insurance for guitars and amps

In the US, one can get a special "rider" on their homeowner's or apartment renter's insurance that covers specific items like expensive gear, wedding rings, etc. This covers the items even if they are not in the home all the time. Do you have a similar general policy? If so, contact your insurance agent and see about getting the gear added. Otherwise you might look to Lloyds; I think they are known for doing one-off coverage.

Not sure about public liability insurance ... might want to avoid whacking people over the head with your axe. 8)

In the house - they're covered by your house insurance

In the car - they're covered by the "Contents Outside the Home" parts of your house insurance

The second you step on a stage, or sit down with a student, all bets are off and you need specific insurance against theft for your gear.

You will need public liability insurance even if you're playing a freebie in the middle of a shopping centre.

For unpaid gigs as an amateur your house insurance will cover you but you have to let your insurance company know that's what you do.

The moment you get paid for one gig, or for a lesson, you're treated as a professional musician and need separate Public Liability.

The Musicians Union will point you in the direction of an insurer, but be prepared for a heart attack when you see how much they want.

A :-)

You will need public liability insurance even if you're playing a freebie in the middle of a shopping centre.

...

The moment you get paid for one gig, or for a lesson, you're treated as a professional musician and need separate Public Liability.

Just curious... why Public Liability? I think of liability insurance as covering injury or damage. Is this something different?

Nope, same thing.

If someone's little darling runs into your music stand and takes their eye out you are going to get claimed against, notthe venue.

If your stack falls over and crushes some old dear and her brand new zimmer frame her family are going to claim against you, not against the venue.

The venue will have its own public liability insurance (so if their PA falls over and kills someone they're covered) but they won't have you on it and if someone gets hurt by your gear then you're on your own. The orchestra I play with was quoted something in excess of £400 for public liability during the summer and that was for an hour-long show.

A :-)

Can you be sued for discomfort arising from a bum note? My, we live in a globally litigious culture, don't we?

Well ya learn something new every day!

Used to sell insurance years ago, as Slejhamer said, you can attach a "rider" to your homeowner's policy. They have riders specifically for musical instruments. Call your homeowner's agent, or if you rent, you will need a renter's policy, but again you can attach a rider for musical instruments.

Insurance laws vary everywhere, so you would have to consult your agent on conditons and exclusions of coverage in your area.

All my stuff's insured...including me harming other's equipment. Nope...it's not an extended hopmeowners policy. That'll do for what you can PROVE was "in your house". You'll need a full on business policy that includes a personal indemnity portion. Basically, if you earn any money from music...and it shows on your income tax...it's even cheaper than a homeowner's policy. Just check out the difference in monthly payments you'll have to make on your homeowner's policy to see what I mean...you'll find them exorbitant to the point of actually being usory.

However...if you've got "one guitar and one amp"...KNOW what they are worth...weigh the yearly cost...and you'll forget about it...UNLESS...there is an emotional attachment in which case it's worth it. (I've got a 1963 HARMONY bobkat given to me in '63 by my dad. The Old Guy bought the ranch in the 9/11 tragedy. So I'd die before I'd lose it.)

Here in Oz I'm with Suncorp Metway. Can't say about other places. By the way...heaps of companies have almost gone "belly up"...so LOOK before you pay up!

Cat

A web search will turn up specialty insurers and reviews of each. In the US, Clarion is one of those companies (not a recommendation). Here in the US, insurance is regulated on a state basis. If one wants a somewhat relative indicator of issues, check with your state's Attny General's office for complaints about each. Any company doing a fair amount of biz will have some complaints. Question is how many versus stated size/number insured for one insurer as compared to another. Same goes for small business liability insurance.

Lots of good and accurate advice from others above.

I enquired once about covering music gear from my usual insurer and their advice matched what Alan said.

As a general rule of thumb I now only insure things that I couldn't afford to cover for myself. For instance, it's relatively unlikely that my house will be destroyed, but if it was then it would be hard to cover the cost of replacing it. So I insure for that, knowing that my premiums are most likely to be 'lost money' and that I'm paying for peace of mind.

Public liability is another thing that you probably may not ever have to deal with, but if you do it can take everything you own. So my house insurance has some cover for that (if somebody fell down the front steps for instance) and so do my cars (in case somebody was injured in an accident, either as a passenger or in another car).

I also cover my cars comprehensively, but am considering reducing that cover. Our State government carries its own insurance on all its cars, because it's cheaper for them to pay directly for all the repairs than it would be to pay for the same repairs, plus the profits and running costs of a commercial insurance company.

If a guitar I owned was damaged or stolen away from home then I could afford to replace it. If I paid what (as Cat says) would be very stiff premiums, I could be 100% certain of paying them the cost of a brand new guitar every few years, if not sooner.

Similarly, I never take out the 'extended warranties' that I've been offered on on cars, electrical goods , computers, etc. The reasoning is the same. Over many decades the things that I've bought haven't failed that often, and when they have it's nearly always either quite soon - and within the basic guarantee period - or else towards the end of its natural service life. I can't think of anything offhand that contravenes that trend, but if there was something then it would be comfortably covered by the hundreds (make that thousands) of dollars I've saved over many years by not paying for that type of cover.

However, your comfort levels on insurance can relate directly to your capacity to deal with something bad if it does happen. I do have the cash to pay for things now, so my degree of nervousness about it is low. I've also had 61 years of life to look back on during which I've made a grand total of TWO insurance claims (both minor ones for broken car windscreens) and the three or four items that failed (I can think of a kettle, a hard drive, and a CPU offhand) were all replaced free under the basic warranty. So I guess that it boils down to whatever you're personally happy to take a punt on. :)

Cheers,

Chris

Do they insure breaking strings ?

Our big claim...

We run on diesel generators out at my place. One is small...13 kVa...and one is big at 90 kVa. They both sit on sleds with fuel stored in them...one at 220 litres and one at 290. I had my boys clean them using brushed-on gasoline and a power sprayer. They wore my welding stuff and had fire extinguishers nearby. They used a table lamp and a long extension cord to see to the lamp and sprayer powered by a stand-alone solar system. Anyway, the lamp got tipped over...the bulb broke...and...whoosh!

No problem. The boys used the extinguishers and put it out straight away. No damage EXCEPT a spark got into the ceiling and...four days later...when they went to use the air compressor down there for their bike tires...nada!!!! Just four bare concrete walls and two sorry-looking hulks!!!!

It caused me heaps of angst to get them to pay out...$40K. I mean...I was put through the proverbial wringer. What a Class A Number One Bummer these sorry &*%$^#& caused me!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

To get to the "guitar point"...yeah...calculate what the premiums are and what your guitar (amp) is really worth. Basically...you'll see it ain't really worth it.

Cat

Can you be sued for discomfort arising from a bum note?

I hope not - I played three in a row at an open mic on Monday and that could prove expensive.

A :-)

This summer lightning struck the big 40' cedar tree next to my house and caused a variety of electrical damage. Included in the mess was my son's Fender bass amp and my Epiphone Valve Special. I e-mailed my insurance company (home owners) a few pictures of the tree and got a check in the mail. That easy, of course I'm in the US. Not sure how things work on the other side of the pond.