The dollar figures are based on "Blue Book" values of the instruments.

There is a guitar blue book?


The issue of depreciation works both ways. It can give you a tax break, but insurer's often will reimburse only the "depreciated value" of the insured item. If they apply the standard depreciation for tools and equipment a fine vinatage guitar has gone to zero. Even if they use their own system you can get royally screwed. http://www.claimspages.com/tools/depreciation/


 The best example of the problems with this kind of insurance is the guy who totals his classic fully restored model T, and finds it has no "blue book" value at all, or the one who puts 30 grand into hot rodding his car and finds the "blue book" value is $6000.00.


You want a policy that insures them for full replacement value if they are still on the market, and a special policy that sets a specific appraised value as a collectors item if they are no longer available in general distribution.

You will need pictures and serial numbers. Forget about collectors value.... if a claim is filed and a police report taken.... the insurance co will only pay the replacement value or some lesser portion of it. 

Lloyds of London will insure anything at any given price... for a fee.


unless you expect to have a guitar stolen every year.... the cost to insure $140/year or $180/year can buy a new decent guitar every other 3rd year. 

In 40 years, I've had my guitar (SG) stolen 2x and got it back both times.... so simply banking the money yearly would be my best bet. 

When I had a full studio of gear (worth over $100k), it only cost me $146/year to insure it.  But none of the items left my home except for a couple of special gigs and some bass lessons I took.

If you run a studio as a business, I can see insuring the gear and the guitars. A theft or a fire/flood could put you out of business overnight. In that case, yeah I would insure too.

I have asked my insurance agent about this topic in the past and I was told..... DOCUMENTATION and PHOTOGRAPHS to prove that I owned the gear and it's original and replacement cost. And on my homeowners policy I would need a special rider to specifically cover the musical gear since it's not covered by the general homeowner's policy even with contents replacement. 

They would give me a set amount for damage to the house and a set amount for contents..... which I could use however I wished but to get the musical gear replaced along with couches and clothes..... I'd likely need the rider to kick in that extra amount for the gear. 

I originally took a camcorder around the studio then put the tape into a fire-proof safe.  Most of the documentation was on my computer and on backup discs.

i had a flood a few years ago...
in the basement of the home i rented.

i had renters insurance, that covered the replacement costs and repairs of all my gear that was damaged.


anything can happen, at anytime.


if your gear is worth insuring, then insure it.

it's just that simple.

make sure your agent understands what you want.
not market value, but the value of replacement at the dollar figure you set.

you'll pay more for it that way.

but it's all a gamble, eh?

meteorites, and all that........