wondering whats the best way to insure my banjo. How do other players insure their instruments for playing in pubs/sessions. Do you cover it on your ordinary house contents insurance or take out specialist insurance
I have Cornhill specialist musical instrument insurance. It's very very good. It's kind of tailored for classical players who generally look after their instruments better than us feckin diddley drunks, so insuring a violin and a viola in a double case was not a problem.
If I was them, I'd smell a rat with someone trying to insure a bloody banjo, but you never know. They may be naive enough.
My instruments are insured on a rider through my homeowners insurance company. I sent them photographs of each instrument to be kept in
I thought it was interesting though when they told me they would NOT insure them if they were used for my profession. I guess that would become a different type of policy.
Thanks for your reply Mary. My policy says more or less the same. They are insured at home but not if playing public which is the very time i would want them insured. Problem is I'd rather spend my money on other things than specialist instrument insurance.
If you're a member of the MU they can insure you, through Cornhill I believe it is.
You automatically get Public Liability insurance if you're a member - useful for those jobsworths in the hotel industry who hire you to play on their premises - aren't they insured already ?
I had mine fiddle on the house insurance but realised that you then you apparently can't use it to make money!
Quite a few people recommended http://www.allianzmusicalinsurance.co.uk/ and it only cost £35 ish (per year) for the case, bow and fiddle to be insured (Of course that changes with different values). Each item can be insured for upto £1000. After that you need a written valuation.
I just insured with Allianz a couple of weeks ago (which is the same as the Cornhill insurance that Llig mentioned). It cost about £50 for the guitar and 3 whistles but that is for anywhere in the World, including on a flight as long as it is in a proper case, theft from the back of a car (as long as it is concealed) and even in a pub. Pretty much fully covered against any eventuality.
You are mistaken, Creathana with the £1000 limit. It goes higher than that before you need a written valuation, I think £5000 for an individual item or £25,000 in total.
They even cover hire costs of up to £1000 for the period you are having your instrument repaired.
I will probably add bouzouki, etc to the insurance at some point but I need to play them first and take them out the house.
I think MU membership gives you a limited insurance with Allianz Cornhill of up to £500 (?) but it also gives you a discount for the proper insurance as does being a member of various musical societies like the Clarinet and Sazaphone Society.
They are clearly used to insuring folk musicians. They even have bouzoukis and whistles in their drop down lists of instruments.
I suspect that you would always need evidence of an instrument's value, especially for a fiddle. It would be interesting to hear from someone who has made a claim - what evidence did they ask for? Where an instrument is broken it can obviously still have its previous value assessed, but an unidentified violin could be worth anything or possibly virtually nothing, and if it has been stolen, who knows? It doesn't matter if it sounds fantastic - I believe that valuers pay scant regard to the sound. They just inspect them visually (according to something I read on a violin forum)
My fiddle and viola (and bows and case of course) are valued to the price I would have to pay for similar instruments. Same as any insurance.
But the advantage of the Allianz dudes is their care. When the drummer (it had to be the drummer) tripped over a wire that was attached to my fiddle and pulled it out of my hands and it smashed to the floor bridge down and broke the top into three pieces, I had a temporary replacement fiddle the next morning (a lovely instrument) and my instrument was repaired in two weeks by a top top top top repair man. And I never saw a bill or anything. And my premium didn't go up the next year.
Great to hear such positive feedback for Allianz - I'm with them and although I've never had a claim [and hope never to have a claim], the above comments are very reassuring.
That is indeed the case with them Allianz dudes. I take it we're talking Gordon the instrument fixer llig (Miracle worker)........ or equivalent (and there aint many of those).
I think the situation re valuation of any given instrument is down to professional opinion. If you haven't had a professional opinion, get one before the accident.
My girl friend had her bow fecked, she paid ?? can't remember the figure but on Gordon S's word, he knew the bow from re-hairing it regularly, she received twice as much, as in his opinion that was the replacement value. I might add that to replace the bow she still had to add £500 to get a bow that felt as good to her.
It's easier for me as my instruments are more readily quantifiable, IE not as esoteric as a fiddle or bow.
I've always used Endsleigh. They have specific musical instrument policies and it has always been very reasonable.
£20 for peace of mind to insure my fiddle & bow up to £1,000 replacement valuefor 365 days. Includes accidental damage (inc. drunken arseholes sitting on it when i'm at the bar / loo) fire & theft.
just tried out the endsleigh site and it is very reasonable. interestingly it allows you to register your instrument as an orchestral type instrument or "other".
