Professional harp insurance

[Sylvia]

I posted something about this before with no response. Try again,
Did anyone else have Goodman insurance for their harps? Goodman was taken over by AJG last year.
Arthur J. Gallagher. http://www.ajg.com

I’m wondering what kind of professional harp insurance other harpists have.

[paul-knoke]

Hi Sylvia

I have a professional, all-risk policy with Traveler’s.

[Gretchen Cover]

Anderson Insurance.

[Sid Humphreys]

Anderson

[eliza-morrison]

Merz-Huber.

[carl-swanson]

I would encourage anyone who owns a musical instrument to NOT insure it on their homeowner’s policy. I have had a couple of clients who had big problems with this over the years. The problem with a homeowner’s policy and musical instruments is that “complete coverage” on a homeowner’s policy is fire and theft. “Complete coverage” on a musical instrument policy is fire, theft, AND ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE. And that last one is the most important for a musical instrument.

But there is also another issue as well. The agent who handles homeowner’s policies doesn’t know or realize that, if the musical instrument gets damaged, the owner will want to take it to a repair facility or person that they trust, or who in their opinion does the best work. The agent handling a musical claim will likely ask for three estimates for the cost of repairs and allow only the cheapest one. I had that happen to one client. So you are much better off buying a separate policy for your musical instrument or instruments from an agency that specializes in musical instrument coverage. In addition to the above reasons, the agency that specializes in musical instrument insurance will make sure that the instrument is covered no matter where it is: in the car, in a restaurant or church, etc. And the musical instrument policy will likely pay for transportation to and from the repair facility, and may also pay for a replacement rental while the instrument is being repaired. A homeowner’s policy is unlikely to do any of that.

[martha-moor]

Clarion

[kay-lister]

Anderson

[robin-dorer–2]

Do you have to have a professional appraisal for all of these?

[Sid Humphreys]

You don’t for Anderson. I had to take pictures to send in to them though. They had to be high-resolution so they can be blown up really large so that they can check for flaws. Your instrument is insured for replacement cost ( if you have a 50 year old 23, it will be covered for the cost of a new 23). If you want a lower replacement cost or a higher one, I’m sure they will work with you n that.

[Affeltranger@att.net]

Do any of these policies also cover liability? Harp falls over on young child (who shouldn’t have been there in the first place) – string breaks and hits someone (repeat). Perhaps I am overly concerned but so far have only seen policies that cover the instrument itself.

[barbara-brundage]

No. That is a completely different kind of insurance, and not readily available for musicians. I think Anderson did offer that kind of insurance once, but they stopped and AFAIK, nobody else does now, except on a venue-specific basis. It keeps a lot of harpists out of a lot of places they used to play these days, since more and more venues require that kind of insurance. So you either spend way more than you could hope to make on gigs there, or have to work through an agent with insurance that would cover you, which frequently makes you unaffordable.

And what you have to provide for regular insurance varies a bit. Some companies just require the current pricelist for a harp model that is still in production, not photos. Others want a letter from the harp maker if possible. For an out of production harp, they often want a letter of appraisal specifying what the current replacement equivalent model would be.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Chubb via Merz-Huber. Excellent coverage and service, no problem getting a claim for my piano generously covered. I strongly recommend them. If you ask for Chubb, you don’t have to be an ASTA member.

[robin-dorer–2]

Did anyone run into limits on the instrument value? I just received an insurance appraisal letter from Lyon & Healy that said good replacement instruments are impossible to find so here’s the cost of a new instrument.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I have always insured at the full replacement value, meaning a new harp of the same model.

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