Photograph Credit: Amazon.com
Oh, the value of our $43 personal articles insurance policy! Paul and I have insured my wedding rings and our 2 cameras on this insurance policy. Our cost is $43 per year to fully insure these items and worth every penny.
The Incident
When the girls and I attended a Valentine’s Day party, I was taking pictures of the exchange of cards. One of the attendees backed into my insured point-and-shoot camera and jammed the lens.
At first, I was upset. Not because of the accident, but because here was a fantastic photo opportunity, and my camera would not work. Realizing that I would need a new camera, I did not panic at the cost because the accident was a covered incident. By using time wisely and insuring our expensive property, we hold a personal articles policy to protect our budget when accidents occur.
Replacing our Camera
Since the camera would not take pictures, I put it away. Later, I called our insurance agent and explained the situation. Our agent looked at our policy and determined that he could reimburse us up to $160 for a replacement camera.
With a $160 budget, my husband went looking and found a great camera, retailing for $249, on sale for $183.98 with a case and memory card. Realizing that this camera was a great product, on sale, and we would receive reimbursement of $160, we purchased the camera.
Making a Claim
Upon receipt, we worked with the camera to make sure it worked properly. When it did, we took our broken camera and receipt for the new camera to our insurance agent.
The agent confirmed that the old camera was the insured camera model and wrote us a check for $160 (the retail value of our old, broken camera). He then deleted the old camera from our policy and added our new camera with a replacement value of $249 (listed on the receipt).
Though we paid $183.98 for our new camera, we received a $160 check bringing our camera replacement cost down to $23.98 which included a camera case and memory card. Our personal articles policy covered the accident and allowed us to upgrade to a new model without breaking our budget.
If you have valuable cameras, electronics, jewelry, or collections (i.e., coins, stamps, etc.), you might consider a personal articles policy. A little research and protection now can save you money, energy, and time in the future. In using time wisely, a personal articles policy can help in stretching your dollars. I know, because it saved us $160. Happy savings!
Question: What items do you or would you add to your personal articles policy?