Banjo is classed as other!!.
However, after messing around with it i realised that for any given sum insured an orchestral instrument is cheaper to insure than other
so llig was right, us feckin didley dee drunks must be high risk
There are a number of threads here about this one. Comes up as regular as everyones homeowners insurance comes up.
Sheck with you insurance man. many policies do not include musical instruments. You need to have a separate rider.
Others do. For years with my old company, I had to carry a separate policy for my grand piano. When I changes, the insurance guy said that at long as I had an appraisal with some pics and such, it was covered by my contents coverage.
No Cause For Alarm - "You are mistaken, Creathana with the £1000 limit. It goes higher than that before you need a written valuation, I think £5000 for an individual item or £25,000 in total."
Are you sure? I insured my fiddle a month ago (along with a lot my teachers pupils before we went on a school trip) and she was told that we would need a written valuation for over £1000.
Allianz Cornhill also insures for foreign trips, stuff being nicked from cars, and cases and other accessories. Plus they register your instrument on the "Smartwiter" database and give you a phial of encoded stuff which you swab onto somewhere where it doesn't affect the sound. If the instrument's stolen and then recovered, the police can find out the instrument's ownership by checking against the database. Well worth it, mainly for peace of mind.
Yes creathana - pretty sure as I just insured my guitar for more than that and they did not want a written valuation. Also if you look on their website at the terms and conditions it says as much.
Instrument insurance
Instrument insurance
wondering whats the best way to insure my banjo. How do other players insure their instruments for playing in pubs/sessions. Do you cover it on your ordinary house contents insurance or take out specialist insurance
# Posted on August 19th 2009 by riggers
Re: Instrument insurance
I have Cornhill specialist musical instrument insurance. It's very very good. It's kind of tailored for classical players who generally look after their instruments better than us feckin diddley drunks, so insuring a violin and a viola in a double case was not a problem.
If I was them, I'd smell a rat with someone trying to insure a bloody banjo, but you never know. They may be naive enough.
# Posted on August 19th 2009 by llig leahcim
Re: Instrument insurance
But when it comes down to it, insurance or no insurance, the instrument is always the player's personal responsibility.
# Posted on August 19th 2009 by lazyhound
Re: Instrument insurance
My instruments are insured on a rider through my homeowners insurance company. I sent them photographs of each instrument to be kept in
I thought it was interesting though when they told me they would NOT insure them if they were used for my profession. I guess that would become a different type of policy.
Mary
# Posted on August 19th 2009 by Antikhntr
Re: Instrument insurance
Thanks for your reply Mary. My policy says more or less the same. They are insured at home but not if playing public which is the very time i would want them insured. Problem is I'd rather spend my money on other things than specialist instrument insurance.
# Posted on August 19th 2009 by riggers
Re: Instrument insurance
If you're a member of the MU they can insure you, through Cornhill I believe it is.
You automatically get Public Liability insurance if you're a member - useful for those jobsworths in the hotel industry who hire you to play on their premises - aren't they insured already ?
# Posted on August 19th 2009 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Instrument insurance
I had mine fiddle on the house insurance but realised that you then you apparently can't use it to make money!
Quite a few people recommended http://www.allianzmusicalinsurance.co.uk/ and it only cost £35 ish (per year) for the case, bow and fiddle to be insured (Of course that changes with different values). Each item can be insured for upto £1000. After that you need a written valuation.
# Posted on August 19th 2009 by creathana
Re: Instrument insurance
I just insured with Allianz a couple of weeks ago (which is the same as the Cornhill insurance that Llig mentioned). It cost about £50 for the guitar and 3 whistles but that is for anywhere in the World, including on a flight as long as it is in a proper case, theft from the back of a car (as long as it is concealed) and even in a pub. Pretty much fully covered against any eventuality.
You are mistaken, Creathana with the £1000 limit. It goes higher than that before you need a written valuation, I think £5000 for an individual item or £25,000 in total.
They even cover hire costs of up to £1000 for the period you are having your instrument repaired.
I will probably add bouzouki, etc to the insurance at some point but I need to play them first and take them out the house.
I think MU membership gives you a limited insurance with Allianz Cornhill of up to £500 (?) but it also gives you a discount for the proper insurance as does being a member of various musical societies like the Clarinet and Sazaphone Society.
They are clearly used to insuring folk musicians. They even have bouzoukis and whistles in their drop down lists of instruments.
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Instrument insurance
Allianz are the dudes indeed...
