Music Equipment Insurance: Protect Your Gear Anywhere
A single vintage synthesizer or boutique microphone can be worth more than a car. Standard homeowner's and renter's policies cap instrument coverage at $1,500–$2,500 — often with a "musical instrument" sublimit — and rarely cover gear used for professional purposes. Scheduled music equipment insurance gives each piece of gear its own coverage limit and protects it wherever it goes.
Coverage That Travels With Your Gear
Why Scheduled Equipment Insurance Is the Right Approach
Scheduled equipment insurance (also called an "inland marine floater" or "musical instrument floater") works differently from standard property coverage. Instead of a blanket property limit covering everything in your studio, you list each piece of equipment with its current insured value. This means a 1973 Minimoog Model D is insured at what it costs to replace today — not what you paid in 1990, and not a depreciated fraction of its value.
For vintage synthesizers in particular, this matters enormously. A Roland TR-808 that sold for $895 in 1981 now trades for $3,500–$5,000. A Yamaha CS-80 commands $15,000–$25,000. A working Buchla 200 system can exceed $50,000. Standard insurance would pay the "actual cash value" — a small fraction of replacement cost. Scheduled insurance pays what you agreed at policy inception.
The policy also solves the "business use" problem. If you use gear professionally — selling beats, taking paid sessions, licensing music — homeowner's and renter's policies typically exclude the claim entirely. Scheduled music equipment insurance is commercial coverage and has no business use exclusion.
Premiums for music equipment insurance are typically 1.5%–3% of the insured value annually. A $30,000 gear list runs $450–$900/year. A producer with $100,000 in scheduled gear pays roughly $1,500–$3,000/year — a fraction of what a single theft or flood loss would cost.