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It is that time of the year when the instrument insurance becomes due. Well actually the instrument insurance is due in early February, but my insurance company is efficient and automated so the quote arrived this morning. Yes that’s on a Sunday. But remember computers don’t have time off for New Year.
So being bored this morning I thought I would have a hunt about for a potentially better deal and was actually not astonished to find it was not easy to compare the instrument insurance offerings from different companies. And it is important to look at what you are buying.
For example: One company quoted me total instrument insurance value of £50,000 of cover but no item could be more than £1,000 and another quoted instrument insurance value of £25,000 of cover but covered individual items up to £2,500.
There is also a question of what are you insuring, the instruments while they are static, in transit or while you're performing. The list can be quite long.
Oh and before you start saying to me you get instrument insurance with my house insurance, I would say 'Are you Sure?' and check the small print, as it is probably not covered or has an item or total instrument insurance limit.
Household insurance is designed to cover the contents of the house. Typically you have to specify specific items e.g. Camera’s, Jewellery, expensive items used in a hobby. If your gigging or using the equipment to earn a living then there is normally an exclusion and you will need separate Instrument Insurance.
Watch the video blog instead?
Work out what needs to be insured.
Before going on any websites and filling in forms work out what instrument insurance you need? This sounds obvious but when you think a few minutes you realise that it is not.
Work out the value of your equipment on two basis. What you think it is worth and what it will cost you to replace it. For example a gigging musician or studio musician that relies on their instrument to earn a living may require instrument insurance based on replacement value so you can get new equipment quickly to minimise the loss of earnings.
The other thing here is be reasonable by not going over the top on the total value. The insurance company will only appoint a loss adjuster to verify your value in the event of a claim and pay out based on the loss adjusters report which will be based on market values from retailers if the item is still in production or reseller portals like e-bay if not.
Where do you need your equipment insured, where you live, where you work, in your car or van, in a storage location. In my case most of my equipment is in a storage unit and I have taken instrument insurance out with the company that runs the site for fire and theft. This works out cheaper than personal insurance. This means that the instrument insurance for equipment located in other locations can be lower as the value of the items is lower.
Do you gig in locations where you might come into contact with the public? Do you need to protect yourself from them?
Types of of cover
Now this really can be a minefield for instrument insurance. But if you have done the thinking exercise then this should become easier to assess when you are presented with the questions.
Multiple insurance trap
Another area here to think about is whether the equipment is covered by multiple insurances, but insured by none.
What do I mean by that statement. There are two scenarios that come to mine with this statement.
The first is you have multiple insurances with exclusions e.g. gig insurance covers the equipment while on the road but not at home and home insurance with a per item limit which your equipment exceeds.
Two insurances covering the same item but at the point of claim neither insurance accepts the liability because the other insurance takes precedence.
Let’s start with the basics:
Theft
Fairly straight forward. Your equipment has been stolen.
1st thing is to ensure the location that the equipment might be stolen from is stated on your insurance documents. Be that your home, place of work and if you travel the vehicle that you use. Remember expensive items are not covered on standard motor insurance.
2nd insure high value items are declared to the insurance company so there can be no ambiguity on these items.
3rd understand the basis of the instrument insurance that you have taken. New for old where new instruments are purchased to replace those stolen or replacement value where the insurance company pays out the value of the items stolen based on market value. Note: One is more expensive than the other.
Fire
While most policies normally state Fire and Theft as normally both result in a loss. They are separate and you should check the small print e.g. the policy may state that the equipment should be disconnected from the mains supply when not in use. Many studios have kill switches that switch all the power off when not in use to minimise the risk of electrical fires.
Another stipulation is that the storage location should have fire detectors. Going back to a statement I made earlier about taking instrument insurance with the storage provider. The reason that this is good value is that their facilities are covered by 24/7 CCTV, have single points of entry and exit, have fire detectors and fire suppression systems installed that are checked at least annually. In other words the storage provider has put measures in place to mitigate the risks that are verifiable.
Transit insurance
If you are transporting your instruments from A to B e.g. to a Gig it might be a good idea to consider some form of in-transit insurance that covers the instruments from being stolen from the vehicle, being damaged in the vehicle as a result of something like a road traffic accident or being dropped while being moved in and out of a venue. And I can attest to a keyboard years ago, in a padded bag in the back of the van, being damage when the driver had to perform an emergent stop and something basically speared the bag. All I can say was it wasn’t my primary board that night.
Gig Insurance
This can be split into a number of sections but the part I am going to spotlight is public liability. This is sold as protecting the public. But really it is to protect you from being sued by a member of the public through being injured while in proximity to you and your equipment.
The simplest example is a member of the public tripping over your microphone cable and breaking something and then suing you for negligence to cover loss of earnings and distress! In the UK we are less litigious than other parts of the world. But I would not gig without public liability being in place whether mine personally (preferable) or the venue’s.
But if you are a keyboard player (and reading) this then most of your equipment will be electrical and therefore caries the risk of electric shock if it not properly maintained. I also know of a case where a venue sued an artist for damaging the venue’s electrical supply by having unsafe equipment.
Loss of earnings
Most people do not think of this one. But it can be a life saver. If you are injured and therefore cannot earn money playing your instrument then this type of instrument insurance can pay a proportion up to your full income.
I know someone that due to covid was unable to work. Looked at their loss of income insurance and due to the wording was able to claim a good proportion of their projected earnings. She was lucky in this circumstance but she had taken out this insurance so was entitled to the payment.
Studio Insurance
Studio insurance will typically cover Theft, Fire and Public Liability and I held this even though it was mainly me in my little studio. It just combined everything into a single package and payment. And although I didn’t need it the standard policy could cover items such as:
Loss of master - if a clients master is damage then the insurance would pay for the cost of re-recoding them. And yes I know we do everything digitally now, but the theory on master loss is still the same
Equipment damage - e.g. through power system issues. I have banged on for years on the YouTube channel about using uninterruptible power supplies and conditioning units to protect sensitive electronics. I had an amplifier fail many years ago which result in a high voltage DC current being passed to the speakers. Both the amplifier and speaker were toast, but I was able to partially claim for these on my insurance so the hit wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Bottom line
The bottom line is that it is a risk to carry no instrument insurance and at minimum you should have a musicians Fire and Theft policy
About the Author
Jon describes himself as a frustrated musician with a passion for the electronic instruments that help him and other musicians be creative. He started playing keyboards in his late teens and re-ignited his passion and built a new studio following his seperation.
About the Blog
The Blog, Website and YouTube channel were started to share Jon's experiences and views on the industry at large and how these effect the small musician. Plus technical tips how to configure and maintain the equipment he owns.
He is open to collaborations with manufacturers to undertake independent equipment reviews. Representative please contact him through the contact section of this site.
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