Insurance for equipment

[Chefgage]

Good afternoon all. I know this has been asked a few times but here we go again. I have just renewed my house insurance and asked questions about my astronomy equipment. The specific question being if my telescope imaging setup was stolen from my garden whilst imaging then this is not covered under the contents insurance. So just a heads up to anyone who might assume that because it's on your property it's covered, chances are it is not (in the UK that is).

So I then went into ask about outbuildings/garages/observatorys. I have looked at many policy small prints and pretty much all state that possessions in out buildings are insurered up to a value of £5000 total. So I would say in a lot of cases this would not replace all of the equipment. 

So the question to the good people of this forum is what do you all do about it? I guess the amount of times the equipment is actually outside not supervised is small (with our UK weather). Or do some of you have a separate policys (which seems like a good idea but probably is quite expensive but not if you had to use the policy).

[Shimrod]

7 hours ago, Chefgage said:

Good afternoon all. I know this has been asked a few times but here we go again. I have just renewed my house insurance and asked questions about my astronomy equipment. The specific question being if my telescope imaging setup was stolen from my garden whilst imaging then this is not covered under the contents insurance. So just a heads up to anyone who might assume that because it's on your property it's covered, chances are it is not (in the UK that is).

So I then went into ask about outbuildings/garages/observatorys. I have looked at many policy small prints and pretty much all state that possessions in out buildings are insurered up to a value of £5000 total. So I would say in a lot of cases this would not replace all of the equipment. 

So the question to the good people of this forum is what do you all do about it? I guess the amount of times the equipment is actually outside not supervised is small (with our UK weather). Or do some of you have a separate policys (which seems like a good idea but probably is quite expensive but not if you had to use the policy).

You need to look at the definition of 'the property'. My insurance covers items in my garden. But I also have unspecified items cover - originally to cover 'his and hers' photography equipment to cover items when taken away (either UK or abroad). I have increased this to cover my telescope kit as well. The insurer is UIA although the unspecified cover is expensive, and only allows one overseas claim per year. Insurance is around £550 per year but that is a higher than standard contents cover.

 

There is a discussion from last year here which includes some examples of cover and definitions. 

[Jiggy 67]

My insurance covers “items kept in garden up to £750” separate from “garden equipment and furniture “  so I assume my Astro equipment is covered up to that value 

[Chefgage]

9 hours ago, Shimrod said:

You need to look at the definition of 'the property'. My insurance covers items in my garden. But I also have unspecified items cover - originally to cover 'his and hers' photography equipment to cover items when taken away (either UK or abroad). I have increased this to cover my telescope kit as well. The insurer is UIA although the unspecified cover is expensive, and only allows one overseas claim per year. Insurance is around £550 per year but that is a higher than standard contents cover.

 

There is a discussion from last year here which includes some examples of cover and definitions. 

If I was paying £550 a year for insurance I would certainly hope it would cover my imaging gear! As I pay £168 a year for buildings and contents this is not the case. There was no means to up any of the values i.e. increase the outbuilding payout to more than £5000.

The definition of my property as you put it I did ask that to a few providers. They will cover items such as garden ornaments that are supposed to be outside but not photography equipment.

I am looking at a separate provider for extra cover. I just thought I would start this thread just in case people assumed that because it's on their property it would automatically be covered, this is not always the case.

[Chefgage]

9 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

My insurance covers “items kept in garden up to £750” separate from “garden equipment and furniture “  so I assume my Astro equipment is covered up to that value 

A couple of the providers I looked at stated that. But when I asked them they said it only covers items that are supposed to be in the garden. When I stated that a telescope of course has to be outside they said that it would not be insured.

[Chefgage]

9 hours ago, Shimrod said:

 

There is a discussion from last year here which includes some examples of cover and definitions. 

Thanks for the link. I missed that when searching the forum.

[Chefgage]

8 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

Thanks for the link. I missed that when searching the forum.

Having a read through that confirms what the providers I talked to confirmed. I.e. that the outbuildings have a maximum payout of say £3000 (£5000) in my case. So standard policies do not cover the equipment under the total contents value (only up to the £3000) in outbuildings. I was also told about the personal property definition. It states that personal property up to a value of £2500 in my case is covered away from home. I quizzed them on this and it turns out it's only for things that are designed to be carried around such as mobile phones, handbags etc..

