Insurance of guitars

kapepper

Hello!

Need a word of advice

So yesterday morning they tried to burglar our house in Pretoria... luckily the alarm system and all other measures did work and they did not get into the house itself....(and we werent here)

Anyway, we have an insurance for contents of the house, and i know this includes also the guitars, but I am still worried about it....
Do i need to mention them especially and everything (year, make, value)???

thanks!!

aubs1

kapepper wrote: Do i need to mention them especially and everything (year, make, value)???
thanks!!

Yes, it would be advisable to specify details, like make, model, serial numbers, etc.

kapepper

thanks aubs!

I am with outsurance if it matters....

Wizard

Take pictures of all valuable things and save them in a cloud like place.
Amazing how often the insurers want proof that you actually owned something.
Or just how much easier it makes the claims process to say "look - this is what was stolen"

Bob-Dubery

Insurance of guitars at home is no problem, though you'd do well to list them - make, model, year, serial number. You may still run into problems with a cap on the overall claim and so have to chose between replacing your wife's diamond ring or your guitar.

Anything that is going to be seriously expensive to replace should be listed separately and the insurers may up the premium to reflect the inclusion of this expensive item. Get a valuation certificate from a reputable store.

In general, specify any high cost items. Otherwise the time comes to make a claim and you say "but they took my original '59 Les Paul /my da Vinci / my wife's engagement ring with a 20 carat diamond, do you have any idea what's that worth?" and they say "we do. And if you knew you had such a valuable item you should have told us about it before hand."

Insurers are not all the same either. I must find out who we're insured with (my wife takes care of all of that) when we got robbed they didn't make any fuss about Mrs X-rated's jewellery. Indeed they set up an appointment with a manufacturing jeweller who helped her draw up pictures of what had been stolen and make as close a replica as possible. Good service.

Pictures might help, but they help more if you provide copies to the insurer ahead of any incident which might involve a claim. Insurers are entitled to raise an eyebrow if you suddenly reveal that you had some hitherto unspecified high value item in the house.

RECORD SERIAL NUMBERS. For everything that's got one. When we got burgled the cops found a bunch of people not far from us who had a surprisingly large number of TV sets and LCD computer screeens in their garage. We couldn't provide a serial number, neither could anybody else who had been a victim of the recent spate of robberies. So the case collapsed. If the cops had been given serial numbers they would have been able to check, as it was they just had to accept whatever cock and bull story they were given.

Now I keep a schedule of TV numbers (hard copy, not on computer) .

selbydoodl

I tried to insure my guitars.

#1 I found it extremely difficult to get an insurance company who would do it.

#2 When I eventually found on the cost was astronimical.

Anyone here know a reputable and reasonable insurance company?

free2rhyme

Wizard wrote: Take pictures of all valuable things and save them in a cloud like place.
Amazing how often the insurers want proof that you actually owned something.
Or just how much easier it makes the claims process to say "look - this is what was stolen"

Yes, especially outsurance want proof that you own the item, take pictures and save in a safe place. Make backup scans of your receipts and invoices and save them on a Cloud storage.

You can never be too careful in this country.

I have all my guitar gear also insured with Out and About so if it goes missing while I'm at a gig, its covered. Price isnt too bad for what you get.

kapepper

thanks everybody

Well, I just phoned (Again) outsurance and I asked, how is it with the insuracne of the content of my house including the guitars, which make up 50% of the total insured value.

What happens if they take it with them??

She said, they will replace it with the same guitar if they can find it or if that is impossible, one of their service providers would provide a replacement value.....

Ahhh.. the answer did not satisfy me, sinec most of my guitars are vintage guitars, and I already can imagine that they would say: so how much is that old fender worth.....

I asked if i could specify it ahead and that was not possible

I asked if I can insure them seperatly, they said now, since it is part of your household content. I could do that with the "Go and about" policy taking the guitars with me for gigs, then I could insure them seperatly....

But she said it will help to take detailed pictures of every guitar, serial number, specs if the time arrives....

Bob-Dubery

Shop around. Some insurers will insure specific high value items, for an increase in premium. I know because one of my guitars is the subject of an addendum to our household policy. The cover only covers theft from the house though.

