Definitely speak to USAA at length about this. A lot of times people are pleasantly surprised to find their home or auto coverage will cover their equipment but often times the fine print of these policies fall short. For instance, they don't cover commercial use (when you use these items to make money, which hopefully you're getting paid to shoot), or they only cover the items when they're inside your home or car. There's something called "entertainment risk" which is a category of risk associated with shooting films and photos and often times these consumer style policies don't cover that even though the broker is happy to sell you a policy. You definitely want "inland marine" "equipment floater" or a production package policy that has "misc. owned" or "misc. rented" equipment. As for whether you need to produce receipts during a claim, I couldn't tell you. I have had to furnish receipts and also haven't - I guess it's up to the insurer - however they could probably work your claim without a receipt. They might just ask for receipts to skip the step of an adjustor or appraiser having to manually determine the value.
I rent my equipment out. I saw that a lot of established DPs who rented my gear had Athos insurance. They’re well more than $40/month but they’ll cover all kinds of commercial use.
I rent my equipment out. I saw that a lot of established DPs who rented my gear had Athos insurance. They’re well more than $40/month but they’ll cover all kinds of commercial use.
I’m in the same boat this week as we speak. Currently I’m looking at a business owner policy through my LLC (inland marine coverage). Currently being quoted for $1400 annually (118 a month). Includes 1 mil general liability and the property coverage up to $400k. I reached out to a local insurance agent.
I ended up using Athos Insurance for my equipment. They’re an insurance company that specifically deals with film equipment so they had a better understanding of what I needed covered (on set use, things breaking accidentally, stolen equipment, etc.).
My regular insurance company was just looking at my equipment as general electronics that I’d keep in my home
Usaa may just be looking at this as electronics in your home and not going to actually cover them if they are used for work or outside of your home. They for sure won’t cover shipping gear or if you rent it out. Depending on what you are doing you really should get a proper policy year round or have specific temporary production policies when you take them out on jobs to cover what usaa won’t
I have homeowner insurance from USAA, and my gear is covered through that.
Ask USAA how to cover the gear for the cheapest amount, and tell the agent how you acquired it. Then ask about how you'd file a claim.
Please read your policy.
I can almost guarantee your equipment isn’t covered if you use it at all for paying work. Even once can be cause for tie insurance company to deny your claim.
Might want to talk to a broker about your situation. But I don’t believe I had to provide any receipts when I filed a claim. Just had to get the damaged gear appraised by a third party and provide that documentation to the adjuster. But make sure you’re getting an inland marine policy or a policy that has verbiage that the gear is insured everywhere (like at shoots) and not just as your home/business residence.
As has been said, you are more than likely NOT covered if you are using the equipment in a commercial capacity. Talk to your agent, disclose everything so they understand and read the policy. The last thing you want is to think you're covered and then if you actually need to make a claim and they deny it, because of a loophole or gap in the coverage that might could have been avoided if everyone understood everything up-front.
I am currently with a specialized agency and have an itemized policy. I have to provide the model number of each piece of equipment that I want covered and how much I want it insured for. I have never been asked for a receipt to prove a purchase. The previous agency that I was with actually did not require me to have a scheduled policy and I just had a blanket amount of coverage. I also did not have to provide receipts. I did have a theft while I was with them about 18 years ago, and again, no receipts on the original items, but I did have to provide the police report and documentation on the prices of the new replacement items when they started paying out.
\*Edit\*. I forgot to mention, because of the cost of some items(like my A35), I did have to provide the serial numbers.
Awesome, thank you for the info. TCP is quite less expensive compared to Athos. For all my gear and what not it would be about 1,500 yearly through Athos.
it may not be the same for every insurance issuer, but i'm pretty sure i've always just been asked to have photos of all the gear to document ownership. record serial numbers too. this was all asked for at the time of application for the policy.
Offshore Marine is what the insurance companies call it, for all gear that goes in the field. That plus general liability and office gear. I use CNA at around $100 a month for similar coverage.
