The Key to Your Peace of Mind
You have a home. You have musical instruments in your home. Your home and the personal property within it are insured. So, it stands to reason that your musical instruments are protected by said insurance, right?
Not necessarily. It’s…well…it’s complicated.
Insurance coverage can vary depending on whether your instruments are rented, owned, or played professionally. The instrument’s value can impact coverage and premiums as well as other factors such as how often you travel with the instrument (to lessons, rehearsals, tours, etc.), home security, climate control, local crime rates, and more.
What you don’t know about insuring your instrument could mean the difference between replacement or a total loss in the event of a disaster. What you do know is that you want it protected.
That’s why we felt it was important to cover this topic for parents investing in their child’s musical education, private music instructors, professional or semi-professional musicians, small music business owners, and solo piano technicians. Hence, today’s lesson: learning about the kinds of coverage you might need to make sure your musical instruments are covered in your house, your car, at your business, or at our music studio.
Keeping Your Instruments Safe and Sound
Even if you don’t read any further, the most important advice we can offer is that regardless of whether you’re a professional seeking a commercial line or a consumer looking for personal lines of insurance, working with an independent insurance agent is the key to insuring your instruments against risk and loss.
An independent agent has access to multiple agencies and can source not only the best rates to match your needs but is also highly knowledgeable about the various riders that are going to provide you with the best protection for your unique situation.
Rental Instruments
If you have a school-aged child who is starting band or orchestra, instrument rental programs are usually your introduction to having a musical instrument in the home. In our previous blog post, Musical Instruments: Should You Rent or Buy?, we outline the various options for renting musical instruments.
Most instrument rental programs offered by your neighborhood retail music shop require you to carry insurance that covers normal wear and tear of the instrument. This is typically part of the base rental cost of the instrument.
Through the rental program, there are usually additional coverages offered, such as Damage/Repair coverage or Theft/Loss protection.
Damage/Repair coverage will cover repairs up to a certain dollar amount (sometimes with a deductible) for events that occur outside normal wear and tear. These include scenarios like mishandling of the instrument or damage from accidents like dropping, sitting on, or running over the instrument with a car.
Theft/Loss protection covers the instrument in the event that it’s lost or stolen. With this coverage, it’s important that you read the policy’s fine print. Depending on the insurance, there may be strict conditions about where or how the instrument is stored or requirements regarding filing a police report if it’s stolen. If those conditions are met, then your instrument is replaced with another instrument either at no charge or minus your deductible. When renting an instrument, the add-on protections are an easy way of making sure your instrument is covered without involving your personal home insurance company.
But do you really need these extra coverages?
Avoiding Treble (Sorry, We Couldn’t Help Ourselves)
We’ll just say that you know your child better than anyone else. Musical instruments, quality teacher-approved instruments (but not Instrument Shaped Objects [ISOs]), are expensive and repairs can be costly. You know best if your child is a beautiful disaster with their room and belongings or if they tend to forget their items on the bus or elsewhere in the world.
What’s more, while a trumpet is glorified plumbing (no offense) an oboe is quite complex. When considering your options, the instrument your child plays might also factor into the decision about what coverage is needed in your situation.
But wait. Isn’t the instrument already covered by your homeowners or renter’s insurance policies? This is a common question we hear often. Generally speaking, your child’s instrument may be covered by your homeowner’s or renter’s policy under “Personal Property.” However, even if it is covered, your coverage may be inadequate if the instrument is expensive or you have a high deductible.
Many standard policies cap coverage of musical instruments at $2000. Depending on the instrument you may cross that threshold faster than you think. For beginners that could mean a new saxophone or oboe. For instruments that are intermediate level, then odds are you’re going to exceed that, even if your replacement instrument is used. In the end, if the value of the instrument exceeds the cap amount, you’ll need to pay the rest out of pocket.
What’s more, your homeowner/renter’s insurance may only cover specific perils, such as fire or theft. So dropping the instrument, leaving it on the bus, or any other unhappy accident might not be covered.
Owned Instruments
Whether it’s your family piano, dad’s guitar collection, or your child’s used or new band or orchestra instrument, your personal instruments don’t come with an option of insurance when purchased from a private seller or a retail music shop.
New instruments may be covered by a limited manufacturer warranty, but that won’t extend to normal wear and tear or a disaster-related incident causing damage, theft, or loss of your instrument. If you have a renter’s or homeowner’s insurance policy, even if you mentally calculated the perceived value of your musical instruments into the quote, unless you mentioned that you have these instruments they may not be covered at all in the event of a disaster or theft. This is where you need to make sure that they are claimed as Scheduled Articles in your insurance policy.
