Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Musical Instruments?

Homeowners insurance provides built-in coverage for your musical instruments but it is usually limited and covers only your instrument’s depreciated value. If your instrument is expensive and valuable, you will want to consider getting coverage for its full replacement value by adding a scheduled property floater to your home insurance policy or buying a standalone musical instrument insurance policy.

On This Page

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  What Is Musical Instrument Insurance?

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  How Does Musical Instrument Insurance Work?

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  What Does Musical Instrument Insurance Cover?

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  Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Musical Instruments?

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  How Much Does Musical Instrument Insurance Cost?

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  How To File a Claim for a Musical Instrument

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  How Do I Get Extra Coverage for My Musical Instruments?

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  FAQs

What Is Musical Instrument Insurance?

Musical instrument insurance refers to a standalone insurance policy that specifically insures your instruments and possibly related accessories and equipment like music stands and sheet music. Buying this coverage is recommended if your instrument is particularly expensive, you own several instruments or if you use your instrument to make money.

How Does Musical Instrument Insurance Work?

In the event your insured instrument suffers a loss from a covered peril like theft or fire, you can file a claim with your insurance company to get financial compensation. If the claim is approved, your carrier will then pay toward your instrument’s repair or replacement costs.

Keep in mind that a deductible may apply. For example, MusicPro insurance requires you to pay $100 for each claim you file.^[1]

Are My Instruments Only Protected if I’m at Home?

Since a standalone musical instrument insurance policy is tied to your instrument and not your home or car, it should cover your instrument both at home and anywhere else. For example, MusicPro Insurance covers your instruments anywhere — at your home, in your car trunk while on a road trip or stowed as baggage during a flight.^[1] Of course, the details of where your coverage applies can change based on the carrier you choose.

What Does Musical Instrument Insurance Cover?

Musical instrument insurance policies can cover a variety of instruments. For example, Anderson Group insures the following instruments:^[2]

Besides the instrument being insured, your policy might also cover accessories like metronomes, music stands, tuners, recording equipment and even sheet music.^[3] As for which types of losses are covered, fire, lightning and vandalism are commonly covered and you should find the rest detailed in your policy. Some policies may even provide coverage for floods and earthquakes, which are usually excluded in homeowners and renters insurance policies.^[1]

If your music instrument insurance policy provides “all risks” coverage, that means that your instrument is insured against all types of losses except those specifically excluded.

What Isn’t Covered?

The type of losses that are not covered will vary by the company. For example, MusicPro Insurance excludes coverage for the following types of losses:^[1]

• Normal wear and tear
• Manufacturer defects
• Faulty repairs
• Mold and mildew
• Rust and corrosion
• Insects and vermin
• Intentional damages
• Instruments loaned or rented to others

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Musical Instruments?

Musical instruments should be covered by homeowners insurance but usually carry a sublimit, which is a cap on how much compensation you can receive. For example, if your instrument has a $2,000 sublimit but is currently worth $3,000, your insurer will only cover up to $2,000.

To remove the sublimit, you can pay to add a scheduled property floater to your home insurance policy, which will allow you to insure an instrument for its full value.

Scheduling Your Instruments

Scheduling an item on your home insurance policy means adding much broader protection for that specific item. Referencing back to our earlier example, if you had scheduled that instrument, then you would be able to claim the full value of $3,000.

Another advantage of scheduling your instruments with your home insurance carrier is that there is generally no deductible, like there might be with a standalone policy.In addition, you may even be insured for mysterious disappearances, meaning you may be able to file a claim if you lose or misplace your instrument.^[4] Scheduled instruments may also be covered anywhere they are in the world.^[5]

That said, if you use your instrument for commercial use — you’re in a band that plays at gigs for payment, for instance — then your home insurance policy will not cover your musical instruments even if you do schedule them.^[6] Instead, you will want to look into a commercial property insurance policy.

How Much Does Musical Instrument Insurance Cost?

The cost to insure your musical instrument can vary based on the value of your instrument, the carrier you choose and whether you buy coverage as a standalone policy or as an add-on to your home insurance policy.

For example, Aegis General Insurance Agency charges $0.73 per $100 in coverage per month.^[7] To put that into perspective: pianos cost $2,000 to $10,000 on average so you can expect to pay around $15 to $73 per month to schedule a piano on your home insurance policy.^[8]

Meanwhile, Anderson Group prices some standalone music insurance policies based on the instrument being insured:^[2]

How To File a Claim for a Musical Instrument

To file a claim for your instrument, you will need to follow the claims process outlined by your insurance provider. In general, you should first contact the police if there was criminal activity involved, such as a home burglary. After it is safe, you can then contact your insurance company and they will walk you through the claims process.

Usually, you will be required to submit documentation such as:

• Photos of the damage
• Proof of purchase
• Appraisals
• Repair estimates
• Police report if applicable

Once your insurance company reviews the claim and if it is approved, you will pay your deductible (if applicable) and then you should receive a settlement check.

A standalone music instrument insurance policy or a scheduled property floater should cover your instrument’s replacement cost but you should double-check your policy to see if you only have actual cash value (ACV) coverage for the former. ACV factors in depreciation factors like age and wear and tear so its insured value will likely be lower than you think.

How Do I Get Extra Coverage for My Musical Instruments?

If you’re seeking standalone musical instrument coverage, you will need to contact the carrier to obtain a quote. If you’re instead interested in adding a scheduled property floater to your home insurance policy, you can contact your home insurance carrier for more information. In either case, your carrier may first require you to get your instrument appraised. For example, Aegis General Insurance Agency requires you to provide an appraisal if you need $3,000 or more in coverage.^[7]

Alternatively, you can shop around with different home insurance companies to see if you can get a good price on insuring both your home and instruments. If you want to skip the tedious process of calling three to five companies for a quote and providing your information each time, consider using SmartFinancial. With our free service, you complete just one questionnaire about your home insurance coverage needs and you can receive your home insurance quote today!