| We have insured instruments both with a rider on our homeowners policy and with a company that specialized in instrument insurance. There have been some notable differences between the two. The instrument-specific policy automatically provided some benefits that the homeowner's rider did not, even though we did specify up front that the instrument covered by the rider was going to be used professionally. It may be possible to get the extra coverage under the rider, but you have to know to ask for certain things if they are important to you.
The things that were covered by our instrument insurance but not our homeowner's rider included:
Reimbursement for the first day of lost income (capped at something like $500, but with higher caps available for a higher premium) should a scheduled performance have to be canceled due to not having the instrument.
Reimbursement for rental of a substitute instrument while the covered instrument is being repaired. (The value of the substitute instrument cannot be higher than the value of the insured instrument.)
Coverage for borrowed instruments (with advance notice)
Right of repurchase - if a lost or stolen instrument is recovered after a claim was paid, the insured has the right to repurchase the instrument from the insurer by repaying the amount of the claim.
The right to keep undamaged parts of the instrument (but the value of those parts is deducted from the amount paid by the insurer) at the option of the insured. |