Instrument Insurance

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:45 am

I am in the process of insuring my tubas with Clarion Associates, Inc. They provide excellent coverage for the full appraised replacement value of the instrument, covering with no deductible just about every potential mishap except termites.

When I added up my appraised values for the five instruments that I chose to insure, it came to a larger number than I expected, and they quoted me a rate of $462 a year to cover them.

If you are in the AFofM, you can get a discounted rate. (I'm not.) No, ITEA doesn't endorse Clarion. But they should.

But here's the trick for we non-union musicians: You can join Chamber Music America as a Professional Musician for $85 a year. As a member, I get a deeply discounted rate from Clarion of $160 a year, which is probably what union members pay.

I just thought I would pass along this >$200 trick to those of you contemplating Clarion's coverage.

www.clarionins.com

http://www.chamber-music.org/

Rick "the newest member in good standing of CMA" Denney

Steve Inman · Post by **Steve Inman** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:47 am

Thanks for the tip!

MaryAnn · Post by **MaryAnn** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:16 am

What I keep running into is how to get a real-life appraised value. I have not only my brass instruments but my stringed instruments. All are covered under my homeowners, but of course with a deductible. I could have a rider that covers them even if someone sits on them at a rehearsal, but the cost is very near what you quoted as your pre-pro cost.

I haven't found anyone in Tucson who does appraisals on brass, and people who used to do appraisals on strings no longer do them, presumably because they ran into trouble somewhere. You would think a city of this size would have more of a musical infrastructure than this one does. Phoenix is only a little better.

MA

Thomas Maurice Booth · Sat Dec 08, 2007 11:45 am

To receive an appraisal could you simply contact the manufacturer or a dealer and ask them to make up some sort of sheet with the price of your instrument, case and whatever else and submit that as the price of your collection?

I have seen this done before but I am unsure if this can be done as a "standard" procedure. Does anyone know for sure?

TMB

Tubaguy56 · Post by **Tubaguy56** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:20 pm

Is there someone who does appraisals for brass instruments in phoenix? I need to have the 983 appraised....

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 3:11 pm

Tubaguy56 wrote:Is there someone who does appraisals for brass instruments in phoenix? I need to have the 983 appraised....

Clarion is a replacement cost policy. They will accept the manufacturer's current price sheet instead of an appraisal for instruments still currently available new.

For example, for my Yamaha F tuba, we went to Brasswind's price for that instrument and rounded up to the nearest hundred. Ditto for the 186. But the other three instruments are not still made, so we searched for similar instruments and used their prices as a measure of what it would cost to replace mine in the event of a total loss.

Rick "noting that the higher the value, the higher the premiums" Denney

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:20 pm

MaryAnn wrote: All are covered under my homeowners, but of course with a deductible. MA

Be careful! If you take a dime for playing those instruments, chances are about 99.9% that your homeowners company has a way to wiggle out of covering them. You must tell them you play only for fun at claim time or risk being left out in the cold. 30 years of selling homeowners insurance has educated me on this issue. I have heard that there are companies who cover professional instruments under homeowners policies but I've never beenn able to get someone to show me one. Same as the tools an auto mechanic uses to work on cars. If he ever charges anyone, there is no coverage for his tools. You have to buy a specialty policy like Clarion to get the real thing.

tofu · Post by **tofu** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:32 pm

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:58 am

tofu wrote:How often would you recommend we get new appraisals for our horns or would new dated pictures every year suffice?

Depends entirely on the insurance company you choose. Personally a good set of pics and a complete description will suufice for most but you really need to ask the company in question.

Alex C · Post by **Alex C** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:53 am

I added my tubas to the homeowner's insurance policy for about $130. I declared that one of the instruments was used professionally and it cost a a little extra to add. My homeowners is with Allstate who also covers the instrument at replacement cost.

I am in the union but used my homeowners policy just to keep things simple. It might be worth some tubenetters time to join the AFM, if only to get the union instrument insurance policy. You don't have to make a living in music to join.