photographic insurance payout?

1) If you can create a valid excuse for direct payment then you should negotiate that. For example lenses sometimes need recalibration, it's best to match the lenses to the body which would mean that you would have to do all that stuff. It's basically trying to give them a reason for you to go out and buy the stuff.

2) For warranty purposes they will have to arrange for some proof of purchase to you. They may not get reciepts, but you should get the minimum of a stamped warranty card.

As with the others before me, you should bargain for a better deal. Particularly for lenses. If you lost a 70-200mm f2.8 with stabilisation, and they offered one without that's a huge difference in both price and performance.

As to the uninsured items, well they were uninsured and your loss. There is practically no way that an insurance company will throw money away like that.

Are you negotiating with the insurance company by yourself, or do you have legal assistance? The insurance company has a legal team to help them make sure they are going to pay you as little as possible. They are in business to profit from you, and would love for you to accept their offer.

Even though it may cost you a little money, I would consider enlisting the aid of legal counsel, if you haven't already, as they will likely be able to extract enough extra from the insurer to cover the cost. Find someone, but don't call until you need to. You might not need to...

Why would any reasonable person allow or even trust an insurance company to do the shopping for critical photographic equipment? Especially with the understanding that the goods they produce will be inferior to what you had insured! I wouldn't put it past an insurance company to supply me with gray-market goods. They don't know the difference; all they see is a price tag. "Warranty? What's that?"

Never, ever accept the first settlement offer; it is their lowball figure. My recommendation is to negotiate a higher value on your equipment. Tell them to consider lost income due to your inability to shoot. And that, since this is the peak season for what you do, it's going to be a little higher.

To do this:

Figure out how much money it would take to replace all of your equipment with newer and/or better. Take the difference between this figure and what they are quoting you, double it, and add it to their offer. This gets you into leveraging range. With luck they'll negotiate down to your magic number. When they do, take it.

Then demand a direct payment, so that you can decide which equipment to buy (maybe you don't need exactly what you had before; now would be a perfect time to streamline your arsenal, and with upgraded equipment, at that). If they want to argue, that's fine. Let them argue with your counsellor.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

Darin

In the big picture, the accident caused the injuries, not the lack of seat belt use. Insurance companies are regulated by the State you live in to pay out exactly what the policy says it must, no more, no less. If not, the Insurance commissioner of your state can ban them from selling any future policies there, so they are not going to take a chance on losing millions of dollars over a few thousand for your claim. That said, the State also must OK the terms of a policy before an insurance company can sell it. Some states have "no fault" insurance, meaning each vehicles owners policy pays for the owner[driver] and his passengers, no matter which car was at fault. Highly doubtful your state would allow a company to deny a claim because of no seat belt use. Expect the Insurance Company to do an investigation on your "friends" whiplash injuries to determine if they are legit. Also expect everyone not wearing a belt to get ticketed by the police eventually. Your friends can end up suing you in civil court whether the insurance company pays or not. This is why people take out a minimum 1 million dollar umbrella liability policy, as most auto coverage has personal injury limits of $100,000. Hope you all wear your seatbelts from now on.

you should have insured the whole kit... including the filters and lens, etc...

you can make a request... they might say no, but at least you'll know... but you should get copies of the reciepts for warranty queries...

i dont think its unreasonable no