Insurance

[emily-granger]

Anyone know how much more it is if you say you are a professional?

[paul-knoke]

The increase in cost will vary from company to company, but BELIEVE me, it’s worth it to have “all risk” professional insurance on your harp. For example, if you have your harp covered as part of your homeowner’s or renter’s policy, and the insurance company finds out, or even suspects, you’ve earned so much as one cent playing your harp, they will probably refuse to cover it. You also never know when something is going to happen. One of my harps was coming back from a concert in Boston last summer, and the van it was in caught fire. The harp was reduced to charcoal and twisted metal, but at least I was able to recoup what I had spent on it.

[Jerusha Amado]

Paul,

May I ask who your insurance company is?

Jerusha

[barbara-brundage]

There isn’t necessarily any difference in cost. The AHS policy is the same for either.

[barbara-brundage]

ISFHC also, since both are through Anderson.

[Karen Johns]

Well, the insurance company I was going to go with told me if I played for even tips I would have to get a commercial insurance policy, which was separate from my renters policy. So, another insurance policy = more money. I’m definitely not happy with the fact. I’m hashing over getting an all perils personal items coverage policy that will cover just my insruments at this point. It winds up being $11 more a month in addition to my renters, which is doable. Still checking around on the professional premiums though.

Karen

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Merz-Huber has two kinds of comprehensive coverage: through ASTA membership, or without it. I formerly had insurance through a membership in Chamber Music America with Clarion. It does not seem to be the best to have a pool of insured people who are all harpists, there can be too many claims. If you are in a larger pool of all kinds of instruments, I think you can get better coverage and rates.

[Cathy M. Dillon]

I am an ASTA life member- and for years have had a musical floater policy with Merz-Huber. They paid out bigtime when I had a major Car accident (in 1980). I think they are also the insurer for at least some members of the Boston Symphony. The cost ( july 2010) is approx 60 cents per $100.00 of insured value. If you are insuring $30,000.00 worth of harp and stuff that would be about $180- a year to Merz- Huber.

[barbara-brundage]

Anderson is a major instrument insurer. They don’t only insure harps. FWIW, for about $60K in coverage I pay around $320 a year.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

As I understand it, though, they will not insure older harps at replacement value, which renders their coverage worthless if that is the kind of harp you have.

[barbara-brundage]

Just giving this a bump to say that I just got my Anderson (AHS) renewal notice and the invoice is $368 for $68,620 worth of coverage.

However, they have added a requirement that you provide them with detailed information about your renters in order to have coverage for instruments rented out. This isn’t an issue for me (I only have one harp I rent and then only to my own students), but I can see that for many harpists, especially those who provide instruments for concerts and such, it could be.

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