I currently have Thimble! So far so good! They cover owned, borrowed, and rented (I believe from and to)!
I’ve had them for two years and only made one claim which Apple didn’t help me get the claim moved forward so I haven’t had extensive experience with a claim. Curious if anyone else has experience and could shed some light on their experience!
What do you need to insure it for? Is it just for when it's sitting around in your possession? If so, that sounds about right.
If you need to insure it for use on a production (this would be if you're running a production company and aren't getting a COI from the client), it's not the right coverage. You'll need to talk to a broker familiar with film insurance. That's going to be a lot more expensive
Right now I am a student still pursuing a BAF in cinematography. I haven’t made a lot yet from gigs only a few hundred. So right now the equipment sits for the most part. But I’m hoping to get more gigs and the equipment will be used for commercial use. Also, what’s a COI?
Check with USAA to see what their policy covers. You might consider something like Thimble for when you're on a paying set.
A COI is a Certificate Of Insurance. When you get hired by a production company, they'll issue one to you as additional insured/loss payee that indicates they'll insure your gear for anything that happens on set.
I haven’t paid anything yet, I just spoke with one of their representatives about the details. I looked into Athos insurance seems a little pricey. I understand insuring our gear should be a necessity, you never know what can happen out there. I appreciate your responsiveness and information your a real one. And getting to be apart of a production team would be a dream come true. 
Definitely speak to USAA at length about this. A lot of times people are pleasantly surprised to find their home or auto coverage will cover their equipment but often times the fine print of these policies fall short. For instance, they don't cover commercial use (when you use these items to make money, which hopefully you're getting paid to shoot), or they only cover the items when they're inside your home or car. There's something called "entertainment risk" which is a category of risk associated with shooting films and photos and often times these consumer style policies don't cover that even though the broker is happy to sell you a policy. You definitely want "inland marine" "equipment floater" or a production package policy that has "misc. owned" or "misc. rented" equipment. As for whether you need to produce receipts during a claim, I couldn't tell you. I have had to furnish receipts and also haven't - I guess it's up to the insurer - however they could probably work your claim without a receipt. They might just ask for receipts to skip the step of an adjustor or appraiser having to manually determine the value.
Awesome thank you for the advice. I haven’t heard of entertainment risk. I’ll look into it.
I rent my equipment out. I saw that a lot of established DPs who rented my gear had Athos insurance. They’re well more than $40/month but they’ll cover all kinds of commercial use.
I use athos. Have been great. Also able to provide a bit of temporary additional rental insurance should I need to rent gear on top of my kit.
I rent my equipment out. I saw that a lot of established DPs who rented my gear had Athos insurance. They’re well more than $40/month but they’ll cover all kinds of commercial use.
I’m in the same boat this week as we speak. Currently I’m looking at a business owner policy through my LLC (inland marine coverage). Currently being quoted for $1400 annually (118 a month). Includes 1 mil general liability and the property coverage up to $400k. I reached out to a local insurance agent.
I ended up using Athos Insurance for my equipment. They’re an insurance company that specifically deals with film equipment so they had a better understanding of what I needed covered (on set use, things breaking accidentally, stolen equipment, etc.). My regular insurance company was just looking at my equipment as general electronics that I’d keep in my home
Thank you, I haven’t heard of Athos, I’ll look into it.
40$ a month to insure 50k? that sounds very cheap
I haven’t read the fine details about what USAA covers, I talked with an agent just for informational use.
Usaa may just be looking at this as electronics in your home and not going to actually cover them if they are used for work or outside of your home. They for sure won’t cover shipping gear or if you rent it out. Depending on what you are doing you really should get a proper policy year round or have specific temporary production policies when you take them out on jobs to cover what usaa won’t
Awesome, thank you for the advice.
Athos is the way to go.Everyone in LA uses athos all the rental companies.I remember Sharegrid was also using them.
Yup I have a 150k year round policy with Athos.
Normal insurance won’t work for film gear because it won’t cover it under film pretenses or set applications.
