I have just purchased my new Flute valued at £1450 from Jonathan Myall and have also been given 1 months free insurance with it from Newmoon Musical Insurance. Is this something I need to consider when the insurance runs out in a month?

to the forum!

It's something I would seriously consider, whether you stay with that insurer or switch to another. Having an instrument of this sort of price insured will give you so much peace of mind, and it isn't that expensive to do.

I thought so to.. I have just been on the phone to Allianz trying to get a quote and been bounced all over the place to India and back. Newmoon are easy to get hold of and are the old British Reserve team? Is this a company that was a market leader in the past?

That I don't know. My instruments are insured by Allianz, and I've been very happy with them and their service.

Allianz is what used to be British Reserve - my policy has both names at the top.

Whichever company you go with, check the small print very carefully. Where is it insured? Does it cover being left in the car? Does it cover overseas travel? Is it an 'as new' replacement or will it only cover the market value of your (now secondhand, and therefore lower value) flute? Does it cover accidental damage if you cause the damage e.g. by dropping the instrument? Can you change the sum insured if the market value changes (flute prices have shot up recently and I'm about to increase my premium to reflect this)? Do you play in a professional capacity at all (including gigs where you receive money) - if so some policies won't cover this. There's probably other things to check as well - those are just the first things that came into my head...

Just looking now at Newmoon and Allianz and they say they are the old team from Allianz.

I have just checked the two policies and newmoon pay insured and allianz market value with admin fees being charged also? Is this normal when adding other instruments.

Cover is similar but rates are cheaper for my flute with newmoon.

Oh thank goodness for insurance (never thought i'd say that). Sods law I only went and dropped my new flute at the weekend damaging the head joint and thank goodness for the free insurance, Newmoon are paying for the repair s to be carried out. I think I will definately be extending this cover now after that little incident. I still don't know how I managed to drop it but the guys at Newmoon were most helpful and the repairs are already underway!

I don't have specific insurance for my piano...I presume I should get some...therefore a quick question with regards to Allianz, their site seems to suggest they are for professionals etc, does anyone know if this is truly the case? i.e. do any "non-professionals" have insurance with them?

Cheers,

Jo.

I am not a professional and all my instruments are insured with Allianz.

*finds paperwork*

Their policies cover amateurs and professionals. 'Classic Play' is for orchestral and acoustic instruments and 'Power Play' is for electronic and digital instruments and equipment.

The maximum amount they pay out is the 'sum insured' for which they say 'please ensure that your sums insured are adequate and reflect the current replacement costs'. And they require written valuations for instruments worth over £10,000.

Hope this helps
j

Oh, such a coincident!

We were talking about insurance at the orchestra rehearsal yesterday.
Most of my friends recommended "British Reserve".

I also bought new instrument recently so contacted AXA. they also have specialist of musi instrument insurance under thier group. It calls for Lark Insurance.
They coated 161.61 GBP /year as multipul instruments.
It includes 3 violins + 2 clarinets + piano + guitar + oboe + Cor Anglais. total purhase cost 17,000 GBP ish.
Do you think it is too expensive?

I should consider to ask another quatation to another insurance company....?
My friend told me hers is 86 GBP (British Reserve) oboe + Cor Anglais total purchase cost 11,000 GBP.
Sounds mine is expensive....?

I got a months free ins with Newmoon when I brought my precious silent violin.

It ran out a while ago and now, both my silent violin and my very new (old) violin, although are insured through the home insurance, will be insured separatly.

My OH plays guitar and has so much gear, so we will just add the violins onto that policy.

Its not cheap but its cheaper than having to fork out the cost of a new instrument to the standard you currently play.

Defo look into it....on the other hand, once your new moon ins is out, you will bombarded with calls to keep the insurance on.

I was with British Reserve for many years. After being taken over by Allianz they sacked their UK staff and moved the call processing etc to India. My one occasion to call them there was perfectly OK but I've had some quite poor experiences with overseas call centres in the past. For this reason (and OK, because I object to that kind of business practice) I called Newmoon when my guitar insurance fell due end of December.
They are basically staffed by the old British Reserve people, and I was told that the cover and terms and conditions etc is effectively the same because it was written by the same folks.
The quote was basically the same as the Allianz but is better value by far because there is no excess, and no admin fee for amending the policy (eg adding new items). I've not, of course, had occasion to find out how good their claim handling is, but so far I am very impressed with them.

My claim which I mentioned above was taken care of between the repairer and Newmoon with very little intervention by myself. I was most pleased with the service and speed of the claims handling.

Sorry for the shameless bump - i have scoured so many internet forums for info!!

has anyone else had any experience with Newmoon? I have received a very competitive quote from them for my brass collection and was just wondering if anyone has any more opinions? the quotes about 20% cheaper than my previous renewal (with LARK) i have tried Allianz and tbh, got fed up with sitting in a queue.

Any info would be greatly received

BR

No one?

As mentioned above I have purchased insurance from Newmoon and had a claim with them since and would recommend them to anyone who needs musical insurance. They know their stuff and are willing to dicuss your cover at lengh should you have any questions.

