The Steel Guitar Forum

I hate to see a post from a fellow formite who is a victim of theft. I've seen this discussion before, but it's good to review your particular policy and ranges of coverage. Theft from motor vehicles is an ever present danger and sadly not covered by some policies. There are also exclusions in home owner policies on equipment off the property and especially when used in making any amount of money without a rider. The bad guys are out there and so is your gear and it's ridiculous as to the levels they'll go through to get it regardless of how careful you are. All you guys who can make recommendations, especially to our new players please chime in. The best for a great new year of picking!

I have Heritage insurance on my music gear. It's intended for musicians and collectors.
https://musicins.com/

Link isn't working for me, Tom.

I've had clarionins.com for years; never made a claim, but I'm told they are solid.
Hope I never do have to submit a claim...

Ron, Thanks for story on the Nashville robberies. If you're playing out, insuring is a must these days.

Check these guys out.

Music Pro Insurance

Excellent suggestion. A few months back i met a guy driving around with at least $8k of custom guitars plainly visible in his station wagon. He told me my town was safe, and I said, absolutely not, not from vehicle breakins.

Also need lots of hi-def photos of instrument incl. serial number, stored at a host like flickr or smugmug, sales receipts, appraisal, repair ticket or whatever you can think of to establish ownership and guitar's condition if you don't have those, also stored offsite

Removed

Maybe this link for Heritage will work better:
https://musicins.com/players-get-quote

I carry a RIDER, it renews with Homeowners. Yes, I submitted a list with S/N's and street values . Very worthwhile. I pray I never have to use it. Ok controversial maybe, I also am an avid shooter, ( ranges only ) my guns are covered as well. Crooks will steal our guns before they steal an Instrument. Cover them as well if you happen to own one, or two, or more !

My agent suggested there were better options than his riders on my homeowner policy. Instruments are insured with Clarion and covered anywhere they are (home, job site, auto, storage, etc) If you have a rider on the H/O policy be sure you have coverage as a professional. If you have ANY income from music you are defined as a pro. My guns are insured through the NRA policy from Lockton Affinity.

Bill Cunningham wrote:My agent suggested there were better options than his riders on my homeowner policy. Instruments are insured with Clarion and covered anywhere they are (home, job site, auto, storage, etc) If you have a rider on the H/O policy be sure you have coverage as a professional. If you have ANY income from music you are defined as a pro. My guns are insured through the NRA policy from Lockton Affinity.

While Bill brings up a good point, it depends on the Ins Co and the WORDS as written. Rider, Addendum, they are the same if written appropriately. And yes, my gear is insured inside or outside the home, professional or not. It is important to confirm this with the Ins Broker. WORDS MATTER.

All of my Ins. is with NC Farm Bureau , one stop shopping. My previous Ins Co. wouldn't cover guns or Instruments. They wanted to use a 3rd party for both.

I was complacent, I did not question yearly Ins costs for many years. Two years ago I reviewed our Auto and Home policies, made a change, same INS coverages, saved near $1000 a year. That extra $1000 was going to the agency for their fees plus they lied to me when I asked about the previous years increase. For ex, NC Farm Bureau is not an agency, they are direct employees . They are not an agency that represents multiple Ins Co's.

The NCFB agent came to the house, looked at everything, we talked for about an hour, he clearly understood the need . I listed all items, by value and S/N where I could, within a few days he quoted the add-ons and added them to the new HO policy.

As Bill said, not all Agents and Ins Co's are the same.

How does one establish value on instruments that were purchased used or more than 5 years ago? Appraisals? Estimates? I need to look into insurance on my instruments.

With Heritage, and I assume other "musical insurance", you decide the value for every item. Appraisals if you have them, or just make an estimate. Give them a list of what items you want insured. They base your premium on that list. Those values would be what you recieve if something gets stolen or destroyed. No quibbling or deductibles. Easy.

Like any insurance - could you just put the money in the bank every month and self insure?
What are the premiums like?

Jim Pitman wrote:Like any insurance - could you just put the money in the bank every month and self insure?
What are the premiums like?

I looked at my last two yearly premiums. They are just about .5% of the total of the value of the stuff I insured with them. Considering there are no deductibles, no exclusions like a typical homeowner's policy would have, and they pay the replacement value it seems like a fair price.

MusicPro is what I use. Very reasonable premiums and easy interface that's also usable on a mobile device... helps me rest easy when traveling with gear, and also keeping a lot of expensive stuff at my studio. Good thread!

I have Clarion.
They charge 1% of the total value per year.
They insure for replacement value. So, if my Kline were ruined/stolen, and I wanted to replace it with (another) new Sierra, I'd have to spring for that much extra.
But I could do that.
They ask for documentation if the value is over $5000.
For my Sierra, I was able to refer them to the website and to a signed note from Ross. That was sufficient.
At some point, they instituted a $250 deductible, due to the amount of gear/pedals/etc. I have. No big deal; I wouldn't file a claim for that much and risk a premium increase (they are an insurance company, after all...).
I think the best part of a Clarion policy is having replacement value standard.