.

This category loses value, it does not gain a penny

With jewellery or art the discussion about revaluation is upward. With camera equipment it is about depreciation. Policies pay replacement value as new for a limited period and market value thereafter, and that switch is set out in the conditions, not on your policy schedule. Record the serial number, the date of purchase and the invoice for each body and lens. Without a serial number a stolen lens cannot be identified and the police report is worth little.

Unattended in the car is a clause, not a given

Theft from a vehicle is the most common claim in this category and at the same time the most heavily conditioned. Insurers usually require the bag to be out of sight, the vehicle to be properly locked and the equipment not to be left in it overnight. If you leave the kit visible on the back seat, Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code on material fault comes into play and you are left with the loss.

A valuation is only a valuation with the right basis of value

For protection against underinsurance, the report must be drawn up as referred to in Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code, with the additional provision on value. A dealer's value statement does not always meet that requirement. The amount is then fixed for the term of the valuation. If the valuation has expired at the time of the loss, you fall back on market value.

Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code

Build your file when you buy, not when you claim

In the event of loss or theft, the first question is whether the item existed and what it was worth. Keep the purchase invoice with the serial number, the valuation report, the box and the papers, and photograph everything from several angles. Store that digitally and not only at home; after a fire or burglary that is often the only evidence left.