Anderson Group Frequently Asked Questions
Does my homeowner's policy cover my musical instruments?
- Most homeowner’s policies will cover musical instruments up to a certain limit. This limit is usually less than $2,000 total. If you have an instrument valued more than this amount, you should consider Musical Instrument Insurance. Also see policy valuation types below.
- Most homeowner’s policies do not respond at claim time if an instrument is used being used in a paid performance. That is considered business use and if a loss happens while being paid for a performance, your homeowner’s policy may not pay. Musical Instrument Insurance with Anderson Group covers casual, professional and business use of your Musical instruments.
- Did you realize your homeowner’s policy does NOT cover flood damage? Unless you have a separate flood policy covering personal property, there is no coverage for your musical instruments. Musical instrument Insurance covers flood damage to listed instruments!
- Did you know your homeowner’s policy does NOT typically cover earthquake Damage let alone earthquake damage to musical instruments?
- Musical Instrument Insurance is structured to cover perils not normally covered on a homeowner’s policy, such as falling, cracking, etc. Every claim is reviewed by a company adjuster to confirm coverage; however, a homeowner’s policy will not pay for a musical instrument breakage due to bumping, falling, dropping etc! There are no listed perils like these listed on a homeowners policy! (A complete copy of the Anderson Group Musical instrument Policy may be seen by clicking here).
- A musical instrument insurance policy provides a deductible as low as $250 deductible, whereas your homeowner’s policy may have a deductible upwards of $1000 or more!
- Your musical instrument insurance policy will provide agreed value coverage for your instrument, while your home policy may only provide Actual Cash Value (Replacement Cost minus Depreciation). Typically musical instruments that are in top condition generally have little to no depreciation, so this is a very big question to ask your agent! You wouldn’t want to find yourself in a predicament! Also see policy valuation types below.
- Does the total value of your musical instruments get deducted from the Personal Property (Coverage C) portion of your policy? If so, please remember that coverage is there to replace your personal property from linens to appliances! Adding replacement musical instruments under that coverage may take away much needed coverage.
Back to top
Where do I mail my premium payment? (US Funds only please)
Anderson Group International,LLC
P.O. Box 531
Farmington, CT 06034-0531
Back to top
May I include a request for customer service with my premium payment?
No. All premium payments (US Funds only please) are sent to a lock box managed by our bank. Our bank is not able to respond to requests for policy changes, nor are they able to forward these requests to our office.
Back to top
Where do I mail requests for customer service and correspondence?
Anderson Group International,LLC
933 Webster Street
Marshfield, MA USA 02050-3423
Back to top
Anderson Group emails don't make it past my SPAM filter. What can I do?
We aren't SPAMers, but we use emails a lot to talk to our customers. Emails occasionally get stuck for one reason or
another. Please take a look at our whitelist instructions to make sure you get emails from us.
Back to top
What's the difference between replacement cost, agreed value, and other policy valuation types?
We get this question a lot. We feel this a key part of how differentiate ourselves from the competition! Here is the breakdown on the coverage types...
Actual Cash Value:
Actual cash value coverage (”ACV”) is something that you want to avoid wherever possible. This valuation clause, typically found on most homeowners and commercial property policies, subjects you to a potential for a depreciated settlement at claim time if you are insured at less than 80%, 90% or in some cases, even 100% of the “replacement” cost of the insured property. The typical insurance industry’s definition for ACV is the:
Cost to replace your instrument with a new instrument of similar like kind and quality, less depreciation.
What does this mean? If you do not keep the value up to date on your instrument to 80% to 100% of “replacement cost” and have an ACV clause on your policy and experience a coverage loss, you may well receive less, and possibly significantly less, for the repair or replacement of your instrument. The good news is that most musical instrument policies, including Anderson Group's, DO NOT place an ACV valuation clause on their policies.
Replacement Cost:
If you have a Replacement Cost valuation clause, the deduction for depreciation is removed from your policy, otherwise the definition noted above for ACV remains. What you actually end up receiving at claim time is still unclear as you and the insurance company will have to sort out the “replacement cost” for a replacement instrument of like kind and quality.
Agreed Value:
With “agreed value” coverage, both you and the insurance company have agreed up front on how much your instrument(s) and accessories are worth! Should you experience a covered loss, the insurance company will pay up to the “agreed value” in the case of repair or the “agreed value” if your instrument has been lost, stolen or damaged beyond repair. How do we come up to a mutually agreeable “agreed value”? For instruments currently being produced, we will typically accept the current year replacement cost to replace your instrument(s). In other cases, we may request an appraisal. In all cases, we will let you know whether we will require an appraisal or not. 99% of the policies issued by Anderson Group International, LLC utilize the “agreed value” clause in the policy.
