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It occurred to me the other day, whilst idling thinking, that I have managed to accumulate over £25k worth of guitars in my collection now, not mention the rest of the house contents. We have the usual house and contents insurance but I remember from a claim we made years ago after a burglary, how difficult it was to 'prove' to the insurance company that we had owned what we were claiming for. They wanted receipts and all sorts, for TVs that were 5+ years old that we simply no longer had proof of purchase for. In the end, they accepted a photo of my infant daughter sat in front of said TV as proof of ownership and paid the claim but the lesson has not been lost on me. I am terrified of a house fire and everything going up in smoke.

Problem is, I am a champion procrastinator. I am assuming the best way to get complete coverage is to make a spreadsheet detailing everything and tot up the values to make sure you have enough insurance coverage, then take pictures of everything and also do a walk-through, talk-through video of every room showing all the items.

So tell me, insurance specialists of Dakka, does that sound like a good plan? Or alternatively, should I be getting some sort of assessor to come out, detail everything and give a quote? Does that sort of thing even happen?

If it's anything like over here then you need to have your collection specifically noted, take pictures of your collection and make a note on it current cost, add an estimate of how much it would cost you to repaint it all or an estimate from a commission painter, send the item list to your broker or insurer, some insurers have a limit of up to £5k per listed item/items.

IDK if guitars have serial numbers, but that is the kind of thing, like ISBN numbers on books, which you could take pictures of and record in a spreadsheet.

Also take pics of your stuff in situ, so it can be proved it's in your home.

Personally I haven't bothered with home insurance. I've got buildings insurance, of course, but if the house burnt down it would be rebuilt and I would have to start buying new crap to fill it with.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
IDK if guitars have serial numbers, but that is the kind of thing, like ISBN numbers on books, which you could take pictures of and record in a spreadsheet.

Also take pics of your stuff in situ, so it can be proved it's in your home.

Personally I haven't bothered with home insurance. I've got buildings insurance, of course, but if the house burnt down it would be rebuilt and I would have to start buying new crap to fill it with.

They do have serial numbers but some are a PITA to get to and see. On my Martin guitars, the serials are inside the soundhole, printed on a block where the neck joins and it is very difficult to get the right angle or even get a camera in there - would probably need some sort of mirror on a stick.

But yes, you are right - I do plan to note all serials and take photos/videos of everything. It is just getting round to doing it; it sounds simple but in reality, it's a large task.

take pictures of your stuff, have you or family in the picture so they can't claim it's somebody else's stuff. Put the pics or discs, flashdrive, etc in safety deposit box or other secured place not at the home itself. Having them stored on a camera. computer, or laptop does no good if also gets stolen or it burns up. One of my family members documented all of her stuff but it was stored on her computer when her apt building burned down she lost everything and had no proof since it went up in flames along with everything else, not a fun lesson.

As someone who has had four guitars worth c.£40K stolen in the last 5 years, photographs of the instruments, including of serial numbers, beside official letters addressed to me was sufficient. In only one case could I prove the purchase otherwise. This included a Blackmachine, which are very rare, don't have serial numbers, and who don't even have instruments on sale online. That took a bit of a song and dance to demonstrate its value but Direct Line paid out on all of it. I've also had Direct Line pay out on two watches that were stolen when I was overseas on work. They were happy with photographs of me wearing them (and they weren't very clear in them...).

I used to buy and sell a lot of guitars, and worked in a few shops doing so, and this has always generally been the advice I've had from specialists - specific instrument insurance has always been monstrously overpriced in my experience except when I was a working musician and got MU discounts.

Find a broker. A face to face one.

Their may be specific coverage for things like Guitars, especially if some are vintage or otherwise collectible. They'll be able to guide you through the various policies on offer, and what evidence might be needed. It could be as simple as photos of the Guitars at inception, or perhaps an agent coming out to double check they actually exist.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Find a broker. A face to face one.

Their may be specific coverage for things like Guitars, especially if some are vintage or otherwise collectible. They'll be able to guide you through the various policies on offer, and what evidence might be needed. It could be as simple as photos of the Guitars at inception, or perhaps an agent coming out to double check they actually exist.

