I’ve had a home
studio for a few years now that I use mainly for my own projects and
some commissioned work. I’m occasionally asked to record people and am
usually paid a small fee for doing so, though it doesn’t form a large
part of my business. My equipment is insured in the usual way, but do
I need to worry about any other factors, such as public liability, when
insuring my studio?
If
you earn any money at all from your home studio, it’s important to read
the small print of your insurance policy, and inform your provider if
necessary. Business activities on any scale could invalidate your
insurance, whether or not a claim is related to your studio work. It may
be that taking out specialist cover is the most sensible option,
particularly when you consider the potential costs of public liability
claims.
Owen Morrison, via email
SOS
contributor Mike Senior replies:
If your gear is already insured, the
main question when recording other people in your home is one of public
liability. In other words, if the artist trips over their stompbox and
impales themselves messily on your lava lamp, will you be covered when
their relatives sue for compensation? If you were recording entirely as
a hobby, then you’d probably be covered in such situations under your
normal household insurance policy, although (as with anything relating
to insurance) this is something that you need to check in the policy
particulars to be absolutely sure of. However, the fact that you’re
making some money from your recording, albeit small, may disqualify your
studio activities from this domestic public liability cover, in which
case you might feel you need an additional professional public liability
policy. It may be that you can negotiate a certain degree of wiggle
room with your domestic insurance provider, though, so it might be worth
giving them a ring to confirm exactly what is and isn’t covered in this
respect, and how much you are able to earn from your studio work while
still qualifying for cover under a domestic policy.
If
you’ve insured your gear with a specialist music technology insurer,
you may find that you already have professional public liability cover
built into this insurance, and that’s all well and good, if so. If not,
then you have to make a judgement call as to whether the risk of
a compensation claim is high enough to warrant the yearly cost of
dedicated public liability cover. It’s not illegal to do studio work
without public liability insurance, but unless you know your clients
very well, it’s probably a bit of a foolhardy economy given the
litigious times in which we live.
Adrian Scott,
head of Musicguard, adds: If you use your home for business purposes,
however infrequently, you’ll almost certainly need to let your home
insurer know to ensure your cover isn’t affected. Most standard home
insurance policy wordings specifically exclude business equipment (other
than for clerical purposes) from their contents cover, which would
include your music equipment. Worryingly, you may find other aspects of
your insurance are invalidated simply by running a business from home
unless you get their acceptance regardless of how you choose to insure
your equipment. An extreme example may be that if the equipment you were
using causes a fire due to some form of electrical failure. In this
example your insurer may refuse to pay out a claim as the incident
occurred due to business activities that they had not been made aware
of. Insurers usually state quite clearly that you must inform them if
your home is used for business purposes, and may reduce, or even turn
down, a claim payout if they feel you haven’t been open with them.
As
Mike stated, a specialist music insurance policy will cover your gear
whether you’re using it for business or pleasure, giving you the breadth
of cover you’d expect, such as theft, accidental damage, loss or
mechanical/electrical breakdown, and will almost certainly come with
public liability included, or at least be an option. Just make sure that
the money you’re already spending on insurance to protect your home and
other possessions isn’t wasted because you’ve fallen foul of their
small print.
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