Diminished Value:
The Anderson Group Musical Instrument Coverage Form also includes additional coverage should your instrument suffer a reduction in value due to a covered loss, up to the maximum “agreed value” limit for the instrument in question.
In all cases, please refer to the actual policy for complete details available here
If these coverage types and what makes us different from the competition is unclear, please feel free to contact us
We are here to help.
Back to top
Why do we charge an policy fee for our instrument insurance programs?
Our clients have come to expect a stable, low cost solution to insuring their instruments. It is no secret to anyone that insurance agencies derive their total revenue more often than not by receiving commissions from the insurance company at a pre-determined percentage of the premium. Candidly, without the policy fee, the revenue to administer and service our clients would generate a loss considering the expenses associated with servicing musical instrument insurance at the low cost that we charge. Our options were two-fold; considerably raise the minimum premium to increase our agency revenue thus allowing us to cover our costs and make a profit, or add a small policy fee. We chose the second option.
Fees have become common place both for insurance agencies as well as many many other service related businesses. The overall impact to you is that you are paying less than you would pay then you would have to pay if we did not charge this administrative fee. Don’t take our word for it – ask your colleagues or contact us and we will be happy to give you the names of the other agencies in the country that are offering musical instrument insurance.
Our minimum premium plus the $25 policy fee is considerably less than the competition - and we intend on keeping it that way for as long as claims continue to run favorably. We very much appreciate your business and look forward to serving your instrument insurance needs for many years to come. Should you have any additional questions, please contact us.
Back to top
Why Do We Charge A Convenience Fee For Credit Card Payments?
We offer payment by credit card, as a convenience for our customers. A very small number of insurance agencies and brokers offer credit cards because of high credit card fees that can run close to 4% of the total premium charged, which is a large percentage of an Insurance Agency’s commission revenue. The convenience fee for credit cards payments is only 2%. If you decide to pay by credit card, the 2% convenience fee will be reflected in the total amount charged to your credit card just prior to submitting your payment to our secure credit card payment gateway, powered by authorize.net.
You are under no obligation to pay by credit card! We are also happy to accept checks or Money Orders drawn in US funds on US Banks without a convenience fee.
Please note: Premium payments (other than pre-approved musical instrument insurance policies) are not an acceptance of coverage for insurance for payments made by credit card or other online payment until we receive approval from the insurance company of record.
Back to top
What is the credit card return policy?
You may cancel your insurance policy with a full return of your premium and policy fee by notifying us in writing within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. You may cancel your policy at any other time and receive a pro-rata refund of the unearned / unused premium by notifying us in writing. We will return your unearned premium and policy fee, if applicable, by mailing a check to the insured address on file in our system within 30 days of receipt of your request to cancel coverage.
Back to top
What motivated Anderson Group to begin a performance liability program?
Weekly calls from our insured’s inquiring if we offered performance liability insurance. We decided to send out an email survey to many of our customers and received several hundred quality responses giving us valuable feedback as well as indicating various levels of interest.
Back to top
Was this performance liability program launched due to an insurance industry trend or based on customer demand?
The Anderson Group Musicians Alliance performance liability insurance program developed due to repeated requests from our customers. Performance Liability Insurance is not an industry trend, quite the contrary in fact as this sort of coverage is very difficult to find at an affordable price, and generally quite expensive when you can find it. More often than not, we have found that you have to buy a single event policy for each and every event or venue requiring a certificate of insurance.
Back to top
Do I have to be a member of a musician association, such as the American Harp Society, to access this program?
We carefully worked out the definition of the covered events hazard class to fit a wide range of musicians with our insurance carrier, OneBeacon Group and their wholly owned subsidiary, Entertainment Benefits International.
If you are a Solo or chamber musician performing in the classical, traditional, popular, folk or jazz genres including recitals and musical master classes you most likely fit the program parameters. If you perform in concert halls, function halls, church, hospital, nursing home, hospice, hotel and convention center you would fit the program eligibility requirements. This program is open to just about any solo performer or small group of individuals (excluding rock bands,) although we have a access to a fantastic program through Entertainment Brokers International for bands too that covers performance liability insurance, equipment and electronic on tour and at their home base.
Back to top
Can you give me some hypothetical conditions under which this policy would be used?
Since we have received hundreds of requests from harpists, let’s look at some of the ways a harpist can use this policy. A harpist signs on for a regular weekly engagement at a hotel for Sunday brunch at a hotel or resort that requires a certificate of insurance. A harpist plays weddings and the venues where the bride and groom have contracted require certificates of insurance before they allow an outside contractor to perform at their facility. A harpist plays a concert, either as a solo or part of a small chamber group, and the hall requires a certificate of insurance before they are allowed to perform. A harpist contracts with a convention center for event functions requiring a certificate of insurance for their performance. A cruise ship engagement requires a certificate of insurance before contracting with a harpist to perform throughout the cruise. Harp therapy at hospitals, nursing homes, hospice etc. Change the instrument to suit your personal situation.