[Chefgage]

Just now, Chefgage said:

Having a read through that confirms what the providers I talked to confirmed. I.e. that the outbuildings have a maximum payout of say £3000 (£5000) in my case. So standard policies do not cover the equipment under the total contents value (only up to the £3000) in outbuildings. I was also told about the personal property definition. It states that personal property up to a value of £2500 in my case is covered away from home. I quizzed them on this and it turns out it's only for things that are designed to be carried around such as mobile phones, handbags etc..

So it's back to ringing them up and finding one that I can make alterations to the policy. Most of the common ones (admiral, direct line etc) do not allow the outbuilding payout to be upped. I can specify individual items but only if they are over £2000 in value but that is only covered if stored in the house.

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, Chefgage said:

So it's back to ringing them up and finding one that I can make alterations to the policy. Most of the common ones (admiral, direct line etc) do not allow the outbuilding payout to be upped. I can specify individual items but only if they are over £2000 in value but that is only covered if stored in the house.

Try UIA. My insurance is high, but unspecified items can only be a certain percentage of overall house insurance. However specialist insurance is not necessarily cheaper. I made a claim for a camera that was destroyed by sea water while abroad. To cover myself for another holiday later in the year I had to take out specialist camera insurance - that cost nearly half the household insurance cost for seven specified items (listed, including serial numbers).

You could also see what happens to your insurance if you list your telescope kit as specific insured items - although generally that only applies to items over £1000.

[Chefgage]

25 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

Try UIA. My insurance is high, but unspecified items can only be a certain percentage of overall house insurance. However specialist insurance is not necessarily cheaper. I made a claim for a camera that was destroyed by sea water while abroad. To cover myself for another holiday later in the year I had to take out specialist camera insurance - that cost nearly half the household insurance cost for seven specified items (listed, including serial numbers).

You could also see what happens to your insurance if you list your telescope kit as specific insured items - although generally that only applies to items over £1000.

Thanks, I will take a look.  Yes I could add items onto the policy that were over a certain value but if they were in the outbuilding the total payout would still be only £5000 even if i had £20000 worth of specified items because it's in the outbuilding. In the house this would not be an issue of course.

Edited March 13, 2021 by Chefgage

[discardedastro]

I've been using Close Brothers for insurance of my (stored outside, not within an observatory) telescope for a couple of years now - about £9/mo I think. You never know how well these things work till you have to claim, of course, but they seemed quite competent and used to dealing with AP requirements. They do insure against weather damage within an observatory, but can't without some kind of structure.

Definitely better to get it on the household insurance if possible from a cost perspective, just need to be sure they'll actually cover it in the stored conditions etc.

[Nigella Bryant]

I think most insurance companies will say that you have to add a specific item with it's cost above £1000  then it's added to the insurance with the added premium on top for that item/s. That's what my insurance did. That's for outside the home use too. 

[Chefgage]

10 hours ago, discardedastro said:

I've been using Close Brothers for insurance of my (stored outside, not within an observatory) telescope for a couple of years now - about £9/mo I think. You never know how well these things work till you have to claim, of course, but they seemed quite competent and used to dealing with AP requirements. They do insure against weather damage within an observatory, but can't without some kind of structure.

Definitely better to get it on the household insurance if possible from a cost perspective, just need to be sure they'll actually cover it in the stored conditions etc.

Thanks, I will take a look at close brothers.

[Chefgage]

10 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

I think most insurance companies will say that you have to add a specific item with it's cost above £1000  then it's added to the insurance with the added premium on top for that item/s. That's what my insurance did. That's for outside the home use too. 

Thanks. I did ask this question to my provider but they stated that any added items over a certain value are only covered when stored in the house. Not in the outbuilding or outside.

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, Chefgage said:

Thanks. I did ask this question to my provider but they stated that any added items over a certain value are only covered when stored in the house. Not in the outbuilding or outside.

I think I put this in the other thread, but worth a repeat here - this is from the UIA insurance policy I have which would cover you requirements - although worth checking directly in case the policy has changed since I took mine out. I have included the definitions of Premise, Home and Buildings which would clearly cover items stored in a observatory, garage or shed. The section C extract indicates you are covered for unspecified items within the premises, and also away from the premises unless the items are stored insecurely.

Sadly  this can be an expensive hobby, and that includes insuring your equipment!

Premises
The buildings and boundaries of the home and the land, fences, walls, gates, paths, drives and terraces as shown in the schedule.

Home
The private dwelling you live in shown in the schedule as the Insured Property, together with its garages and outbuildings (forming part of the title deeds) all used solely for domestic purposes, or for working from home in a purely clerical or administrative capacity, with no business visitors and no business stock, money or equipment on the premises.