RobbieZ

selbydoodl wrote: I tried to insure my guitars.

#1 I found it extremely difficult to get an insurance company who would do it.

#2 When I eventually found on the cost was astronimical.

Anyone here know a reputable and reasonable insurance company?

I have my short term insurance with Santam. All our instruments are specified.

vic

selbydoodl wrote: I tried to insure my guitars.

#1 I found it extremely difficult to get an insurance company who would do it.

#2 When I eventually found on the cost was astronimical.

Anyone here know a reputable and reasonable insurance company?

? ? :roflmao:

Make sure that you insure your house contents plus guitars at its replacement value. Get an assessor to come out to advise.

ezietsman

I'm told by my GF who gigs her REALLY expensive instrument and takes it on planes and cars etc. that what you are looking for is this:

https://www.larkinsurance.co.uk/private-clients/musical-instrument

I'll be going this route too, and apparently it is not too expensive either.

shaunf

I have an excellent broker, and the underlying insurance company used is Mutual and Federal. Never had any problems insuring any of my gear, and never had any issue with any claims I have had to make thus far.

When it comes to insurance one thing I am certain about is that the services of a good broker are priceless. I'd much rather be dealing with such a broker than be stuck dealing with a callcentre full of lackeys, ala Outsurance and the like.

Norman86

ez wrote: I'm told by my GF who gigs her REALLY expensive instrument and takes it on planes and cars etc. that what you are looking for is this:

https://www.larkinsurance.co.uk/private-clients/musical-instrument

I'll be going this route too, and apparently it is not too expensive either.
[/
ez wrote: I'm told by my GF who gigs her REALLY expensive instrument and takes it on planes and cars etc. that what you are looking for is this:

https://www.larkinsurance.co.uk/private-clients/musical-instrument

I'll be going this route too, and apparently it is not too expensive either.
quote]

do they cover south africans? ???

BMU

kapepper wrote: thanks everybody

Well, I just phoned (Again) outsurance and I asked, how is it with the insuracne of the content of my house including the guitars, which make up 50% of the total insured value.

What happens if they take it with them??

She said, they will replace it with the same guitar if they can find it or if that is impossible, one of their service providers would provide a replacement value.....

Ahhh.. the answer did not satisfy me, sinec most of my guitars are vintage guitars, and I already can imagine that they would say: so how much is that old fender worth.....

I asked if i could specify it ahead and that was not possible

I asked if I can insure them seperatly, they said now, since it is part of your household content. I could do that with the "Go and about" policy taking the guitars with me for gigs, then I could insure them seperatly....

But she said it will help to take detailed pictures of every guitar, serial number, specs if the time arrives....

I had no problems with Outsurance. They worked through Bothners to get replacements and equivalent values. One was available in the country (Ibanez UV, not exactly a cheap guitar.) The other wasn't, took a few months to find out about importing one, at which point I asked for the cash, which they gave.

I did have serial numbers and some goofy cellphone snaps of my daughter messing around pretending to play those guitars, that satisfied the assessor that I really owned them.

You only need to specify a guitar under "out 'n about" if you really do take it out 'n about.

exsanguinator

I used AON insurance overseas,they used to have a special musicians insurance package which was very very fair.
Their inventory of replacement prices were very good and they seemed to know the difference between a'67 gibson and a 2007 one...
But..again... I wasnt in RSA and never had to claim for anything
but all the record,management industries used them and were rated no1 for musicians...
If i remember correctly it covered me while travelling o/s as well as compulsory liability for when I started teachin guitar as well
Just had a google and theyre going strong http://www.aon.com.au/australia/entertainment-insurance/performing-arts-insurance.jsp
and they seem to have a RSA arm,so why not try contact them for the same cover?

ezietsman

Norman86 wrote:
ez wrote: I'm told by my GF who gigs her REALLY expensive instrument and takes it on planes and cars etc. that what you are looking for is this:

https://www.larkinsurance.co.uk/private-clients/musical-instrument

I'll be going this route too, and apparently it is not too expensive either.

do they cover south africans? ???

Well, she's covered.