Back to top
Does a performance liability policy cover both performing and teaching?
Yes. However there are some challenges that might present a problem issuing a certificate of insurance for some teaching events. An example of this would be if a masters class or teaching event has attendees that are minors. There is a very customary abuse and molestation exclusion on the policy, so it is always a good idea to read the policy for complete details as the facility where the class is held might request removal of this exclusion. (We are able to custom design this policy to suit your specific needs, however that would require an increase in premium.)
Back to top
Is there such a thing as an "umbrella liability" policy, and is this different from a performance liability policy?
These are two different policies that do cover different things.
If so, what is the difference between an umbrella policy and a performance liability policy?
A performance liability policy covers a performer and allows the issuance of certificates of insurance whenever and just about wherever they plan on performing. An umbrella policy places an umbrella of coverage over the performance liability insurance policy adding additional limits of protection, customarily beginning at $1,000,000 with limits available. Excess Liability Umbrella’s are common for individuals that need to place additional coverage of $1m or higher over one or more policies that have the required minimum underlying limits. Examples of this would be an individual placing an excess liability umbrella over their home, auto(s), boat, home rented to others, etc. In the case of commercial or business exposures, excess umbrellas could be placed over a performance liability insurance policy and it could also extend over a studio and workers compensation policy too.
Our thanks to Ann Lobotzke, www.iharp4u.com, who recently presented the above questions to us in research for an article appearing in the near future addressing Performance Liability Insurance for harpists.
Back to top
Other Questions?
Is there a combined policy discount (instrument policy and liability policy)?
YES! Anderson Group Musical Instrument Insured’s save $10 on their performance liability policy.
Once an annual policy is purchased, can I get certificates of liability for each location as needed?
Sure. Just click here to issue your own certificates, online, 24/7 x365 days!
How long will it take to get a certificate for a location I am playing at?
Once your policy has been issued, you can issue your own certificate of insurance for performance liability insurance just minutes before the event (although we don’t recommend waiting until the last minute just in case you run into problems).
How do I pay for this coverage?
By check, money order or by credit card on our secure server. Your performance liability insurance will become effective after you receive approval from underwriting and your payment has been received in our office.
How quickly can I apply for performance liability insurance and how soon can I get coverage in place?
We try to get back to you within the same business day wherever possible. We do guarantee a response within 2 business days, maximum.
How do I apply for coverage?
http://www.anderson-group.com/
Back to top
Is there a reader for these [Snagg RFID] chips that is standardized for the whole of North America or just the USA? (I've heard that some chips for animals aren't able to be read because the vet/humane society/shelter... doesn't have the correct reader for that particular chip.)
Snagg uses the Destron Fearing RFID reader, which is the standard used by Schering Plough, the largest supplier for vet scanners in the world. It reads all low frequency chips at the 125Khz to 134khz frequencies. Some readers will only read one type of chip. Snagg does not rely on Veterinarian based readers, opting instead to overnight scanners to police when a recovery is made or a second hand seller is being checked.
If my instrument gets stolen then recovered, who will have a reader to get my information from the chip? Police in all cities large and small? Pawn shop owners?
When a dealer or law enforcement officer has concern about the provenance of an instrument, Snagg is one of the registries that is regularly contacted. Snagg will overnight one of their RFID readers to dealers and law enforcement officials to allow them to scan these instruments. Pawn shops also have access to a shared computer system in which serial numbers are checked. Snagg is the largest registry with the highest recovery rate for musical instruments in the world
Could the chip be used as a way to blackmail an owner if the person who reads the chip information so desired?
The chip carries no information but a code number. Snagg registered customers need to furnish additional information to gain entry to the Snagg database that only the owner of the instrument would know. In short, is the Snagg RFID chip a real deterrent? According to police detectives numbering in the hundreds spoken to by Snagg personnel, high tech tracking devices are an absolute deterrent. This RFID chip is a conclusive way to establish provenance and significantly assist in recovering a lost or stolen instrument if a dealer or law enforcement official pursues contacting Snagg. The cost of six RFID chips is well under $20/each. The cost to register your instrument with Snagg is zero. While our agency has no financial interest in Snagg, nor do we receive any revenue from SNAGG, we sincerely believe that installing a Snagg RFID chip is viable and compelling for our clientele. In fact, we are offering a small discount for Snagg equipped instruments, so one might say say we are losing money for any Snagg equipped instrument. But the real story of course is that the real return will be many thousand fold if a stolen instrument is recovered. Snagg has many of these stories.
Back to top
|
