Know the Difference between Instruments Insurance Appraisals and Valuations

instruments that exhibit magnificent craftsmanship and work for art, gain significance and value over a period of time. Propelled and positively-instigated by enthusiasm and love for music, many musicians, musical instrument collectors, and music aficionados are in a constant quest for musical gears that belong to or are designed by famous names in the universe of music.

Therefore, woodwinds, strings, keyboards, and other musical equipment that once belonged to prominent characters from the pages of history, never grow old or lose significance. Their values happen to increase instead.

Are you a music instrument appraiser?

If you are a music instrument appraiser, no one knows the importance of music instrument appraisal other than you. Moreover, appraising any musical instrument, whether it's a violin, guitar, piccolo, clarinet, or piano, or anything else, is not a child's play either, as there are many aspects associated. Therefore, Insurance for Appraisers is something you should not take for granted. No one should forget, at the end of the day, music instrument appraisers are also human beings, and mistakes do happen.

Musical instrument insurance appraisals VS valuations!

If you are a musical instrument owner, music instrument collector, or music shop owner, or music teacher, the concept of appraisal and valuations should be clear to you, or else, there might arise a lot of confusion in the future. Many people still have a dilemma when it comes to differentiating between musical instruments insurance appraisals and valuations. Here is how you can differentiate both.

Agreed Value

When you insure musical instruments, your insurance service provider will either assess it at the Agreed Value of the gears or Actual Cash Value of the same.

If your insurer accepts the instruments' appraisal, they will cover all the items under the Agreed Value Condition. So, what is the benefit of this clause/condition? This clause will allow you to get the full amount from your insurance company in case of a covered loss. And, the best part - your insurance provider is very unlikely to raise any question at the value of your musical instrument after an event of a loss.

Actual Cash Value

It is one of the most common valuation procedures for musical instruments. In case, for whatever relevant reason, if -

●        You are not able to produce an appraisal certificate, or

●        It is not possible to get an appraisal certificate at the time of issuance of insurance policy

Then, your insurance provider is more likely to cover your instruments under the Actual Cash Value condition. Now, what is that? When you don’t have an appraisal, you need to indicate the value of the items you intend to insure to your insurance service provider.

It means you have to declare the value of your instruments in the market to the best of your knowledge. Also, the amount of compensation you are ready to accept against an event of a loss should be declared.

Remember, you cannot put any market value just like that. The market values should be such that they should be within the range of reasonable market value. So, during claim settlement, your insurance provider will ask you to support the declared values at the time of policy issuance, or they will proceed with the process of valuation directly.

So, it is the main difference between instruments insurance Appraisals & Valuations in a nutshell.

Possible troubles that would bother an appraiser!

Now, let’s go back to musical instrument appraisers. As far as the situations that could go wrong when you are in this profession are concerned, there could be many.

For example - a client has kept his/her piccolo or guitar at your office to get the appraisal done. What if the gear gets damaged or someone steals it? Or, the appraisal did by you was not up to the mark and landed the client into rough waters. It would be you who would be held responsible for the loss of the client. That said, you will have to bear the financial expenses, as well.

A dedicated Insurance for Appraisers will come into play during such financially and mentally tormenting situations. So, before it’s too late, get in touch with a trustworthy insurance provider and insure yourself.