Highend project/home studio owners: Are you INSURED?

[neve1073]

I'm wondering if I should try to insure specific items for theft and destruction by fire.

Do you insure your super highend racks and mics?

I'm of two minds. Part of me thinks insurance is a scam. The other part of me imagines trying to replace neve racks, 61 strats and neumann tube mics after a fire.

[Ol' Betsey]

Are you crazy?

You HAVE to insure your gear.

One thing though, be sure to check your home-contents insurance bacause you might be covered already.

But YES YES YES get insured. If only for the piece of mind.

R.

[Bob Olhsson]

A bigger problem is liability.

My health insurance company went after one of my clients because I tripped and broke my foot in the band's project studio. Had I been about to headline a gig and forced the promoter to cancel, the promoter's insurance company might have gone after them.

[heinz]

hell YEAH you insure it. I worked with my local agent to get a seperate personal articles policy, and keep a list & pictures on file which gets updated every six months or so.

A file with receipts, pictures of the gear AND your room(s) as they are when everything's installed is important. And keep it (or a copy) off-site in a safe place.

Seems like a lot of work but I already worked my ass off to pay for this stuff and losing it without recompense would be extremely harsh.

[Rodney Gene]

Still working on it...been trying for over 6 months.

It has been ****ing brutal trying to find someone who actually WILL insure my place. I am in a 'high' fire area because of the rural location and nobody is interested.
It constantly scares the shit out of me imagining the worse.

If you CAN get it...but you don't...that just seems plain dumb.

P&B,

[Brian Middleton]

One thing though, be sure to check your home-contents insurance bacause you might be covered already.

Be circumspect about this, though. We actually got our home policy cancelled just for asking the agent if our equipment was covered by our policy. They didn't just say "no," they gave us a 30-day cancellation notice--apparently having a studio in the house put us on the "unacceptable risk" list. Fortunately we did find another company willing to insure us, gear and all, but it took a few scary months.

[lucey]

Originally posted by Brian Middleton
We actually got our home policy cancelled just for asking the agent if our equipment was covered by our policy. They didn't just say "no," they gave us a 30-day cancellation notice--apparently having a studio in the house put us on the "unacceptable risk" list.

Insurance bastards! ... they wouldn't have cut you off if you were a lawyer with a basement studio. "Unacceptable risk" was likely a lie, or just plain illegal.

If you only REQUEST insurance but opt out how can they go and cancel what they had previously insured? Fire hazard or some such story? Baloney.

What a racket industry

[GMR]

I was insured said I was a sound engineer, I then asked after a month if when I had gear in my car was it insured in case of accident. They started asking questions what kind of gear and said guitars among other stuff so I said I was a musician also in this conversation. Said they would investigate my demand and hung up the phone. 3 days later I get a registered letter saying my home and car insurance will be cancelled in 14 days! Let's just say I am not a musician when it comes to insurance! ****in Pricks!

[neve1073]

Useful replies. Thanks.

[ron florentine]

I have a hi end studio built into our home until rescently found out that our regular household insurances did not cover the lost of my studio because it was my primary source of income.....So dont assume you are insured just because you have basic homeowners or renters insurance.
I am looking for some insurance for my studio ........any recomendations or has anyone good or bad experience with certain carriers in regards to claims.........Most of the companies I have contacted what all the money up front (no monthly or quartly payments).....in my case that would be a few grand up front.....thats a bit tough to swing......any sugestions who i should contact?

Ron Florentine
Soundswest Studio

[AdAudioInc]

2 things

1. Home Depot has a 2 pack of Fire Extinguishers for around $25 - that's cheap insurance!! (not saying don't get commercial insurance, just that for $25 you should have these)

2. Nationwide seems to be good about insuring studios, I've had them for 2 years now. I was turned down by State Farm with no questions asked just because it's a studio.

2.5 dfegad insurance companies

[pedrohead]

as a member of ASCAP, they provide an instrument insurance place where apparently you get a discount. i am still meaning to call them (have to get to that this week). but has anyone worked with the "ASCAP insurance provider of choice?"

[Steffmo]

Joe Monterello at Capitol Cities Insurance in the Albany NY. area runs a program called the Recording Studio Insurance Program.

His client list is a who's who of studios nationwide, and he has spent a huge amount of time getting carriers to recognize and understand the specific problems of studios.

My only major claim was for the theft of several great mics..(rr) by a well organized ring that hit many Northest studios about 6 years ago. The claim was paid in full, without fuss, immediately.

His policies include key man, loss of income, and disability clauses if needed.

Basically, you are talking to someone who already understands what you deal with.

Joe is someone I have no problem with recommending if you need coverage.

800-560-8965

[bobby yarrow]

I have a limited policy -- like $10K I think -- thru Chubb. Was much cheaper than scheduling the stuff on my homeowners, and it's zero deductible. My 1 claim, for about $5k for stuff damaged by flooding, was paid immediately without investigation -- I didn't even have to send them pictures of the damaged stuff.

