Equipment Stolen – Lessons in Business Insurance

Thankfully, this story has a good ending.

As many in the photography community already know, over $4000 of equipment was stolen from us at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead (Atlanta, GA) last month during a wedding reception.

It was a matter of an hour or two from the time I unloaded the 24-70mm and 70-200mm lens into my bag that was hidden under a stage in the front of the room – to when we packed up and realized these lenses were missing from the bag.  They took those two lenses plus our 100mm macro.  All Canon.  They stole the most expensive pieces in the bag. They left two back up camera bodies and four less expensive Canon fixed lenses.  Thankfully we had the other expensive lenses, camera bodies, and all CF cards on us.

The security officer on duty was notified as was the banquet and catering manager.  We kept it quiet from the bride. We dragged our equipment to another ballroom away from the wedding we just finished photographing, and I had my mini melt-down there.  How would I pay over $4k to replace equipment that was stolen?  Equipment that is key pieces for us shooting weddings.  A staff member approached me earlier that evening asking about the value of the camera and lens I was shooting with.  Soon thereafter that, he helped cut the cake and went home.  Then the lenses went missing.  Security refused to do anything about this although we sent them a picture of this staff person.

The police pretty much hung up on me when I called to file a report.  Someone would call back they said – to take the report over the phone.  I called back when they did not – and about 5 hours later I finally got a hold of someone.  Not even 911 picked up their line.  I had to call back twice then wait 20 minutes to be directed to the right office.  After calling every zone office, the records department, and 911 I finally got to talk to a real person – a nice off duty officer gave me his email information to send the information too.  He said I should have insisted someone come to the crime scene right away.  Right!  On Halloween night in Atlanta?  I should have insisted?!  Somehow I don’t think that would have went over well either.  All of this happened during a time where we had to drive to New Orleans to sponsor a conference that I was also speaking at.  I missed going to any other talks because I was on the phone with the police and insurance for three days straight.

Anyways, it took days of phone calls and emails to finally get the police report and talk to my insurance company to start a claim with them too.  ALL of my insurance is through the same company, Ameriprise.  I started using them in 1996 when they were American Express Insurance.  Home, auto, business insurance, plus additional valuable property coverage for a few items.  They were vague about what is covered when I called, but I submitted the claim and waited for their 10-day review period.

Thankfully this came at a time when we only have a few photoshoots, and not another wedding until December. We rented a few lenses we’re thinking of getting in the future to supplement what was stolen and some other lenses that are out for repair right now.

Yesterday complete piece of mind and RELIEF came when we received news from Ameriprise that they’d be giving us MORE than we asked for in the replacement cost line item!  We referenced Canon USA MSRP prices PLUS added on the price of the filters that were on the stolen lenses and came up with just over $4100.  They’re giving us over $4200!  I’m sure there is a reason for it, and we will see their break down when we receive the check next week.

Lesson learned.  Make sure you are fully insured.  Have back up equipment. Thankfully, we had both of these set up a long time ago. In fact, I hadn’t had to think about it for so long that I wasn’t even sure what I was insured for anymore!

The most difficult thing about all of this is the feeling you have that someone can just walk off with your livelihood essentially, and the fear of insurance not replacing what was stolen.  And the TIME and RUN-AROUND we were given by the police and security people at the hotel, etc.  No one really did anything about it.  It was a lot of phone tag with conversations about “what should have been done that night” and empty promises.  The head of security at the Hyatt sent a blanket email to us saying they are in no way responsible for the theft.  RIGHT.  The email screamed “do not take action, we’re covering our butts.” The area where our bag was being stored was no where near where a guest would have been.  It HAD to have been an employee – or someone going through the employee entrance dressed as an employee – to have been in that area unnoticed.  Of course, we’ll likely never know for sure who did this.

When I posted the serial numbers and description of the lenses online, the out pour of support from fellow photographers was amazing.   This has happened to many others.  Most never found them, some have stories of recovering stolen equipment from Craigslist, EBay, and local Pawn Shops.  After I mentioned needing some sort of locking bag,  someone mentioned they make bags specifically for this type of thing. Photo equipment bags that lock around a post or stationary item AND lock at the top so as to deter a thief.  Some photographers have even gone as far as hiring an associate to come and watch the equipment that’s not in use.  I hate that this is what the world is coming too.

If you’re a photographer that does not have coverage for equipment outside their home or office - go get insured NOW!! This is only one type of insurance coverage you need for your small business though.  Also look into Business Insurance (liability and equipment coverage) AND PPA’s Indemnification Coverage which covers you for personal error and other type of issues that arise (such as corrupt CF cards, etc).  Check with PPA and/or your current Auto/Home/Renters insurance company.

We should receive the check next week and can repurchase what was stolen before the next wedding we will be photographing.  Thank you to fellow photographers for your support, my husband for putting up with me while I was dealing with all this, to my clients for their patience, the officer who finally helped me out, and Ameriprise for making this a relatively simple process and holding up their end of the deal without giving me a hard time!