Taking Care of Your Musical Instrument

Whether you have flute insurance, clairnet insurance or a violin, guitar, trumpet or even an hurdy gurdy, its your instrument and you value it. Newmoon hope that the following advice will be of assistance

At the Concert or Gig

When out of the home at a gig, at lessons or at school, try and keep your instrument in its case or on a proper stand. Always return the instrument to its protective case when not being played – or at least when your set is over, or when you have finished practicing. If you are at a venue, keep your case in your sight: it might “walk” if not watched!

Don’t leave your musical instrument where it can be knocked or sat on either by people or animals. Don't leave musical instruments unattended especially in places where the public has free access. Unfortunately musical instruments are often stolen from music venues and educational establishments.

At home and general care

Try to store musical instruments in a place of even temperature. Humidity and extremes of temperature are not instrument friendly. Maybe consider using a humidifier.

Clean your musical instrument with care and where appropriate in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Take your musical instrument for an annual check-up with your dealer. Regular checks will maintain the quality and value of the instrument.

Have your musical instrument professionally valued from time to time, especially if it is particularly valuable or rare. Following the valuation, make sure you review your insurance policy to ensure your sums insured are up to date.

Keep instruments in a safe place when not being played. For higher value instruments consider keeping them in a secure lockable cabinet.

Is your home secure? We require you to use a five-lever mortice deadlocks and window locks at the very least but many householders now have the protection and peace of mind of a burglar alarm system.

When travelling

Keep your musical instrument with you when travelling and never let it out of your sight if travelling on a bus or train. People sometimes do inadvertently leave their often highly valuable instrument on a train or in a taxi.

If an instrument is lost this way it usually gets handed in and, even if it does go missing, it often turns up again later. But we know how distressing it is to lose something, and there have been some highly publicised cases recently of rare and irreplaceable instruments being absent mindedly left on public transport.

Never leave musical instruments on show in an unattended vehicle. Always place instruments in the boot and securely lock the vehicle. If the vehicle has an alarm, make sure it is set in operation. You can get cover for theft from an unattended vehicle with Newmoon, but you must show that you applied these precautions.