Insurance appraisals

[Tubaru]

I have been trying to add coverage to my homeowners insurance to cover my tubas. The underwriter for the policy won't insure anything over $2500 without an official appraisal. So?

1. Do you think it is worth it?

2. Does anyone know of a place in Maryland, Virginia or North Carolina that can make an official appraisal?

[tuba72]

I took out a personal item policy with my insurance company. Does not cost much for the year, and I have full replacement value on it. they just went on line to find the price for it at the time and wrote it out for that

[bort]

I got a policy with Clarion, and they require an appraisal over a certain value.

I had Matt Walters write up an appraisal while my tuba was at Dillon's. The cost of the appraisal is negligible, and then I just sent a copy of the signed letter to the insurance company. Very easy.

I'm not sure if ALL music shops would do it, but maybe call Baltimore Brass and see if they could do it for you. Based on what you show in your signature, they should be extremely familiar with the values of those instruments. (By the way, nice tubas!)

[tbn.al]

Be careful insuring instruments on your homeowner's policy. They have a clause that voids coverage if used for hire. If you got $1 for playing a gig and they find out about it they can legally refuse to pay a claim that had nothing to do with the gig. Not saying they will, but they can. That being said, I have mine insured through my homeowner's policy and I am an insurance agent.

[AHynds]

+1 for Clarion. I haven't had the bad luck of having to file a claim for a busted or stolen tuba, but my other dealings with the company have been great. I'm in the process now of switching my final tuba over from a creaky homeowner's insurance policy over to my account with Clarion.

[Tubaru]

Thanks for the responses thus far.

I thought maybe Baltimore Brass might be an option. I'll give them a call.

I just don't understand why they won't even take my receipts to determine cost. I guess part of the problem is that they don't deal with instruments this expensive on a regular basis.

[bort]

The reason is that purchase price and current value are NOT the same thing. You might have paid $10,000 for a tuba, but if it gets destroyed tomorrow, it wasn't worth $10,000 at the time of destruction -- even if that's what it costs to replace it. (On the flip side, if you got a killer deal on a tuba, the appraised value could even be more than what you paid for it.)

Think of it like your car... if it gets totalled in an accident, your insurance payout is for the value of the car, NOT for the cost to replace it. Insurance is there to make you whole, and cover the value of the loss, not to replace the loss with a new product.

[ScottM]

Instruments are typically insured on an inland marine policy or form. The inland marine form, which is an endorsement to the homeowners policy typically, can be written two ways. One way is you agree not to play for profit which is cheaper, but if something happens to a horn at a paying job there won't be any coverage. The other way is to insure it for professional use, which is more expensive, but it will be covered if it gets damaged on the job. I insure two horns for less than $100 per year. I only play for pay occasionally but the difference is nominal enough I pay the professional premium. Remember teaching will be considered to be professional use.

ScottM

PS: There was a long thread on this a year or so ago and I put a long post there on insurance. I have been doing insurance claims professionally for 35 years.

[Jeff Keller]

I went to my local repair shop with three prices to replace the horn and they averaged the three prices and wrote out an appraisal for my horn for replacement value. That was sufficient for State Farm. They also wrote the policy to cover it as a "semi-professional" (at the time). So that if I made money with the horn, it would still be covered.

Hope this helps,

Jeff

[tbn.al]

Be sure and check your homeowner's policy wording. Some companies will insure for professional use and some won't.