I don't think they'd write the policy for a proper studio, but for modest home studio, it's pretty nice. And the premium is only a few hundred bucks a year.

[2A Batterie]

I have about $30,000 worth of gear that has full coverage. Even if Aliens beam up parts of my gear, I am covered. I don't have the paperwork in front of me, but I got my insurance through the American Federation of Musicians, who have an insurance provider specifically for musical gear. I think I pay abouot $350 a year. Luckily, I haven't had to use it yet. A good portion of my gear was stolen (along with my vehicle) on Thankgiving of 2003 and I was uninsured. Please get your gear insured so you don't have to go through a similar experience.

[warhead]

I've got insurance with Farm Bureau (I'm in SC) for standard homeowners, and my policy covers all contents up to like $50k which is more than my gear is worth. The rep was cool about the gear and said they cover it like any electronics.

But you should make a list of what you own etc. in case you ever need to claim.

I agree, insurance companies scarf big hog. They pick and choose the very lowest of liability and overcharge to cover that even! 9/11 did change a lot of things in the US afterwards as far as insurance is concerned.

War

[musictech]

I was with the insurance company that has the group policy for ASCAP members for a couple of years... never made a claim and then they just sent me a notice last year saying my insurance was going to be cancelled and that I had to re-apply, and I could never get through to talk to a real person there.

So, I switched to Clarion insurance... a bit more expensive, but very friendly and nice to work with... talked to a real person and even negotiated a better rate for my insurance (picked a higher deductible, told them my gear never leaves the house, etc.). They deal mostly with insuring musical instruments for working/traveling musicians, but they do studios also. I've got my gear covered for my estimated replacement value of about $70,000.

Steve

[dale116dot7]

I got a rider specifically covering my gear, the home insurance policy may or may not cover it. And they might tell you it's covered but may come up with a reason not to pay in the case of a loss (for example, they may decide not to pay because it's business-looking gear). I have a list of gear that I give them (I update it occasionally - serial #'s, etc.). The only thing is that my DIY gear (which I have a lot of) is only covered for the cost of parts, not labour.

[neve1073]

I have basic homeowner's with extended coverage (up to $150k).

I'm wondering, in case of disaster, if the insurance co would try not to pay for musical equipment. I'm scared to ask them for fear of revealing my hand. Couldn't i claim it was gear for personal use, or part of a collection? Is this kind of stuff normally excluded from basic homeowner's coverage? I'd ask my agent--but as I said, I don't trust the company not to cancel me.

[chap]

For peace of mind, insurance is a neccessary evil.
That said, you pass along any accrued value on vintage instruments to some guy in a suit.

Get enough coverage to get you back in bizness
asap in the event of a catastrasphe.
I can't afford to cover the true value of all my gear. I'm only screwed if something wicked this way comes.
At least I can do biz right away
I've only collected once (hassle free) on a hard drive that was fried in a freak lightning storm.

More importantly, Steffmo makes a great point.
Liability can cost you your house. Get it tomorrow. It doesn't cost much to get 300k in liability. If someone with a bad attitude trips over a chord, they could own your house!

I was convinced of this the hard way.
I'll tell the short story. Years ago when my studio was in my basement, I would say yes to anything (bad move). As it turned out, I said yes to the wrong guy. I should have known.
He was in his 40s and still lived with his Mom.
He had an idea for a real tear jerker that involved him rapping over a country, gospel ballad.He was about 400lbs. and 6'5". A big fella witha pretty good radio anncr. voice.
Plus, he had $3000 for one song. My greed overcame my good judgement.
We had a talk (so I could sleep) during which I explained that what he was doing was taking $3000 in singles, putting them in a laundrey basket, driving down the freeway in a convertable and opening the top at 90 mph.
The hope was that by throwing the 3k up in the air while traveling at that rate of speed -somehow, 10,000 would (like a miracle) land in the basket and we'd all be happy.
I should have know better as this guy was prone and proud of his public flatulence (he blamed it on creamed corn).
I had serious reservations but needed the dough and he knew the deal (He got a backer!!
who got the same speech and signed a contract.)

After the first day of recording ( not bad), he told me that he needed a ride home. Outside was an ice storm and he was wearing sneakers with no laces.
I agreed to take him home. Bad move, as it turns out, this was a 400 lb man of which 300lbs. were ass. He took one step out the door, I heard a loud crack and he fell on me, spraining my ankle. He had broken his ankle and was howling in pain and thrashing about. I was in fear for my life. I was under the ass.