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by Solidmahog
Re: Instrument insurance
I suspect that you would always need evidence of an instrument's value, especially for a fiddle. It would be interesting to hear from someone who has made a claim - what evidence did they ask for? Where an instrument is broken it can obviously still have its previous value assessed, but an unidentified violin could be worth anything or possibly virtually nothing, and if it has been stolen, who knows? It doesn't matter if it sounds fantastic - I believe that valuers pay scant regard to the sound. They just inspect them visually (according to something I read on a violin forum)
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by RichardB
Re: Instrument insurance
My fiddle and viola (and bows and case of course) are valued to the price I would have to pay for similar instruments. Same as any insurance.
But the advantage of the Allianz dudes is their care. When the drummer (it had to be the drummer) tripped over a wire that was attached to my fiddle and pulled it out of my hands and it smashed to the floor bridge down and broke the top into three pieces, I had a temporary replacement fiddle the next morning (a lovely instrument) and my instrument was repaired in two weeks by a top top top top repair man. And I never saw a bill or anything. And my premium didn't go up the next year.
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by llig leahcim
Re: Instrument insurance
Great to hear such positive feedback for Allianz - I'm with them and although I've never had a claim [and hope never to have a claim], the above comments are very reassuring.
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by Ron P
Re: Instrument insurance
That is indeed the case with them Allianz dudes. I take it we're talking Gordon the instrument fixer llig (Miracle worker)........ or equivalent (and there aint many of those).
I think the situation re valuation of any given instrument is down to professional opinion. If you haven't had a professional opinion, get one before the accident.
My girl friend had her bow fecked, she paid ?? can't remember the figure but on Gordon S's word, he knew the bow from re-hairing it regularly, she received twice as much, as in his opinion that was the replacement value. I might add that to replace the bow she still had to add £500 to get a bow that felt as good to her.
It's easier for me as my instruments are more readily quantifiable, IE not as esoteric as a fiddle or bow.
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by Solidmahog
Re: Instrument insurance
I've always used Endsleigh. They have specific musical instrument policies and it has always been very reasonable.
£20 for peace of mind to insure my fiddle & bow up to £1,000 replacement valuefor 365 days. Includes accidental damage (inc. drunken arseholes sitting on it when i'm at the bar / loo) fire & theft.
Bargain.
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by jfiddlerh
Re: Instrument insurance
just tried out the endsleigh site and it is very reasonable. interestingly it allows you to register your instrument as an orchestral type instrument or "other".
Banjo is classed as other!!.
However, after messing around with it i realised that for any given sum insured an orchestral instrument is cheaper to insure than other
so llig was right, us feckin didley dee drunks must be high risk
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by riggers
Re: Instrument insurance
There are a number of threads here about this one. Comes up as regular as everyones homeowners insurance comes up.
Sheck with you insurance man. many policies do not include musical instruments. You need to have a separate rider.
Others do. For years with my old company, I had to carry a separate policy for my grand piano. When I changes, the insurance guy said that at long as I had an appraisal with some pics and such, it was covered by my contents coverage.
No blanket answer.
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by zippydw
Re: Instrument insurance
No Cause For Alarm - "You are mistaken, Creathana with the £1000 limit. It goes higher than that before you need a written valuation, I think £5000 for an individual item or £25,000 in total."
Are you sure? I insured my fiddle a month ago (along with a lot my teachers pupils before we went on a school trip) and she was told that we would need a written valuation for over £1000.
# Posted on August 20th 2009 by creathana
Re: Instrument insurance
Allianz Cornhill also insures for foreign trips, stuff being nicked from cars, and cases and other accessories. Plus they register your instrument on the "Smartwiter" database and give you a phial of encoded stuff which you swab onto somewhere where it doesn't affect the sound. If the instrument's stolen and then recovered, the police can find out the instrument's ownership by checking against the database. Well worth it, mainly for peace of mind.
# Posted on August 21st 2009 by Mark Harmer
Re: Instrument insurance
s m a r t w a t e r
Jeez, Jeremy!!
# Posted on August 21st 2009 by Mark Harmer
Re: Instrument insurance
Yes creathana - pretty sure as I just insured my guitar for more than that and they did not want a written valuation. Also if you look on their website at the terms and conditions it says as much.
# Posted on August 21st 2009 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Instrument insurance
No Cause For Alarm - That's just made my life a lot easier then haha! Strange that my teacher got that wrong!
# Posted on August 21st 2009 by creathana