Does anyone insure their musical instruments (for damage/theft)? What kind of policy have you purchased and what is the ratio of premium to cost?
As we graduate to more expensive instruments and into middle school, I am thinking this may be a good idea. In particular, DS can be rather absent-minded and sometimes careless.
We didn't opt for the insurance, but check with your local shop because ours did offer a service plan that covered repairs and a clean up/tune up once a year.
Your homeowners may cover loss/damage, so ask your agent about any coverage. But be aware that making even one claim may jack your rates. I looked at Farmer's online and they specifically cover loss/theft even outside of your home. You just have to report it immediately.
Thanks - I'll definitely check our homeowners policy. It's the issue of loss or damage while at school that has me concerned.
Depends on how much it costs. I know someone who just dropped $9K on an instrument, and they could have spent a lot more. And it is a portable instrument. I would insure that.
On the other hand, I got a clarinet on eBay for under $200, though folks at a local music store said they would sell it for over $1K. I did not insure the clarinet, though maybe I should have (because it is my eldest, who loses/destroys stuff far more often than her younger sisters).
We insured our son's instrument through a $7 a year rider on our homeowners. I think it was more for peace of mind than anything, because it isn't super valuable (but even a halfway decent upright bass isn't cheap).
http://www.allthingsstrings.com/Ins...How-to-Buy-Adequate-Instrument-InsuranceThe article mentions the company below:
http://www.anderson-group.com/student/#and their rate is really reasonable. We are thinking about insuring one of DD's instruments. It's under $1,000 but if she breaks it and we have to replace it, we'd definitely feel it.
Did you purchase the instrument or are you renting it? We are renting DD's Viola because we anticipate that if she likes it (she is just starting this school year) and grows, she will need to be upgraded. With the rental comes insurance (I am sure we are paying for it and the cost is padded into the rental price) but it covers theft, damage, and cleaning or exchanging of any part or the actual instrument if something goes wrong, at school or home or anywhere.
When we were renting, the dealer offered optional insurance for $7 a month but it did not cover damages caused by negligence so we didn't get it.
Yeah, I would not bother to insure a few hundreds but a few thousands is a different matter.
$7 isn't much so definitely worth it. I'll just have to put that call to the insurance company on my to-do list.
Thanks, I'll check that site out as well.
I know what you mean, even a "cheap" instrument is costly if you have to replace it.
These are instruments that we own so we would have to insure them ourselves.
One thing about string instruments is that it can be costly replacing the strings, particularly for the larger instruments. That would be a really great deal if they actually cover the cost of the strings as well as labor.
$7 a month seem rather pricey if it excludes "negligence" but at least they made it an option as oppose to just incorporating it as a service fee.