Camera owners, beware of 'replace at quoted value' practice

Although my claim has been finalized, I feel I need to warn unsuspecting people like myself of their ‘replace at quoted value’ practice. Last week I lost my camera and lens due to accidental damage, both were insured with Discovery for R20,000 each. I was told to get a damage report and replacement quote from a service provider, I decided to use ORMS as they are very well known. They quoted for a new D750 body (as this is the replacement for the D600) and a new 20mm lens. To my surprise the price had dropped in half compared to when I bought it in 2016.

My first issue is that Discovery told me they used their own service providers and settled on giving me a D610, which I opposed, why did I have to go through the damn trouble of driving to ORMS, getting reports and quotes, if you’re just going to ignore them and go for the cheapest option you can find yourselves? This was settled and they gave me the full cash out value that my camera was insured for. However, my second issue is with the lens. At the time I bought this lens it was retailing for R20,000 locally, therefore I insured it at that value, fast forward 2 years later, Nikon seems to have had a change in heart and dropped the lens price in half, which is great for everyone. However, I insured it at R20,000 and paid a premium for 2 years based on that amount. The claims administrator made it clear that this is their policy and I would only be paid out R10,800 for the lens.

The final punch in the gut is when the claims administrator told me that their own service providers quoted a “much higher” amount for the lens as ORMS, but they decided to use my quote as you know, it’s the cheapest option for them. This makes 0 sense to me, because if I decided to quote for a different lens that’s more than the insured value, they would’ve most likely paid out the full amount. So, there you have it, after being a loyal paying customer for 5 years I honestly feel shafted. But well-done Discovery, in your attempt to save a measly +- R10,000 on my claims you stand to lose much more, I will be moving all current insured items and new cameras to someone else as I cannot support this practice.

Camera owners, beware.