Do you think flood insurance should come with underwater casing?

[jazzaddict]

I personally feel that underwater camera casing manufacturer should include flood insurance for every casing they sell...they should gurantee their product from product failure for at least a year

[beivied]

Originally Posted by jazzaddict I personally feel that underwater camera casing manufacturer should include flood insurance for every casing they sell...they should gurantee their product from product failure for at least a year

flooding need not be by failure. it can be by user negligence, which is the main reason for flooding half of the time, if not most of the time. especially now that digital camera housings are abundant in the market, you get users who know little or nothing and literally just plunge into underwater photography.

of course i am not saying underwater housing suppliers should not couple it with flood insurance. it definitely would be an incentive if they can provide the connection to it.

[kthan]

Originally Posted by jazzaddict I personally feel that underwater camera casing manufacturer should include flood insurance for every casing they sell...they should gurantee their product from product failure for at least a year

agreed. it is much easier for the big player to negotiate with an insurer than end consumers....

[benmah]

Originally Posted by kthan agreed. it is much easier for the big player to negotiate with an insurer than end consumers....

This will be an ongoing debate as I also enquire with the ppl at AP why don't they have guarantees or insurance for casings like they have warranty for every other electronic product and like beivied mentioned its just a bit too risky as the chance of flooding is just so high and almost always caused by the negligence or worse the ignorance of users.

Even if the an insurance is negotiated, the premium will be pretty high I assume and as it is equipment for u/w photography is already high but I guess its also worthwhile to insure them because of this very reason.

If I am not wrong I think there was a thread that discussed insuring of diving equipment in general, can't remember where it is though.

[lovells19]

will be quite a tricky issue to actually cover the housing with a flooding insurance.

how are they going to determine if its the user's fault or manufacturer's fault?

due to improper care by the owner leading to o-ring drying up and cracking is very hard to be determine.

i doubt any of the housing makers are willing to take this risk, it is not justifiable on accounting standards.

lets say if they would provide the insurance, a c5050 market value is $1k, housing is $300. so in order to be providing the insurance, olympus would be charging like $600-$800 for a u/w to cover the possible damage. would you be buying the housing from them? an ikelite housing is around $900 now.

and if everyone gets a c5050, and a housing, by the 11th month of purchase, the owner purposely floods the housing, thus allowing him a compensation of $1k which they can use to get a new model.

so if we think in the money making aspect. its not worth to cover anti flood policy.
if you can proof that it is a manufacturing fault. first dive flood due to bad installation, i believe they would compensate. all housing should be pressure tested before it is delivered to the shops, so cases are really rare.

[Goondoo]

Originally Posted by lovells19 will be quite a tricky issue to actually cover the housing with a flooding insurance. how are they going to determine if its the user's fault or manufacturer's fault? due to improper care by the owner leading to o-ring drying up and cracking is very hard to be determine. i doubt any of the housing makers are willing to take this risk, it is not justifiable on accounting standards. lets say if they would provide the insurance, a c5050 market value is $1k, housing is $300. so in order to be providing the insurance, olympus would be charging like $600-$800 for a u/w to cover the possible damage. would you be buying the housing from them? an ikelite housing is around $900 now. and if everyone gets a c5050, and a housing, by the 11th month of purchase, the owner purposely floods the housing, thus allowing him a compensation of $1k which they can use to get a new model. so if we think in the money making aspect. its not worth to cover anti flood policy. if you can proof that it is a manufacturing fault. first dive flood due to bad installation, i believe they would compensate. all housing should be pressure tested before it is delivered to the shops, so cases are really rare.

A C5050 will cost about $5k if you want it come insured....

[airforce1]

For camera equipment whatever the brand is,there is gray areas whereby if the product goes below the water, regardless in the housing or drop, warranty is void.

[Lensman]

Income


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Our Mobile Equipment Insurance Plan provides coverage against loss or damage of mobile equipment arising from:

accident
theft following forcible and violent means
robbery or attempted robbery
misplacement
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Our Mobile Equipment Insurance Plan can now be extended to cover water damage from underwater use*. Eg. Video photography equipment whilst used for diving and underwater photography.

PS: For info only. I have no commercial interest in sharing this information.

[jbma]

I guess you can include flood insurance in underwater housing but there is a cost involved. And when there is a cost somebody has to pay for it. Chances are they will pass it on to the consumer which will then increase the price of the housing etc etc. Flood insurance on it's own cost a bomb due to the difficulty in proving who is at fault should a disaster occur. It is subjected to abuse on both parties. And like many have stated here the flooding is mostly due to user negligence. Just my opinion.

[Lensman]

Abuse.... let the insurers take care of that. Afterall, a premium is paid, in exchange for coverage. So, this is a business transaction.

Utimately, if the no. of cases rose and they are making a loss. They will either raise the premium, offer the service with strings attached or stop offering this service altogether.

Of course, who is using the service will have an impact. If one is a recreational diver with a few dives a year, would be a lower risk, then one that is diving weekly for living or fun. The defination of recreation and professional divers using this service, could easily be distingushed by the c-card that the diver is holding. DM and above, professional class c-card (as defined by PADI's website), hence could be paying a higher premium.... The part about whether is it a full time profession is in material at this case.

I quit Income's Travel insurance 3 yrs ago after they wanted 50% loading on me for diving. Stating risk blah blah blah. I moved to AIG, which allows "recreational water sports with use of artifical breathing apparitus". The agent, a diver himself, had hinted that unless I am a cheongster, try to avoid the DM & above ratings, as the underwrtiting dept may view this as professional diving. Otherwise, the policy may be void. AIyah..... then take DAN lor... more $$$ for the insurance companies....

Of course, not declaring this is earlier, will also null the contact under the "correct information provided by the customer" clause. They are not stupid.

Both hands to clap....

[chinaik]

Hi Lensman, is your insurance a yearly premium or a per trip type of premium? how much is it.. and what does it covers?

[benmah]

Originally Posted by chinaik Hi Lensman, is your insurance a yearly premium or a per trip type of premium? how much is it.. and what does it covers?

This could be a bit OT already...