Written & Edited by Dan Marticio
Dan Marticio is the content manager at SmartFinancial and has written 150+ articles across multiple insurance verticals.
Updated March 28, 2024Expert Reviewed
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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.
Key Takeaways
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.
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]
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.
Musical instrument insurance policies can cover a variety of instruments. For example, Anderson Group insures the following instruments: [2]
Acoustic and electric guitar
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.
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]
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 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.
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]
Instrument
Minimum Annual Premium
Coverage
