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Piano Insurance

Question: Can anyone recommend a source for piano insurance? I've heard of Heritage, etc., and the closest source I've found was pianoinsurance101.com and Piano World.





Albert's reply: What you'll need to look for is not piano insurance in particular but rather the more general term musical instrument insurance. Many major insurance companies offer specialized insurance for musical instruments, and some even have dedicated musical instrument insurance teams that will be knowledgable about your instrument.

Piano insurance may not be part of your homeowner's insurance policy by default, although it may well be possible to itemize your piano as among your assets listed with your insurance company, and to get coverage for it.

I've done some research and it looks like you'll need to be careful if you're listing your piano with your regular homeowner's insurance. Many policies will only cover a percentage of your piano's value, or they'll only cover up to a specified amount. If you have a very expensive piano it's surely best to get dedicated insurance for it.

You mentioned Heritage -- they insure musical instruments exclusively. They're in my home state of Pennsylvania and from what I gather enjoy a very positive reputation. (I've never dealt with them so I can't give them my personal thumbs-up; I can only pass along others' recommendation of them.) You might try them for piano insurance.




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Piano Insurance

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Feb 11, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Clauses which need to be added
by: Brian

Hello to all piano owners,

When the average person speaks and thinks about insuring their pianos what kind of insurance are they thinking about?

I think most would think about insurance against storm damage, when the roof leaks and the piano is ruined by water, or they may think of insurance against an earthquake where the building collapses and the piano is destroyed.

What about insurance against rat or mice damage, these rodents once inside a piano can cause extensive damage whereby most of the working parts have to be replaced or the piano scrapped.

What about borer or moth, if borer gets into the wrest plank, the work here is also extensive and depending on the quality or age of the piano, it may not be worth replacing the plank.

Same goes if moth gets inside, they will destroy the felt work, they eat away silently and before long, the felt work needs to be replaced.

Is the average person aware of these important factors they need to add as an annexure to the insurance policy?

We all know that most insurance companies will try not to pay insurance and should these added annexures not be written into the policy, the public won?t stand a chance of any payout should the cause of damage not be listed.

How many piano owners have their pianos cleaned or maintained by their piano technician on a regular basis? I would recommend that they have a maintenance contract drawn up with their regular piano technician on a 6 monthly basis, where the technician will remove the piano keys to vacuum and check the pedal work. Whilst doing this, they should notice any damage caused by either rats, moth or borer.

Having a regular maintenance program could also help win their case where insurance is concerned by the piano technician supplying proof of his regular visits and giving details of his work contract. Of course the piano technician needs to be registered.

I hope my comments help those who are unaware of the facts listed above and have their policies updated.

Regards,

Brian
Feb 15, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		About Moths and Borers
by: Anonymous

Hi all,

Just a helpful little tip.

My piano technician advised me years ago to hang the gadget you buy at your local supermarket for fish moths and cockroaches inside my piano, and I must say it works for me. It works for all the creepies.

Happy piano-ing.

key-notes friend

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