JohnBoston

Hi everyone,

I have read something about the Insurance of Musical Instruments and I would like to know if the people in the forum would be interested in it and your opinion about it, if you would like to have one, what kind of problems this insurance should cover and your interest in it.

Thanks for all

Have a great week

GuitarBizarre

Wow, you've read EVERYTHING about the Insurance of Musical Instruments?

How much reading is that? I'm not interested in it I just want to know how long it took you.

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Peppermint4life

Wha....?

And I think it should cover anything that is faulty on the instrument. In other words, any defects in the paint, circuitry etc.

mr dave

Instrument insurance is definitely worth considering seriously if you've got expensive gear or if you're a gigging musician. Apparently there are different grades of insurance coverage when it comes to instruments as well, mainly differing between collectors and performers. If you're gigging at all you NEED the coverage of a performer if you want to be protected. I believe it falls under Entertainment Insurance and it's significantly more expensive than just regular person coverage.

A friend of mine's brother was in an old punk band and played a show 2 hours away, like a local reunion thing - they only played 3-4 shows a year at that point. Their van was insured, so they didn't completely freak out when they noticed they'd been robbed thinking the van insurance covered the contents (like it normally would). Come to find out, due to the fact that the contents were instruments for a 'performing' band they needed a special kind of coverage. Their gear was replaced through the generosity of the community and benefit shows. In this case any band who puts up a poster to advertise a gig, or who gets paid ANY amount of dollars for a show is considered a performing band.

I can't see insurance covering paint chips on anything besides a collectible / antique instrument. Actually no, I can totally see that on lower grade gear, and then the insurance company laughing its ass off when they raise your premium because of cosmetic issues. Circuitry should be handled under warranty.

My only other concern is whether or not the insurance covers the original value of the instrument or the current value. From what I understand if my 1994 Mexican Stratocaster was stolen or burned beyond repair an insurance company would provide me with a replacement Mexi Strat, as in, a new one from the shelf right now, not an 18 year old slowly getting vintage instrument.

To me, that's not good enough. If I lose an almost 20 year old instrument I'd like an almost 20 year old replacement or an appropriate modification to the compensation to adjust for the irreplaceable loss of that time. But it's been a while, I should probably look into insuring my stuff again.

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Nik

When getting insurance on my apartment I made sure to specify that I had thousands of dollars of gear. The man listed it as a big ticket item and that was the end of it. It is covered against the usual things: fire, water damage, theft. Because I am not currently gigging, this is about as much as I would need.

Mr. Dave raises an excellent point as well. The thing is, if something awful befell my gear while it is in my residence, the insurance company would more than likely provide me the modern equivalent to my 2003 era Tama Rockstar Custom drum set. While it's not incredibly old, it seems that it is no longer in production.

Lastly, I would ensure that the deductible you would pay in the event of a theft or damage to claim your Instrument Insurance is not more than the cost of a new instrument.