Insuring and appraising

[etbarbaric]

Hi all,

A few years back I looked into a couple of musical instrument insurance policies... and didn't go much further. For instance, I think one can still get insurance for instruments if you are a member of certain professional groups (Early Music America comes to mind). The other alternative is to get a rider on a home owner's policy... but I recall that being more limited in scope.

In any case, any policy is going to require appraisals. I can imagine that a decent appraisal is probably a difficult thing to acquire on some mandolins. And some of us would need a lot of appraisals (you know who you are).

I'm just curious what people are doing in the way of insurance and/or appraisals for their mandolins... given that they are a somewhat niche item.

Eric

ps - I wonder if we should just set Jim Garber up in business... submit photos and descriptions to him and he prints an appraisal certificate? :-)

[vkioulaphides]

Hello, Eric.

That shouldn't be all that hard but, of course, depends on where you are located; insurers differ according to area.

By way of reference: I used to have my bass insured by Clarion Associates, a specialized insurer based in Long Island (NY), whose policies are underwritten in turn by a far larger "umbrella" insurer. I switched to MusicPro Insurance a couple of years ago, as Clarion decided —rather arbitrarily and capriciously, I might add— that it would no longer insure instruments "damaged or stolen at the location of use", i.e. the venue (!) Uhm... where and how ELSE, might one ask, would the instrument get damaged or stolen? Burned on the frying-pan in my kitchen? Soaked in my bathtub? Nibbled by raccoons on my aunt's back porch?

Also, working for an opera company as I do, with umpteen performances on consecutive evenings, I absolutely NEED to leave my bass at the theater. In short, Clarion lost one customer— and, no doubt, more than one.

I have needed to show no credentials of membership in any professional association in order to get insurance for my bass, nor for our piano at home; I doubt that you would need such yourself.

As regards appraisals: you would need to find a luthier or dealer sufficiently legitimate to convince your INSURER— i.e. not yourSELF; please do not confuse the two, SIGNIFICANTLY different standards. All you need to demonstrate is something that will convince your (potential) insurer that the appraiser does this sort of thing regularly, professionally, etc. and that the specific appraisal you present the insurer was made in good faith.

I am no way, shape, or form advocating dishonesty, but only pointing out that appraisals are estimates anyway, and not judicial statements of value. Find a decent, trustworthy dealer with a nice-looking logo on his/her letterhead pay some REASONABLE fee, and get an appraisal that you have discussed in ADVANCE, and with BOTH your insurer and the appraiser. Finally, of course, file claims —heavens forbid!— ONLY when they are absolutely justified. In my 25+ years of owning an insured instrument, I have only filed ONE, lone claim: the soundboard of my bass had split asunder, with a gaping crack some 3+ FEET long... the total bill was well over $4,000— a damage I would have been totally unable to afford, had it not been for a good insurance policy.

Best of luck with this, Eric!

Cheers,

Victor

[woodysny]

I use Heritage Insurance Services and they do not require appraisals. Very easy to deal with them.

[etbarbaric]

Thanks guys. That is useful information. Heritage Insurance Services even pictures a fractured mandolin on their site... :-(

I still like my idea of having Jim Garber start up an on-line mando appraisal business... He always seems to have the current numbers at hand... :-)

Eric

[Steven Stone]

Frankly there are only a few people who IMHO #have the expertise, reputation, and track record to make accurate bona fide appraisals that would be honored by any insurance company.

The top three would be George Gruhn, Larry Wexer, and Fred Oster.