Insurance for guitars / amps / pedals - Allianz / new moon, anyone else

Jtaylor

I've looked at previous threads from a few years ago and people recommended allianz and new moon, Allianz' quote is more than double the cost of new moon. Has anyone got any experience with having to claim from either of these companies? 

Is there anyone else I should be looking at?

Cheers

dwheeldo

I can definitely recommend Allianz. I claimed from them for a broken Gibson headstock last year - they covered the full cost of the repair through my preferred luthier plus about £350 for loss of resale value. They needed a bit of a nudge at times, but that's the same with every insurance company in my experience.

Can't speak for New Moon.

Guitar_Slinger

I've been with Allianz for years. Haven't made a claim, but they keep reminding with every renewal to review the amount each guitar is insured for, as prices go up* and so will the cost of a replacement.

* Unless it's an R8, which you can pick up for pennies these days.

Snags

I used to use "Musician's Insurance Service" aka Bryan James.

Fees didn't seem too outrageous (basically a fixed percentage of total value). Need to check the exclusions, as the standard policies won't cover unattended vehicles, or sometimes being left overnight in "insecure" premises away from home etc. but they used to offer policies to suit everyone from expensive kit at home through to gigging/touring musicians.

They were always easy to deal with, easy to add/remove items from the schedule, and generally no hassle.  Never had to claim, though.

johnl

Just insured my R8 with Allianz for £30 a year which seemed decent....

peteri

I use New Moon, haven't had to make a claim - but we'll priced and very flexible (useful given how often I buy and sell)

Lestratcaster

I'm with Allianz, pay £13 a month for all my gear to be insured.

Boromedic

I added my gear to my home and contents as single expensive items, barely made a difference to the quote but with the caveat that at the mo they aren't covered outside the home as I don't gig or anything currently. They are covered for accidents and such in the home though as well. Might be worth a look as it was cheaper than the two you mention above.

jdgm

I have 2 policies, one for at home stuff and one for gigging. I could insure the at home stuff under my home contents as above, but at the time I started I didn't own my house and if I do have to claim I don't want any argument. The gig policy costs more but covers me for everything that could happen. These are with Allianz now, via V.C.Knight who was one of the recommended insurers when I was in the M.U. (in the last century!!). Luckily I have never had to claim so I can't answer your question, but I think it's worth it. I have umm....at least 9 guitars with their cases, several amps and nearly 20 pedals and assorted stuff insured and both policies together cost under £300 p.a.

I also must photograph and register as much stuff as possible on https://www.immobilise.com/ as that is the database the police look at 1st when they recover stolen goods.

dwheeldo

I should probably have clarified that I have a lot of gear that's routinely taken on tour, and I initially went with Allianz because they cover theft from unattended vehicles and the cost of hiring replacements if you're on the road and need them for the rest of the shows.

If you're out gigging a lot it's worth having that stuff, but if it's just in case of burglary or damage home insurance might be a cheaper way to go.

Adamski

I pay £20 a month for all my gear, insured across the U.K, with Allianz and have been using them for 10 years. No issues and good to deal with. No claims though and that’s ultimately where it counts so who knows! 

Jtaylor

Thanks for the help guys. I'm leaning more towards Allianz as they seem to have a good track record. Only thing is they are over double what I'd pay if I went with New moon! For all my gear, Allianz comes out at £700 a year and New Moon £300...

Has anyone ever needed to claim with New Moon? If so, how was it? Obviously I hope I never need to claim but just in case I do, is worth knowing

dwheeldo

Jtaylor said:

Thanks for the help guys. I'm leaning more towards Allianz as they seem to have a good track record. Only thing is they are over double what I'd pay if I went with New moon! For all my gear, Allianz comes out at £700 a year and New Moon £300...

Cor, you must have some tasty stuff to fetch a £700 quote from Allianz!

nick79

I'm with New Moon, on account of them being half the price of the others. Haven't had to claim (and hopefully wont need to!) but have heard good things about them in the past and when i rang to renew i got through to a polite bloke who sorted me out. They actually reduced my premium with no prompting when i told i had changed my gear around a bit. 

skunkwerx

I dont gig or take anything out the house atm. So I did a quote on Allianz website for premises only cover, but didnt reach the underwriting questions mind..

Anyway for 4 guitars, 9 pedals/psu and boards totalling nearly £3000 all in, the initial quote was £3 a month lol... 

Now if thats real, and would cover me getting burgled then I don’t know why I’m not throwing £3 a month at them! 

Live with me dad so I have no home insurance option, but we’ve been burgled twice here and tbh, it hasnt happened in a while...   

Jtaylor

dwheeldo said:

Jtaylor said:

Thanks for the help guys. I'm leaning more towards Allianz as they seem to have a good track record. Only thing is they are over double what I'd pay if I went with New moon! For all my gear, Allianz comes out at £700 a year and New Moon £300...

Cor, you must have some tasty stuff to fetch a £700 quote from Allianz!

Yeh, I hadn't realised how much it was all worth until now though! 

Thanks for all the help guys, have gone with New Moon