What’s the Difference Between Scheduled vs. Unscheduled Equipment Insurance Coverage?

Here’s an easy way to think of it...

Scheduled Equipment + Unscheduled Equipment = Total Owned Equipment

Let’s break down the factors:

Scheduled Equipment is for any single item with a replacement cost over $5,000 a piece, including sales tax.  So what if you buy a kit or several components that are always used together?  We always ask: can you purchase these items separately in the store?  Or are they always sold together?  If any single component can be purchased alone, that’s considered one single item.  For example, let’s say you purchased a set of 5 lenses together.  Each lens is worth $10,000 each (including sales tax) for a total of $50,000.  Each of these lenses can be purchased separately on it’s own.  That means you should schedule each lens separately under your Scheduled Equipment limit.  In the same example, if the 5 lenses are sold as a set for $50,000 and cannot be purchased separately, you would schedule this as 1 item under your Scheduled Equipment limit.  Athos requires the make, model, serial number (if possible) and replacement cost value of all scheduled items on file.

Unscheduled Equipment is for all single items with a replacement cost of $5,000 or less (including sales tax).  All these items (yes, even the small cords and batteries) are covered under the Unscheduled Equipment limit and do not need to be listed out.  You can think of it as a blanket limit for all your gear valued under $5,000.  You may wonder why you need to cover all these little items, even ones valued less than your policy deductible.   Well, just add them all up, and you’ll be surprised how much gear you own.  Remember that your deductible is per claim, not per item.  If all your gear was stolen one night, you’re only responsible for the one deductible for the entire claim amount. 

When applying or renewing for the Athos Equipment Floater program, we ask applicants to confirm their Total Owned Equipment amount.  Next, they’ll list all their Scheduled Equipment (items over $5,000 each).  Our system will then automatically calculate the Unscheduled amount by subtracting the Scheduled Equipment from the Total Owned equipment amount.

Unscheduled Equipment = Total Owned Equipment – Scheduled Equipment

Photo by  Samsung Memory on  Unsplash

So here’s a few important things to remember:

1. All OWNED gear over $5,000 apiece must be scheduled with Athos or else it’s not covered AT ALL  

Yikes!  So if you buy new gear with a replacement cost over $5,000 during the middle of your policy, make sure to add it to your policy (email Athos to update your policy).   Please don’t think that your Total Owned Equipment limit is a blanket amount for all gear, no matter what the value is.  Think of your policy as having two classifications (the total limit for gear over $5,000  and the total limit for ones under $5,000)

2. Make an inventory of ALL your gear and always UPDATE it

As a business owner, your gear and equipment are your company’s assets.  If something horrific happened to all your equipment at one time (i.e. theft or fire), you’ll want a document that already lays out all equipment and its values.  Trying to remember all your assets after it’s been stolen or burned up, will be extremely difficult and create issues during a claim with the insurance carrier.

3. When valuing your equipment, always use the replacement cost and include sales tax

The replacement cost is the cost to replace your gear with a brand new item or like-kind (if they don’t make it anymore).  The value is NOT based on the fair market value, which factors in depreciation or compares your value to a used version.  Always include the sales tax so you’re insuring for the complete replacement cost.  You do not want to be stuck paying the sales tax after if you’re maxing out limits on a claim

Why does the Athos equipment coverage program make us go through all this trouble to schedule gear? 

It may be annoying to break out your gear into two groups, but this was created to give more flexibility to customers.  Some other equipment insurance companies (not Athos) require ALL gear to be listed to validate coverage.  This is quite restrictive because, during a claim, only items on that list would be covered.  What if you recently bought a memory card and forgot to add it right away?  No coverage.  Eeek!

Under the Athos inland marine insurance program, only single items over $5,000  must be listed to have coverage (scheduled equipment).  This means for the unscheduled equipment (under $5,000 apiece), you’re not bound to a full scheduled list for coverage. This is helpful especially as people buy/sell/upgrade equipment often.  Think of your unscheduled equipment limit as a blanket limit for the smaller stuff.

The Athos equipment program can cover all types of equipment, from cameras, lighting gear, sound gear, props, sets/wardrobes, production-related gear, musical instruments, generators, party rental equipment, bounce houses, sporting equipment, and other equipment related to Entertainment and Sports industry.  Since the value of our clients’ gear ranges from low (such as a battery or cord) to high (such as an Alexa Mini or Red Camera), it’s important to make and save an inventory of ALL your equipment.  Then you’ll be ready to determine how to cover your gear properly as scheduled versus unscheduled gear.