24 January 2013

Musical instrument insurance in Canberra?

| lisarichardsmusic
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Hi Fellow Riot Actors,

I know there is a whole lot of knowledge out there. I am a touring musician looking for insurance for my musical instruments and equipment both while I am at home in Canberra and while I am traveling domestically and overseas.

Does anyone have any wisdom to impart on this matter?? Best companies? Reasonable rates?

Thanks!

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Hiya,

My ex girl friend was a musician who played the clarinet. She had to travel to Europe for training or playing in some small orchestra.

We had looked around online, but then when we spoke to an insurance broker in canberra, they gave us insights like the first reply by sandog.

Even if you have to spend few extra $’s , I would recommend speak to a broker who will not only be able to provide with the insights but if they are like http://www.mutualbrokers.com.au in deakin, they will also give you the best price possible.

Insurance is some thing where you would actually prefer to have peace of mind and not worrying about the tiny microscopic terms and conditions !!!

My 2 cents.

I would go with a specialist musical instrument insurer. Most of the usual contents insurance policies will not cover your “extra cover specified items” outside of Australia and NZ and more importantly, they won’t cover them while you are using them to conduct a business – such as a touring musician.

I have an expensive musical instrument covered with Marsh. Fortunately I’ve never had to make a claim so I can’t really comment on their procedures there. It’s about $400 per year, places like AAMI and GIO quoted me $700 a year or so on top of my contents for worse cover! There are a few other specialist insurers like A.I.S. and Aon which have similar policies and prices. They all cover accidental loss or damage (including theft/criminal damage/while in a vehicle), hire of a replacement instrument, etc. They also understand that, for example, you want your damaged $50,000 violin to go to a particular luthier for repair, not just the local music shop. And they will often bundle your public liability and other similar insurance with your policy too.

Your contents should be able to let you list them as Specified Personal Items on your policy for accidental loss or damage. You will pay a higher premium but they should be covered (read your PDS) anywhere in Australia

I currently have laptop, watch and my motorsport safety equipment covered under this with my insurer

Sandog – do you know if they covered instruments that were not in a secure location? I’ve heard of people trying to claim for instruments which were stolen from onstage during a set break and being knocked back because they weren’t locked up. One of the perks of specialised musical instrument insurance is often cover for this sort of situation.

I used Marsh musician’s insurance for many years. They seemed to cover all the basics that I needed – travelling, performing, at home and so on. I’m not sure how they compare in price with others.

I used to work at GIO before making the move to the Can and if you had a contents policy at least you could add your instruments individually to the policy to have them covered for the full value if it exceeded their standard cover. You had the choice of covering, inside/outside the home (price goes up obviously outside) and you could even list them for periods where you may be going overseas. Ontop of the standard fire/theft etc events, when they were specifically listed for cover outside the home they were also covered for accidental damage, like if you dropped your cello.

there may be places who will insure your instrument only without the need for contents, maybe calling up a music shop is the go.

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