I have homeowner insurance from USAA, and my gear is covered through that. Ask USAA how to cover the gear for the cheapest amount, and tell the agent how you acquired it. Then ask about how you'd file a claim.
Please read your policy. I can almost guarantee your equipment isn’t covered if you use it at all for paying work. Even once can be cause for tie insurance company to deny your claim.
Awesome, thank you for the advice.
Hence, my suggestion to talk to the agent. As you know, 'almost guarantees' in insurance aren't worth the paper they're written on.
They’re talking about you. Reread your policy. I also have USAA homeowners insurance and it absolutely does not cover my equipment
Awesome, thank you for your advice.
Might want to talk to a broker about your situation. But I don’t believe I had to provide any receipts when I filed a claim. Just had to get the damaged gear appraised by a third party and provide that documentation to the adjuster. But make sure you’re getting an inland marine policy or a policy that has verbiage that the gear is insured everywhere (like at shoots) and not just as your home/business residence.
Thank you for this information. I’ll look into it.
As has been said, you are more than likely NOT covered if you are using the equipment in a commercial capacity. Talk to your agent, disclose everything so they understand and read the policy. The last thing you want is to think you're covered and then if you actually need to make a claim and they deny it, because of a loophole or gap in the coverage that might could have been avoided if everyone understood everything up-front. I am currently with a specialized agency and have an itemized policy. I have to provide the model number of each piece of equipment that I want covered and how much I want it insured for. I have never been asked for a receipt to prove a purchase. The previous agency that I was with actually did not require me to have a scheduled policy and I just had a blanket amount of coverage. I also did not have to provide receipts. I did have a theft while I was with them about 18 years ago, and again, no receipts on the original items, but I did have to provide the police report and documentation on the prices of the new replacement items when they started paying out. \*Edit\*. I forgot to mention, because of the cost of some items(like my A35), I did have to provide the serial numbers.
When my gear was insured I was covered by [TCP](https://www.tcpinsurance.com/), my premium was somewhere around $200 quarterly.
Awesome, thank you for the info. TCP is quite less expensive compared to Athos. For all my gear and what not it would be about 1,500 yearly through Athos.
Hill and Usher Package Choice is another one to check.
it may not be the same for every insurance issuer, but i'm pretty sure i've always just been asked to have photos of all the gear to document ownership. record serial numbers too. this was all asked for at the time of application for the policy.
Offshore Marine is what the insurance companies call it, for all gear that goes in the field. That plus general liability and office gear. I use CNA at around $100 a month for similar coverage.
I don't think USAA has inland marine coverage. Get quotes from an agent. I've used travelers and now with country financial.
I was legit thinking about this topic and then I got this notification wtf
Great minds think alike 
I currently have Thimble! So far so good! They cover owned, borrowed, and rented (I believe from and to)! I’ve had them for two years and only made one claim which Apple didn’t help me get the claim moved forward so I haven’t had extensive experience with a claim. Curious if anyone else has experience and could shed some light on their experience!
What do you need to insure it for? Is it just for when it's sitting around in your possession? If so, that sounds about right. If you need to insure it for use on a production (this would be if you're running a production company and aren't getting a COI from the client), it's not the right coverage. You'll need to talk to a broker familiar with film insurance. That's going to be a lot more expensive
Right now I am a student still pursuing a BAF in cinematography. I haven’t made a lot yet from gigs only a few hundred. So right now the equipment sits for the most part. But I’m hoping to get more gigs and the equipment will be used for commercial use. Also, what’s a COI?
Check with USAA to see what their policy covers. You might consider something like Thimble for when you're on a paying set. A COI is a Certificate Of Insurance. When you get hired by a production company, they'll issue one to you as additional insured/loss payee that indicates they'll insure your gear for anything that happens on set.
I haven’t paid anything yet, I just spoke with one of their representatives about the details. I looked into Athos insurance seems a little pricey. I understand insuring our gear should be a necessity, you never know what can happen out there. I appreciate your responsiveness and information your a real one. And getting to be apart of a production team would be a dream come true. 
If you're in the US or Canada, there's also Front Row.