When you claim your instrument as a Scheduled Article, it moves it from the Personal Property category and lists it individually on your policy. In this way, it has its own dedicated line of coverage. Typically, this means it’s covered for its full appraised value and there is generally no deductible.
What’s more, it’s covered for loss (called “mysterious disappearance”) and coverage extends worldwide. In other words, if your child leaves their flute behind after performing at Carnegie Hall, it’s covered.
Instruments on The Go
What about your car? From time to time, thieves have been known to break into cars and steal whatever isn’t nailed down. You may be wondering then what kind of personal property is covered in your vehicle and does that include any musical instruments?
Standard auto insurance only covers your car itself and anything permanently attached to it, like a factory stereo. In this scenario, the instrument would again be covered by your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy.
Professional Musicians
Over the years our insurance needs have certainly changed a lot. Once upon a time Andy was in a national touring rock group. We started as independent contractors teaching music lessons and have been small business owners of not just the music lesson studio we are today but a larger studio that hired around 20 private music teachers and administrative employees. What’s more, today Andy is also a piano technician. Each of these scenarios creates unique insurance needs that not only protect us, but our clients, and our clients’ instruments both in their home, on the road, and in our studio space.
In Andy’s experience as a professional musician in a touring rock band, finding insurance to cover instruments and gear on the road was a challenge. He thinks they were unbelievably lucky to have gotten insurance and for it to have covered what they lost. Keep in mind this was more than 25 years ago. Their gear was stolen TWICE. The first time was locally in Minnesota, and they were fortunate to have all of it recovered and returned to them. (Shout out to the St Paul Police department!) The second time was in NYC out of a secured hotel lot. In that instance, it was a complete loss.
FAQs Regarding Insuring Your Instrument
Q. Is the instrument covered if it’s lost or damaged at school or on the bus?
Yes, usually. Standard homeowner’s policies include “off premises” coverage for personal property, but might exclude accidental damage, like dropping the instrument. For that reason, a Scheduled Article — which would cover that — is a smart choice.
Q. Is it covered if my child travels out of state for a band competition?
Yes, most Personal Property coverage applies worldwide. If your instrument is a Scheduled Article on your policy, it’s covered during travel regardless of the state or country you’re in.
Q. What is the difference between “replacement cost” and “actual cash value”?
Replacement cost pays for a brand-new instrument of similar make and quality at current prices. Actual cash value means you receive the used market value. This is calculated by taking the replacement cost and depreciating it for age and wear.
Q. Are accessories like the case or mouthpiece covered?
Usually, if they are listed as part of the instrument’s total value.
Q. Do I need an appraisal to get coverage?
For standard coverage, you’d most likely only need a receipt for the purchase of your instrument. To add it as a Scheduled Article, your insurer may require you receive a professional appraisal.
Q. If I have to file a claim will my insurance premium go up?
Possibly. It’s best to double check this with your insurance agent before deciding which route to take.
Sound Investments: Protection for A Kopp Music
As a private music lesson studio, we want and need insurance for a variety of potential losses. We are covered for:
- Liability Insurance: This covers our studio if a student, parent, or visitor is injured on the premises.
- Property Insurance: Property insurance protects the physical items in our studio such as instruments, computers, or furniture against risks like fire, theft, or vandalism.
- Cyber Insurance: This coverage is essential to protect data such as student information, parent contact information, credit card information, and more. It covers situations such as data breach, data restoration, and legal fees.
- Business Insurance: This bundles General Liability and Property insurance together into a cost-effective package.
- Auto Insurance: Commercial auto insurance protects us when we use our vehicles for business purposes, such as transporting instruments or running errands related to studio business.
Piano Technician
Andy’s work as a Piano Technician requires that he also obtain insurance protection for a wide range of possibilities:
- Tools and Special Equipment (Inland Marine Under $2,500): This policy protects Andy’s portable tools wherever he takes them. It covers repair or replacement if they are lost, stolen or damaged.
- Riders Needed for Equipment Over $2,500: This coverage protects high-value items like electronic tuning devices or workshop machinery for replacement costs.
- Professional Liability & Property in Transit: This covers Andy as a piano technician for when he is working on clients’ pianos or transporting their piano’s actions or other components that may need to be worked on back at the studio.
- Bailee’s Customer Insurance: Bailee’s is a type of Inland Marine coverage that protects Andy when he has a client’s property in his care, custody, and control. In the event of an accident, it pays for damage to the client’s property.
Facing the Music: An Imperfect World
In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need insurance to protect our valuables from loss, damage, theft, or disaster. Unfortunately, reality tells a different story.
We know making an investment in your own or your child’s instrument, musical education, time, and commitment are all incredibly valuable to you. We also know that you want to be sure that it’s all protected. In the end, insurance will give you that peace of mind.
Questions? Feel free to reach out to us! We’re always happy to help!
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