My old freelance photographer’s insurance from E&L (Equine & Livestock - so which one am I?) wouldn’t cover the public liability and studio contents, so I decided to switch. I chose Morgan Richardson. I now wish I hadn’t.

Of course, accidents happen. It’s a busy working studio, and the equipment’s expensive. One day I dropped a camera and the lens took the brunt. It was my lovely 100mm f2.8 Canon macro lens that we use for product stuff. Since we have accidental damage cover, I rang Morgan Richardson to ask what the procedure was for getting quotes and deciding if a claim would be appropriate.

A few days later I got a letter saying that my accidental damage claim had caused the cancellation of my no-claims discount and that my next installment would reflect the hugely higher premium. The trouble was, I hadn’t made a claim. The money-grabbing, greedy bastards at Morgan Richardson had just assumed that I would, and pre-empted me.

If self-insurance was an option, I’d do it. Unfortunately public liability and employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement and even more unfortunately a contemporary necessity.

Is any insurer better, or are they all universally crap? Let me know if you’ve had any good or bad experiences.