You just got a shiney new guiar and ponder to yourself
Should I insure this nice , new , expensice Guitar. ?
Answers on a postcard please. !
yey or ney ? if Y, who with. ?
I never insured any of my guitars. I never had any expensive guitars too. (the most i ever spent on a guitar was about 1000€, but that’s it).
I guess it’s something everybody should answer for themselves. If you have the extra money to spend AND the small type doesn’t have too many pitfalls (remember , insurances need to make money too. They don’t like paying money), then why not?
It’s an individual thing i guess. Me, i’d never thought of it, and don’t think i’ll ever will.
My 2 cents.
What if that guitar was £2200 though ?
PS, I love the Penguin
I have heard an economist make the case that you should never buy insurance except in the case where the alternative would be a life-altering expense. Like home insurance or car liability insurance. Buying insurance (or extended warranties, which is the same thing) for smart phones, dishwashers, airline tickets, etc., will on average just cost you money in the long run. I have adopted this philosophy, actually (only have home and auto insurance).
Of course, for some people the peace of mind that comes with having their stuff insured is worth the cost of the insurance, even if they never actually need it. So, it’s a very personal choice.
5 Likes
I don’t know your position WRT home insurance but generally if you have a home/house or even renter’s policy, any guitar would be covered under it. The condition you may want to check is if the guitar is very expensive then you might have to add a rider.
So from me it would be a Nay with conditions
Glen
3 Likes
I’m with John. I’d rather stick the monthly cost for insurance into a savings jar and once that Jar is full get another guitar. Wash, rinse and repeat.
2 Likes
In that case I would speak to your home insurance (if you have it) and see if it would be covered; you may just have to declare and register it, if you do have to pay extra it wouldn’t be much.
3 Likes
I’m going with @DarrellW here. Didn’t even think about the home insurance.
it’s a thing i could do too, if i had several really really expensive guitars.
But i don’t know if it would be worth it now…
Great to hear your loving the penguin. (that’s my other hobby/ earlier job).
1 Like
If you not a gigging musician your home owners insurance will cover you for any loss. If you do have any concerns talk to your insurance company about what they will cover in regards to instruments. You LP is new so is easily replaced if stolen or lost in a fire.
If and when you become a gigging musician your business insurance will cover all your gear. If you’re a gigging musician and don’t have business insurance well then you’ll be on the hook for any loses. Your home owners insurance won’t cover you if your being payed to play. Open mics and Jam sessions are not paid gigs so wouldn’t count.
1 Like
Home insurance contents cover should be all you need but most have a value threshold and items need to be declared individually but should not bump up your premium too much.
Have never taken out extended warranties, as guaranteed the item will terminally fail a week after the period expires. Plus very little is built to last these days, with guitars seeming to be the exception (I hope !)
1 Like
The best insurance is to have a pot of savings that can cover the expenses of something breaking.
Take the money you would spend on that insurance and put it into a savings plan.
Also, check your household insurance. All my guitars are covered under mine at no additional cost. If you have a particularly expensive guitar, then it might be cheap to get it added to your household insurance.
Cheers,
Keith
2 Likes
Thank you everyone for your thoughts on this. I certainly hadn’t thouht on the home insurance.
Thanks again all. 
R.H
By the way, it’s worth taking photos of your instrument, including the serial number, and keeping those somewhere you can find them easily (I use an album in Google Photos).
Then, if the worst happens, you have the information that your insurance company and the police would need.
Cheers,
Keith
2 Likes
Excellent Idea…
Our home insurance covers an item up to £1500 in value. Anything that is worth more than that we have had to specify, so if I had a guitar that cost £2200, then yes I’d be insuring it.
Relevant information. There are NO delivery companies in the UK that insure musical instruments in transit. They are ALWAYS listed as exclusions. This is why so many used guitars are collection only. Sellers are liable even if they dont know it.
I’d go along with Darrell. I’m going to speak to my insurance company soon on this very subject. I’ll report back 
Darrell is correct here. I checked with my agent and my guitars etc.are covered for replacement cost. Only problem is that they dont make mine anymore. I cringe st the thought of a loss. Probably have to put me in the ward . I would just freak out.
Best of luck. Smart of you to think about this IMHO.
Interesting anecdote that was told to me by a neighbor once…
His father had a custom made Pimental Classical guitar which happened to be the first one in a new line Pimental had created. After playing the guitar for a couple of decades, the father gave the guitar to my neighbor’s brother who was a gigging classical guitarist. The brother stopped at a convenience store late one night for something & while in the store, a thief stole his Pimental. The insurance policy was supposed to provide an exact replacement. The guitar had cost the father about $500 many years ago - the cost for an exact replacement was well over $3000… the insurance company refused to pay but the brother & Pimental both sued the insurance company and won!
The moral of the story as I see it is that even if you do insure, you can still have problems with the jerks at the insurer!
Tod
1 Like