Official Luthiers Forum!

what types and levels of insurance should do you guys have? there's two of us in the shop now - large power tools are being aquired rapidly and the shop is often full of martins, prs etc. We're wanting to find our own instead of attaching ourselves to the music shops details. Personal, public (although customers arent permitted some feel they are!), tools and guitars...sounds expensive!

sorry its such a boring thread - one word pointers would be great! (unless that one word begins with f, sh, or..you know)

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www.theguitarrepairworkshop.com

I use Heritage

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

I needed 2 million of liability for my place and it's just me and a bunch of dangerous tools here. I am in a building shared with other businesses, though. Customers aren't allowed into my shop when anything's turned on.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

For my shop, at home, I have Heritage in these amounts:
Instruments on premise, ownedand/or customers $15K
Instruments away from premise (consignment)     $5K
Misc property (tools, supplies, etc)         &n bsp; $50K
Instruments in transit          ;           ;     $7.5K

All the above, with a $500 deductible, costs $540 a year. When I ship an instrument, I get a FedEx cost for shipping and FULL insurance first, then a cost for shipping with just $500 insurance (to cover the deductible) and figure the difference as a customer charge for insurance and cover it that way. We have all heard the horror stories of trying to collect full values from ANY shipper, so this way everything is covered and all the potential hassles are avoided. Haven't had to use Heritage yet...knock on brazilian rosewood!
In addition, I have my homeowner's Fire and Liability Insurance that takes care of the building, etc.

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Hank Mauel

thanks everyone- really appreciate he advice. i'm trying to find a uk company as good as heritage. maybe i can find a lone insurer i can do some work for free in exchange for a good deal :)

thats a good technique Hank - i've been using the guitar shops UPS acount until now. a Martin d18 just came back from another shop with a 2ft crack in it from transit - and i found out the deal that the shop has means they get ?80 as a refund from UPS....ouch!

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www.theguitarrepairworkshop.com