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Your vintage grand piano and violin make your heart sing. But everything could turn bitter if something terrible happened to the instruments and they were not properly insured.
Home insurance generally covers musical instruments, but only up to a certain amount. If your instruments are particularly valuable, you may need to purchase an add-on to your home policy or even a separate policy in order to have full coverage.
Related: Best Home Insurance Companies of 2021
Home insurance limits for musical instruments
Your musical instruments are covered by a standard home insurance policy. But this may exclude the instrument from being hedged if you are playing it for compensation of any amount or level, such as compensation of more than $ 2,500 per year.
Home insurance will usually take effect if your musical instrument is damaged by fire, vandalism, or other issues covered by a standard policy. It will also cover theft.
Your home policy has a total coverage limit for personal property (check your policy or ask your insurance agent). For example, if you had $ 150,000 in personal property coverage and a vintage instrument worth $ 50,000, that would only leave you $ 100,000 to replace all of your furniture, clothing, electronics and everything. disaster remains like a fire. Therefore, you must insure the instrument separately.
Keep in mind that a standard home insurance policy does not cover damage caused by flooding or earthquakes. So, for example, if your vintage violin is crushed by a falling image during an earthquake, the damage will not be covered unless you have a separate earthquake policy.
To determine if you may need coverage for your musical instrument beyond your home insurance policy:
- Take an inventory of your musical instruments.
- Assign a value to each instrument. If the instrument is particularly valuable, get a professional appraisal.
- Consider additional coverage if your owner’s personal property insurance is not sufficient to cover the instrument and the rest of your belongings.
Related: Best Home Insurance Companies of 2021
How to get extra coverage for musical instruments
There are several ways to purchase additional coverage for your musical instruments: home insurance supplemental coverage and separate instrument coverage.
Supplementary coverage
Coverage added to your home insurance policy is known as a rider, rider, rider, or scheduled personal property. Additional coverage may have a lower deductible than your home insurance policy. In addition, it will likely cover a wider range of incidents involving your instrument than a standard home insurance policy, such as accidental damage coverage.
You may encounter a coverage limit even when you “program†the instrument, for example $ 20,000. And you may not be able to program the instrument if it is used for paid performances.
Stand-alone coverage
A special cover for musical instruments is also available. In some cases, a policy will cover multiple musical instruments up to the maximum dollar amount.
A professional appraisal of the value of an instrument will usually determine the amount of hedge required. The insurance premium for a musical instrument can be as low as $ 250 per year, according to Trusted Choice, an organization for independent insurance agents.
Most stand-alone musical instrument policies cover an instrument no matter where it is, whether it is stored with you in the United States or with you on a trip to Italy.
Similar to supplemental coverage, a musical instrument policy normally covers circumstances not included in standard homeowners coverage. For example, if you drop your violin and it cracks, a musical instrument policy might cover the damage (less the deductible), while a standard home insurance policy would not pay for accidental damage. .
Here are some scenarios that a musical instrument policy can cover:
- Damage caused by changes in temperature or humidity
- Flight
- Fire damage
- Water damage
- Flood damage
- Earthquake damage
- Vandalism
- Damage during transport
- Poor quality work during a repair
Here are some scenarios that a musical instrument policy may not cover:
- Progressive deterioration
- Mold damage
- Damage caused by insects, worms, rodents or vermin
In addition to the extent of coverage, another advantage of a separate musical instrument policy is that it normally provides what is called “agreed value” coverage. Under this coverage, you and your insurer have agreed on a value for an item. If a covered instrument were damaged or stolen, for example, the insurer would pay the “agreed value†amount (less any deductible).
This is especially important for high value instruments that appreciate, so that they can be insured for their full value and there are no surprises if you have to make a claim.
Shopping for musical instrument cover
If you are looking for musical instrument insurance, get quotes from at least three insurers and make sure those insurers are well rated by a rating agency like AM Best.
The information you will want to have on hand when applying for musical instrument insurance includes:
- How much does the instrument cost
- Instrument storage location
- How often is the instrument played
- How often do you travel with the instrument
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