so.. lets hear it. what company in your opinion is the best and why.. ive done some research mnyself. but real world experience is valuable as well. its hard to judge the "legitness" of some of the available choices out there.
I have used a few carriers, but one that was great to work with was Film Emporium. They had an on line system that allowed me to generate a certificate of insurance at anytime of day or night. The certificate was emailed as a PDF in a matter of moments. Came in really handy on a Friday night when I had a steadicam opperator cancel and I needed a replacement owner/opperator for a early Saturday call time. I was able to get the certificate to the owner/opperator in time and save the shooting day! So far, I have never had to file a claim so I can't offer any experience on that side (thankfully). The process was fast and painless, but not inexpensive.