General Advice on Insuring High Value Instruments
Purchasing any musical instrument is a considerable investment, both financially and emotionally but when you choose to invest in a higher calibre of instrument, possibly even one of a kind, it is even more important to have adequate protection in place to protect it. Once you have made that investment how do you choose the right insurance cover and, just as importantly, who do you trust to work with you when something goes wrong? This is where we hope you will find our experience on this subject useful:
Could I use our household insurance provider?
Possibly, but consider….
Does your household insurance provider have a single item limit that is exceeded by the replacement cost of your instrument?
Will your insurance provider require additional security measures to be in place and issue you with forms and declarations to complete before they are able to quote or provide cover?
Will they put in place caveats on how you must store your instrument?
Will they allow your instrument to be taken out of your home without imposing special terms or making additional charges?
Will they understand an instrument is not an item of furniture and cannot be replaced as simply as choosing another out of a catalogue and that repair needs to be done by specialists or the manufacturer?
If they allow you to transport your instrument, will they provide unattended vehicle cover for those situations when you need to leave it unattended in a car? For instance, at a petrol station or when you need to check in at venue before you can unload?
Will your instrument be covered if you need to leave it unattended overnight at a venue or between rehearsal and performance?
If you are taking your Harp to a School or University and need to leave it there, will you still be covered?
Will you be able to speak to someone who understands your needs, or will you be calling an impersonal call centre and ‘be taken through the process’?
When making a claim will they:
Pay for your instrument to be transported to/from the repairer?
fund a loan replacement whilst your instrument can not be played?
insist your instrument is repaired using their network of approved repairers or will you be free to choose who repairs your instrument?
Our Policies Include:
Cover for your instrument just in your home, or optionally across the UK & Ireland, all Europe and Worldwide. We even have options if you loan your instrument(s) commercially or are part of a school/college or university.
Cover for you and your immediate family members to use your instrument within the cover limits, with no penalty.
Cover if your instrument is stolen.
Cover if your instrument is accidentally damaged.
Cover if you need to leave your instrument temporarily in an unattended vehicle.*
Cover if you wish to loan your instrument to a friend or colleague provided it is not for commercial gain.**
Cover if you need to leave your instrument unattended at a venue between rehearsal and performance.
We include £1m Public Liability cover free of charge, with an option for larger values if needed.
When Making a Claim:
We reimburse the costs to transport your instrument to/from a repairer.
We fund a replacement loan instrument whilst yours is being repaired.
We pay for the repair or replacement of your instrument less our £15 policy excess.**
If your instrument is written off, our policies provide New for Old cover.**
We work with and support you though the whole claims process.
We do not use a network of repairers, allowing you to choose who you trust to repair your harp (this includes the manufacturer). All we ask is that two quotes are submitted to ensure competitive behavior from the repairers (but you chose the two repairers)
We are happy to pay the repairer directly thereby avoiding the need for you to pay and then reclaim from us.
When you call in to advise us of a claim, we even complete the claim form for you based on what you tell us.
What is more, you can insure all your instruments (from an Accordion to a Zurna), on a single policy and enjoy the same benefits. We can be contacted on 0118 384 2025 Monday to Friday 10am - 6:30pm To help compare our policies against other providers, we have followed the FCA guidance on producing an Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) anyone you consider using to insure your Harp should be able to provide their version of this document.
[*] Where cover is provided outside your home [**] Terms and conditions apply