Heritage Insurance for Guitar Shipping

[Doug B]

FYI:

Just found out from Heritage Insurance that they will NOT insure against damages while shipping and delivery?

[omphalopsychos]

I think it depends on your plan. Mine does cover it and I have heard the same from others. Talk to your rep and find out the qualifying criteria / premium upcharges.

[Doug B]

I think it depends on your plan. Mine does cover it and I have heard the same from others. Talk to your rep and find out the qualifying criteria / premium upcharges.

I don't have a Heritage plan yet. All I know is what I was told by a Heritage VP.
Would be curious about your plan, if you don't mind.
Thanks

Doug

[QAman]

Doug B - I suggest you contact Gina Bianchi or Robin Riotto (1-800-289-8837) at Heritage for more specific information on the coverage you are seeking. My Heritage policy covers shipment, theft , depreciation and other unexpected incidents of loss. In fact, one important covered feature, is if your guitar falls off a stand in your home, gets damaged and then repaired, you are reimbursed the depreciated value for such incident. The cost of an insurance policy ( to cover several instruments) is relatively inexpensive and worth considering. A friend of mine recently shipped a guitar to Europe and the side of the guitar was seriously cracked . Heritage covered the incident in an expeditious manner - and thus the reason many of us choose Heritage as our Insurance provider.

[Doug B]

Thanks, guys. The person I emailed was Joan A. Gallo, VP. Thanks also for the contact names.

Cheers

Doug

[Doug B]

The cost of an insurance policy ( to cover several instruments) is relatively inexpensive and worth considering.

In round figures, what would that cost be? Can you please give me an estimate?

Thanks

Doug

[omphalopsychos]

In round figures, what would that cost be? Can you please give me an estimate?

Thanks

Doug

This is from my rough memory but I think my premium is something like 0.3% of the total value of the insured instruments, which I think is still worth it. Hopefully Steve will let me know if I'm getting ripped off since he seems better connected.

[QAman]

This is from my rough memory but I think my premium is something like 0.3% of the total value of the insured instruments, which I think is still worth it. Hopefully Steve will let me know if I'm getting ripped off since he seems better connected.

Right on the money Juan. Im paying .31% annually on my valuation, which is a relatively small amount to pay for such comprehensive coverage. Initially, I purchased a basic policy - then amended that over time.

For anyone looking to purchase this insurance - just call Ellis, Robin or Gina
and they will provide the details. When I was shopping out musical instrument insurance - Heritage was at the top of the list.

They confirm additions, or subtraction within a few hours of an email.

I'm quite pleased with the customer service.

[Danny W.]

I think they have a $250 minimum annual premium. They’ve covered several shipping damage claims for me.

Danny W.

[omphalopsychos]

From an experience perspective, I'll totally corroborate the other anecdotes shared here.

I've never had to make a claim but it is so freaking easy to add a new instrument to the policy. If I buy something, I just fwd the receipt email to Heritage and ask them to add it to the policy. They usually respond in a couple of hours before it's even been shipped. Not only does this reduce the stress from the fear of shipping damage, it has also saved me costs in the past working with smaller retailers. For example, one shop quoted me $350 to ship a guitar. Thanks to Heritage I was able to insure the shipment through them and brought the shipping cost down to $90. So even if you don't need to make a claim, the policy really does pay for itself by offsetting shipping costs insured through UPS or Fedex.