So if I am reading this right, does this mean that said broker will come out to our house, talk over and inventory our belongings, document and picture them etc and then go off and find an insurance deal (plus commission of course)? Or do I still need to provide the inventory and valuations myself and the broker just negotiates the deal?

Potentially, yes.

Or, they'll sort out the policy, and the insurer will send someone round to confirm inventory.

The most important thing is that you act openly and honestly, and ask the questions you want answered.

If the broker then stuffs up, and you end up with a policy you can't claim against, that puts the broker on the hook on the basis of 'reasonable expectations'.

I myself likely know more about the insurance industry than anyone else on Dakka, unless we've got underwriters amongst us. It's part of my profession, so I know my onions.

If you've any worries about the cover, and how to evidence a potential claim in the future - ask about it. Get them to tell you in advance. It may be they just want a photo of the goods next to today's paper. This is particularly important if the goods were bought some time ago, or were perhaps part of an inheritance.

Don't leave until you need to make a claim (and I hope you lose the Insurance Gamble, and thus never need to claim on your policy). That's when suspicions properly arise - especially if items should've been declared. Assume nothing. Question everything.

Take pictures of any specific items you really want proof of ownership of. For smaller mundane stuff, a quick video panning around the rooms will be enough.

My parents rental had a fire a couple years ago, and the renter was saved by a facebook video she took showing off her new place about 6 months before the fire. That enabled her to get compensation for most of her belongings.

Also, those guitars sounds valuable enough that you might want to add specific coverage for them on to your policy. Most renter's insurance has a pretty hefty ceiling for fire/flood damage, but 25k plus the rest of the house might be approaching whatever your limit is rathe quickly. The threshold for theft is also usually a lot lower than your fire/flood, and 25 grand of Guitars would be quite a haul for a burgler.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Most renter's insurance has a pretty hefty ceiling for fire/flood damage, but 25k plus the rest of the house might be approaching whatever your limit is rathe quickly. The threshold for theft is also usually a lot lower than your fire/flood, and 25 grand of Guitars would be quite a haul for a burgler.

It's pretty variable in my experience in the UK. Sometimes I've had to name everything worth over 2k, once it was everything over 5k, but the last three places I've insured they've been happy with only retrospective details for things worth 20k that were insured against loss or damage even outside the home.

Don't seem to be any blanket rules, or even most-common policies!

It's definitely a handy haul for a burgler. The last time I had two instruments and a bag of pedals stolen totalling about £30k. I was about to move and all were handily packaged beside my front door. Only bonus is that they're never going to manage to shift them for what they're worth without me finding out because they're so identifiable and one is incredibly rare. Probably both getting passed around smackdens in the city for tenner bags. Hopefully eventually someone googles them and can't resist trying to sell them at their value.

Also? Valuations.

If you're claiming your Guitar is, I dunno, a Les Paul original, a photo is not going to cut it. Any underwriter worth their salt is going to want a proper valuation before they'll consider cover.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Also? Valuations.

If you're claiming your Guitar is, I dunno, a Les Paul original, a photo is not going to cut it. Any underwriter worth their salt is going to want a proper valuation before they'll consider cover.

I've had a '54 Junior insured with photos and a serial number, though it needed to be declared and discussed in advance. If you mean a big money one (like a '59) then yeah you'll need specialist cover - but at that point you're dealing with instruments that cost more than the average house.


EDIT: Obviously you check with your insurer (and lots of others before plumping for one!) but moderately priced instruments (which almost all guitars are in the grand scheme of things) are a pretty ten-a-penny product for insurers to deal with.

I, sadly, don't have a '59 Les Paul - the highest value guitar I own is a Martin D-45 that is worth about £8500 or so but it isn't vintage - it's new so you can go to any guitar website and get an instant valuation. Hopefully, the insurers would be satisfied with pictures, video in situ and serial numbers.

 filbert wrote:
I, sadly, don't have a '59 Les Paul - the highest value guitar I own is a Martin D-45 that is worth about £8500 or so but it isn't vintage - it's new so you can go to any guitar website and get an instant valuation. Hopefully, the insurers would be satisfied with pictures, video in situ and serial numbers.