I managed to wriggle free and somehow, drag him, face down into my kitchen. We were both in pain and I was panicked. As afraid as I was,
he was face down, writhing and the ass was aimed at me with no visible escape lines.
He explained, based on his military experience,
that he was going into anapaleptic shock.
It was then that I heard the most frightening words ever uttered towords me (and I've had cancer 4 times) he said, and I quote "Chap, I'm going to have explosive diahrea!!".
I was hopelessly trapped by 300lbs of active ass and all I could say was "Don't! Don't do that!"
I managed to get him into a chair (it broke 10 minutes later) and called an ambulance.
The ambulance arrived and the 1st thing the medic said into his walkie talky was "We're at the site and we need backup!!"
My wife was due home in a half hour. I needed Mr. Wolf. The medic people had to take all the doors off of my house before finally wedging my new pal (He kept muttering about the lawsuit that woud make him my boss). When they got him to the ambulance, they had to tie the back door closed with his feet sticking out as they drove away.
By this time, no fewer than 10 fully equipped
rescue guys had paraded in and out of my house during a severe ice storm. The place was in shambles.
I was sitting there shaking and aching from my own ankle when my wife came home from work
She looked around and said "Y'Know, I work my tail off so we can have stability around here, the least you can do is clean up every couple of years!" I turned into Jack from the Shining and said "You have no idea, stop talking now please"
I got liability the next day. Learn from my mistake brothers and sisters, cover your ass because there are other asses, big ones, that aren't covered.

cheers,
chap

[neve1073]

I am, literally, laughing out loud!
Chap you're a great storyteller. Thanks for that!

[chap]

thanks, ..........and that was the short version!
All true too. And all too true.
peace,
chap

[PlugHead]

FWIW,

If you work out of your home, and can get your kit insured through your home policy, go for it, but be warned - they are pricks when it comes to home businesses. Don't ever expect them to come good on replacing your kit, esp. if you have lots of esoteric, pricey items. Best if you have a wife/partner that is a professional - doctor/lawyer/etc., as their policies seems to be much better coverage than your garden variety musician/artist/studio owner...

I have "business" insurance for my studio - I pay dearly for it (couple hundred a month) and it does give a sense of peace when it might come to "accidents" happening. Never had a claim, nor had any threats of legal action, but then again, this is Canada, not the US.

Best of luck, and get insured - you'll sleep better!

[Brian Middleton]

Update--I mentioned this thread to my wife last night, and she told me that we never did really find another company to insure us after we got cancelled on account of the gear. We're being insured by this quasi-public agency that's the "insurer of last resort" in Massachusetts--they can't turn you down. I assume that means our coverage is minimal. Good to know.

It occurs to me that our difficulties might have been a combination of the music studio factor and the fact that we're in an "inner city" neighborhood with a bad reputation. It's actually a huge neighborhood with lots of very quiet, safe areas, and we're in one of 'em. But the insurers may not get into that kind of detail...they probably just see "Dorchester" and that puts us in the worst-risk category to start with. The studio was probably just the straw that broke the camel's back.

[adam_w]

Chap - you had me in tears over that one ! :-)

Get insured today, cos someone might tear the roof off your building and take all your stuff once they figure out you have concrete blocks for windows and an armoured steel door. From experience....

[Ruphus]

After Chap´s story studio owners might be sceptical in the future.
That would be the first time that big asses had a worse time than others, figuratively seen.

After having had a guy standing in my room ( the other ran away. Had they come the day before they could had dragged it all out with plenty time to do so ) I went for an insurance. They seem not keen after studios over here too. Got only accepted for a 55 000 bucks gear coverage, because my former agent in that company insisted on them doing it.

Am over the cover since a year or so now and need to expand the contract.

Can you say upkeeps altogether?
Hey guys, if you got socks with holes in them and stuff like that, send them over. I´ll patch them and wear`em for another year.

Ruphus

[Onan]

State Farm. fuuck

[Jeroleen]

I deal with many insurance companies and from experience I can tell you that they are in the business of denying claims, not paying them whenever possible.

For theft, I would imagine an independant evaluation of the value of your equipment with such things and depreciation etc. taken into to account, preferably by someone the insurance company accepts, would be helpful.

For fire, I would suggest making sure your studio meets or exceed local fire code and building code reguations and have it certified by someone or some place accetable to the insurance company.

Also, many people don't bother to read insurance policies and lose out because when they suffer a loss they do not follow strict notification requirements. READ THE POLICY. You should read it before you sign since it is a contract. The terms, however, may not be negotiable. If you wan't to negotiate some of the terms and the agent tells you they are not negotiable, commit your request and thier denial to writing. It may come in handy later on though this is usually a difficult way to go.

[Sharp11]

Originally posted by neve1073
I'm wondering if I should try to insure specific items for theft and destruction by fire.

Do you insure your super highend racks and mics?

I'm of two minds. Part of me thinks insurance is a scam. The other part of me imagines trying to replace neve racks, 61 strats and neumann tube mics after a fire.

I have everything insured, you'd have to be crazy not to.

I get my insurance via Ascap through Music Pro; the rates are reasonable and I constantly update by pulling things off and putting new things on.

Ed

[impact studios]

Hi

I have always had my home studio insured through a company here in the UK called Music Guard....
Never had to make a cliam.
But i still worry while i am away on holiday each summer with the family....

Paul