Well on the strength of this thread I gave Newmoon a call, and they are, as reported the former people who were British Reserve. They were very helpful I didnt get put on hold once, the same person dealt with my insurance enquirey from first to last, and the manner it was dealt with reminded me of service of a bygone age. A really nice guy who knew what he was talking about (a Euphonium player) so he understood what instruments were and what they were likely to cost etc etc..

I might also point out that Howarths (london) and Crowthers (Canterbury) are also acting as agents inasmuch that they are reccomending Newmoon as their preferred insurer. I had in the past tried unsuccessfully to deal with Allianz and like so many people found myself being shoved from pillar to post and gave up even trying to insure with them, they never even sent the paperwork through and I am ashamed to say that I didnt bother to insure. To be honest I am sick to death of having to guide companies members of staff around what is supposedly their job in an attempt to get what I need, so this thread has spurred me on to finally get this insurance matter sorted out...

The quote was fair, considering the value of my instruments, I did keep it to UK only, I dont travel overseas with my Oboe and Cor but should I get the urge to do so I have been told I can so long as I let them know and make arrangements to do so.

So thumbs up for Newmoon insurance and thanks to the OP for posting..and thumbs up for the guy who dealt with my call...what a refreshing change to deal with somone who didnt have to have every minute detail explained and who could actually do the job..

Andrew

I am REALLY confused as I am with allianz, have called them several times and I never spoke to anyone 'foreign sounding' but indeed very british sounding, so I never thought it was an overseas call centre also I have swapped and changed instruements on that insurance a few times and value prices and they NEVER charged me a penny in administration costs or other costs and in fact my quote has never changed, I still pay £5.69 a month.
so when I hear others talking about admin fees for amending policy and overseas call centre I am confused as this is not my experience with them in past year and a half or so

Interesting.

After reading Andrews post i phoned Allianz, and have the distinct feeling i'm not talking to someone in the UK. Not that that bothers me, but i don't think they really know what instruments i'm talking about. I have looked through the Allianz wording and the admin fee is mentioned "...you may be charged..." etc - i supoose it could be at their discretion?

BR

I agree 'interesting' is the word, I am sure it must be 'at their discretion' as I have changed/added instruments on my insurance with Allianz 3 times over the past 12 months and never been charged a penny. As you say it says 'you may be charged...' so it sounds they are 'covering their backs' with the wording in policy? I wonder if they realise this is 'putting people off'?

Well, it's not so much putting me off - as long as its clear (is insurance ever!?) as to what I'm being charged for . i have a few instruments on my house policy, which I'm aware does not cover to the extent that a 'specialist' insurance will, and that i should have a policy for everything as i don't want to be paying the excess on my home policy should something happen! I would just like to know if i decided to chop and change, will i be charged for it?

Jojo: regardless of wording, and if you don't mind my asking: how do you find the price compared to the sum insured? have you contacted anyone else who deals with insurance? - please feel free to message me if you don't want to discuss it publicly

BR

British Brass Band Insurance are great - and they don't just insure brass band instruments. Both my and my brother's instruments are insured with them and they were great last year when my brother's saxophone was damaged at a school concert

I have just half an hour ago done a quote with Newmoon and they quoted £53.41 for a year which I'd guess is same as Allianz as with allianz I pay monthly £5.69 (they always add a few pence if you pay monthly).

what I have insured is:
double bass £1400
violin £850
bow £450
violin £800

all with worldwide cover and I chose not to take the unattended car option as I'd never leave my instruments unattended in a car anyway.
I started off not having the £800 violin and the £450 bow and when I added these the cover did not go up so whatever their limit is to charge me more I have not reached it yet.

Jojo: Thanks very much, gives me some food for thought. I'll think about the unattended vehicle cover, as i could see that coming in handy...

Anyway I'll report back once i have made some inquiries...

Thanks guys

Just been looking at this conversation one I started a year ago now when I had my claim.... Just to say that even after a claim which was all new to me and handled very quickly my renewal arrived last week and is the same premium as last year!! Called to renew and the service is also very good with none of that press 1 for this department and 2 for that department.........Just a frendly voice on the end of the line ready to handle my request.

Bandman

Hey Bandman

Thought I'd report back after reading this post. Called everyone i could think of at the time and as predicted it came down to Allianz and Newmoon. I went with Newmoon for a couple of reasons. 1st of all i was a bit cheeky told Newmoon i had a quote from Allianz to see how they would react. They gave me an excellent qoute (about 30% cheaper) and the chap seemed to know more about the instrument than i did, he even told me where to find the serial number . I then went back to Allianz who offered to price match, but why didn't they give me the best price in the 1st place?? 2nd of all, i just liked them (lol) i picked up the phone had a bit of a chinwag got the policy set up in 5 mins and i was away. Dare i say it, but it didn't really feel like insurance at all!

We all know the proof is in the claims but on the various forums i am a member of i haven't heard anything bad. and i hope to God i never have to fine out!!

BR