A case for gear insurance - my story

[WesternGuy]

As some of you know, I was in Botswana recently on safari and took a lot of pictures. It was a great life experience, but one of the things I did not count on was having to make a claim on my camera equipment insurance. On the last leg of our safari, I was changing lenses in our cabin and removed my 24-105, placed it on the bed (I mean the bed is flat and soft - what can happen?), walked down to the end of the bed to retrieve the 100-400 out of my pack and as my wife let out a small shriek..."watch out....", I turned to see the 24-105 roll from the bed and fall about 30 cm onto the hard wooden floor. The UV filter was cracked and broken and the lens frame around the objective was slightly bent. With the help of one of the guides - a photo buff himself - we managed to remove all of the glass from the filter, but could not, for the life of us, remove the filter ring. The lens still functioned for the remainder of the trip, I just could not use it with a filter, nor could I get the #$% filter ring off the lens. :mad2:

When I returned home, I called my agent and we entered a claim - within two weeks, it was settled and I had a new 24-105 and hopefully, once the Canadian postal service gets its act together (they are on rotating strikes against the government), I will have a cheque for the full price including tax back in my hands - no fuss, no muss, no bother, no static, no problems.

So, if any of you folks are wondering if it is worth insuring you photo gear - my answer would be a big resounding - YES - I figure I got back in this one claim, all the money I have paid out over the last several years in insurance premiums.

Cheers,

WesternGuy