I had more expensive instruments than that paid out on in January of last year without question on the back of photos alone, yeah. The Blackmachine took a bit of to-ing and fro-ing because they're no longer priced publicly, Doug wont take orders for new ones, and the second hand ones all get sold privately, but they didn't try to fight me on it at all (I was expecting it to be a palaver).

nfe wrote:

 filbert wrote:
I, sadly, don't have a '59 Les Paul - the highest value guitar I own is a Martin D-45 that is worth about £8500 or so but it isn't vintage - it's new so you can go to any guitar website and get an instant valuation. Hopefully, the insurers would be satisfied with pictures, video in situ and serial numbers.

I had more expensive instruments than that paid out on in January of last year without question on the back of photos alone, yeah. The Blackmachine took a bit of to-ing and fro-ing because they're no longer priced publicly, Doug wont take orders for new ones, and the second hand ones all get sold privately, but they didn't try to fight me on it at all (I was expecting it to be a palaver).

That's good to know then. I should be able to get by with standard contents insurance as long as everything is documented, declared, photo'd etc and valued correctly so I have the right level of coverage.

I just need to bother my arse to go and do it now...

check with your insurer.
A lot of general contents cover you for £XX total content of which any single item over say £2.5k has to be specified. Some have max value limits on single items and caps on overall contents cover. so check the T&C's and call your insurer customer service to ask these questions.

The above is an example but as long as you have some sort of photo evidence you should be fine any valuations/certificates always help..

You might need a specialist contents policy, not sure what the terms are these days as Ive been out of the profession for 8+ years.

Hope you never get robbed!

 filbert wrote:

nfe wrote:

 filbert wrote:
I, sadly, don't have a '59 Les Paul - the highest value guitar I own is a Martin D-45 that is worth about £8500 or so but it isn't vintage - it's new so you can go to any guitar website and get an instant valuation. Hopefully, the insurers would be satisfied with pictures, video in situ and serial numbers.

I had more expensive instruments than that paid out on in January of last year without question on the back of photos alone, yeah. The Blackmachine took a bit of to-ing and fro-ing because they're no longer priced publicly, Doug wont take orders for new ones, and the second hand ones all get sold privately, but they didn't try to fight me on it at all (I was expecting it to be a palaver).

That's good to know then. I should be able to get by with standard contents insurance as long as everything is documented, declared, photo'd etc and valued correctly so I have the right level of coverage.

Yes and no, what you've said there is kind of an oxymoron. A standard contents policy for a house the size you live in may be unlikely to have a cap sufficient to cover what is an atypical value of contents, so you're by default looking at a bespoke policy to some degree.

You might even be able to avoid cataloging all your collection, simply approach the insurer with a value and ask for a premium based on the that value. Just be sure to maintain an accurate figure as you buy and sell or if there are any significant fluctuations on particular instruments. Ultimately the insurer doesn't care what you own, just what it's will cost and that you're not lying about owning it. Should it all go up in smoke, they wouldn't care if you took the cheque and never bought another guitar as long as you live.

For the big stuff it could be worth it to link your phone to a google drive and just take pictures when you purchase it with receipt if possible, harder to do with stuff you already have but as others stated pictures of you or family with it seems to work.

in any case have it auto upload so you dont have to worry about it until god forbid you need it.

I should probably do this for my Magic: the Gathering collection...

So one of my jobs is I work for an insurance company. And granted, this is the US, not the UK.

But for valuable collectibles like this, generally you'll want to specifically state it on your insurance policy. You will need to get a professional appraisal done of the items as well.

If you value something that much, definitely get it insured - particularly if you travel with it (if you play at clubs, etc.) My insurance work only covered automotive accidents, but automotive policies normally have a general value cap at items inside the vehicle at a time of the accident, and it's quite low like $250, etc. (to avoid people scamming insurance companies by tossing a broken valuable in a car and getting into a minor accident, etc.).

So guitars and belongings in transport can lose you a ton of money unless those items are individually insured on their own (in which case you'd deal with that policy separately etc.)