Insuring your kit/equipment

This came up in the 'stolen kit' thread, so I thought I'd post a new thread so his thread didn't get sidetracked.

I've considered insuring my kits. One sits at the guitarists home where we practice/record and it rarely leaves. The other is my gig kit which I'd like covered when stored at my home AND against damage incurred while in use away from home.

I suppose the practice kit would need to be covered under the guitarist home insurance? If so I'd have to pay him any difference in his premium.

If I add the gig kit to my home policy it should be covered if damaged in my home, but would it be covered, say, if a club burns down with my kit in it (we play occasional Fri/Sat shows where the equipment remains on stage)? Most clubs won't cover your stuff, ie, you leave it at your own risk.

I'm assuming the latter example would require some kind of business insurance which I could only get if I actually declared myself of the band a business?

Most likely it would be covered by your homeowner's policy, but the only way to know for sure is to call up your agent and have them look into it. The business model of an insurance company is to collect as much money as possible in premiums and to pay out as little as possible in benefits. That means they try to deny every claim they possibly can. Whether that means telling you you should have had a business policy or fighting with the club's insurance company for reimbursement is an open question. Call your agent and ask.

Hell, in this situation, they'd probably even argue with you about whether you are an amateur or a pro because you made $28 for a gig.

Honestly, i think going the route I mentioned in the other thread is the best move.

With Clarion, the minimum is 20K coverage for 250/yr, at least that's what I was quoted when I started my policy in December 2007.

If you can't fit your two kits under 20K, then you gots a lot of kit!

Most home owner's policies won't cover musical instruments because of implied commercial use.

Same thing with jewelry - you have to get an insurance rider for it, which even then, only protects it at the premise - even then, insurance riders are more (I checked)...

Best deal going, of all the options I checked (which were many) was Clarion.

how do you prove what your kit is worth if damaged/stolen whatever so that you get a new one? I have a custom kit that was purchased used and then rebuilt so there is no real proof of what its worth is what I mean.

Good info. I plan to see what my agent says but thought I'd gt opinions from others who've btdt. And no, my kits together probably don't equal half that 20K policy

I agree with you turd, and maybe it's better to pay premiums to myself (ie, deposit into an interest bearing "kit replacement fund") instead of paying the insurance company and then having to fight for a claim.

In your case, have it appraised.

With someone who bought it new, hang onto the invoices.

FWIW- Finally something I know a little about ! Please understand these are basic points as all states are different in their policy language.Most of the lawyers that write them apparently charge by the word, leading to confusing statements that cause you to hire another lawyer to interpret and take more of your money.( back at ya', turdadactyl :poke:)

In your homeowners policy MOST have "personal property off premises". This is normally 10% of your dwelling coverage amount.(100,000 in coverage on house,10,000 in PPOP) I have personally seen stolen equipment covered under this clause. In many cases though, items in storage are NOT covered.

It is difficult to list musical instruments on a rider.Many of my clients are local players, including one who is a national touring artist. We were able to put a rider on his policy for several of his guitars(around $30k)but only after explaining that these instruments DID NOT leave his home.Exceptions to this rule include large,non-portable instuments such as piano's.They are easy to add on a rider.

I have contacted Clarion myself to inquire about getting an appointment with them. They however are an independent agency and not a broker so I was unable to do so. From what I have seen, they are one of the only options a working musician has for stand alone coverage on their gear.If anyone has a policy with them, let me know the name of the actual company they write through. I'd love to be able to offer this type coverage to my clients.

We have a deal with riders on our homeowner's insurance, covers everything: my instruments, my kid's instruments, and my wife's instrument--a violin, you think drums are expensive?

We're covered in the house, out of the house, gigging and whatnot. (Possibly not outside storage, I hadn't thought of that.) I even have my instruments insured at replacement value rather than book value, since they're my primary source of income, and the to replace them would cost 4x what I could get for them.

I got the impression that if you work with your company or agent--one that would like to write insurance policies rather than say "no"--then you can get pretty much any insurance you want and are willing to pay for.

Don't know how it breaks down regarding cost, it's all lumped in with the homeowner's and besides, wifey takes care of that {censored}.

No prob BD. I know first hand how many lawyers are verbose a-holes. I also know exactly how drafting lawyers go about adding clause after clause after word after word to hedge every single promise in every single way possible. There are a lot of good people who practice law. That doesn't delude me into believing that what we do for a living is always tasty, or that we can drown out the a-holes. After all, the corporate a-holes love the legal a-holes because they help each other horde their money.

/second rant of the day

I was told by our homeowners agent that he would write a rider on everything for gigging, travel to and from, at a rehearsal space for $170.00 = $15,000.00. But - would need to itemize everything and then have it all appraised at a reputable drum shop. I will most likely have George do it in the fall. The itemizing is the bitch for me. But once I get everything back home in September it's all getting a thorough cleaning up and I can list it all then.

Wouldn't ya want it appraised at retail?

Most definitely ! As DTD said, you want replacement value on your gear, not actual cash value.

Gotcha. That' was my feeling from the start.

While your agent might be saying it'd be covered, check for the specific language of "inland marine policy"

if it's not that, then they're selling something to you that might be taking your money, but not apply.

Point with my Dad - he has an electrical business. He thought his stuff was covered by various riders, until one day he had some tools get stolen out of his truck. They told him it wasn't covered - he said how could this be, that they wrote it up and took his money and it's not covered. They shrugged their shoulders and basically said tough {censored}, what are ya gonna do about it...

He killed all of his policies with them right then and went to another place.

I'll do that. Thanks. If that's the case I'll go the Clarion route.