Hi all.
I would like to get some suggestions about instrument insurance.

-Well, my instrument is already insured by my symphony in the U.S. But I would like to have my sister's cello insured which is in Japan.
Apparentely, insurance companies in Japan started not to insure musical instruments. It is hard to believe but her professor (she is still in College) has pretty good instruments also but his cellos are not even insured, either.

So what I heard from her and her professor, are that musicians stopped insuring their instruments. There are some insurance companies in England which Japanese people use but I hear they are super expensive.
It is so expensive that it is almost not worth having it.

I asked my insurance company (in the U.S) if they would insure my sister's cello which is in Japan. They said they are only allowed to insure the symphony peoples' and their instruments. Consequently, they are non licensed to do business in Japan that they cannot insure my sister's cello.

Insurance here in the States is very inexpensive so I am looking for an insurance that will cover in Japan.

Does anyone know anything or have any suggestions?

Have you tried, Clarion Insurance? Also Total Dollar in NY offers very good rates. Lark Insurance in England is pretty big too, and may offer coverage over-seas. You might try looking them up and asking them about rates. Good luck!

You may be able to try adding it to your homeowner's insurance, if you have that. Often, through homeowner's policies, things that you own that are not within your house are covered up to a certain limit. I did this with a piano before. Based on my policy at the time, the company was willing to cover off-premises items up to $28,000, and that was without even declaring the piano on the "contents" of the house. If you declared some value of the cello as "contents", I would think you'd be able to have some sort of coverage on the instrument. The only thing I don't know is whether "off-premises" items would include overseas items. I would think it'd be worth looking into, regardless.

Thank you very much moochie517 and Fluteflute!

I have contacted those companies and will probably hear from them soon.

I hope something will work out!
If not, I will be back here soon...

Make sure you tell your insurance company that you are a professional musician, as many policies DO NOT cover musical instruments if they are used for business. That is why many musicians use the AFM or Clarion for their instrument insurance. I'm sure most musicians in Europe DO insure their instruments some how. Generally speaking insurance is much less expensive with these companies with fewer restrictions.

Vincent

Thanks for your info. That is great to know.

I contacted Clarion mentioning that I am a professional musician and they said they can cover it.

Thank you very much everyone!