Buildings
The structure of the private dwelling and the domestic outbuildings, including aerials, wind turbines, garages, service tanks, tennis courts, swimming pools, permanently plumbed in hot tubs, terraces, patios, drives, footpaths, walls, gates, fences, hedges and fixtures and fittings all contained within the premises and all belonging to you or for which you are legally liable.

Section C - unspecified and specified items

We will not pay for:

Any item being kept or stored away from the premises, unless it is either in your personal custody at the time, or it is in a locked and secure cabinet, locker or cupboard

[Chefgage]

28 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

I think I put this in the other thread, but worth a repeat here - this is from the UIA insurance policy I have which would cover you requirements - although worth checking directly in case the policy has changed since I took mine out. I have included the definitions of Premise, Home and Buildings which would clearly cover items stored in a observatory, garage or shed. The section C extract indicates you are covered for unspecified items within the premises, and also away from the premises unless the items are stored insecurely.

Sadly  this can be an expensive hobby, and that includes insuring your equipment!

Premises
The buildings and boundaries of the home and the land, fences, walls, gates, paths, drives and terraces as shown in the schedule.

Home
The private dwelling you live in shown in the schedule as the Insured Property, together with its garages and outbuildings (forming part of the title deeds) all used solely for domestic purposes, or for working from home in a purely clerical or administrative capacity, with no business visitors and no business stock, money or equipment on the premises.

Buildings
The structure of the private dwelling and the domestic outbuildings, including aerials, wind turbines, garages, service tanks, tennis courts, swimming pools, permanently plumbed in hot tubs, terraces, patios, drives, footpaths, walls, gates, fences, hedges and fixtures and fittings all contained within the premises and all belonging to you or for which you are legally liable.

Section C - unspecified and specified items

We will not pay for:

Any item being kept or stored away from the premises, unless it is either in your personal custody at the time, or it is in a locked and secure cabinet, locker or cupboard

Again thanks for the information. Yes it definitely seems like only certain companies provide the cover for all the property within its boundaries. All the ones I have ever had basically say if it's in an outbuilding be that a garage or brick building you are only covered for a small amount.

The thing to learn here for anyone reading this thread is definelty check the small print. It probably means you might not have the necessary cover to fully payout for all your equipment.

[fireballxl5]

2 hours ago, Shimrod said:

I think I put this in the other thread, but worth a repeat here - this is from the UIA insurance policy I have which would cover you requirements - although worth checking directly in case the policy has changed since I took mine out. I have included the definitions of Premise, Home and Buildings which would clearly cover items stored in a observatory, garage or shed. The section C extract indicates you are covered for unspecified items within the premises, and also away from the premises unless the items are stored insecurely.

Sadly  this can be an expensive hobby, and that includes insuring your equipment!

Premises
The buildings and boundaries of the home and the land, fences, walls, gates, paths, drives and terraces as shown in the schedule.

Home
The private dwelling you live in shown in the schedule as the Insured Property, together with its garages and outbuildings (forming part of the title deeds) all used solely for domestic purposes, or for working from home in a purely clerical or administrative capacity, with no business visitors and no business stock, money or equipment on the premises.

Buildings
The structure of the private dwelling and the domestic outbuildings, including aerials, wind turbines, garages, service tanks, tennis courts, swimming pools, permanently plumbed in hot tubs, terraces, patios, drives, footpaths, walls, gates, fences, hedges and fixtures and fittings all contained within the premises and all belonging to you or for which you are legally liable.

Section C - unspecified and specified items

We will not pay for:

Any item being kept or stored away from the premises, unless it is either in your personal custody at the time, or it is in a locked and secure cabinet, locker or cupboard

Great but UIA appear to have the same limit for the contents of outbuildings, £5000 in this case.  From their website this morning...

 

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, fireballxl5 said:

Great but UIA appear to have the same limit for the contents of outbuildings, £5000 in this case.  From their website this morning...

 

 

Here is my schedule - unspecified items is a separate (and optional extra cover)  to the standard contents cover, and the section quoted above for cover is for unspecified items. But as I said, always worth speaking to the insurer to confirm.

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by Shimrod

[Shimrod]

Hiscox insurance is another company worth looking at - they specialise in high value insurance and cover unspecified items up to a single item value of £15,000. I have never used them - they wouldn't quote me last time I checked because I had made a claim in the previous year. I'd expect them to be expensive.

 

Edit: For interest I have just done a quote for Hiscox unlimited cover - for some reason the contents cover is a 'reasonable' £250 a year, but the building cover is £900 a year for a standard 4 bed house.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Shimrod