Insurance when touring: instruments, gear and liability

Instruments and gear are a band's tools – and often its most valuable property. One dropped guitar, a stolen van or a soaked mixer can sink a tour's finances. Yet insurance is the thing that typically slips to the last minute, or gets left undone.

The most common surprise: a standard home contents policy may not cover an instrument at a gig, because professional and income-earning use is often excluded. And unlike many assume, an ATA carnet and an A1 certificate are not insurance – they're customs and social-security papers. This guide covers the insurance a touring band needs, and what to check in your own policy (the details and amounts vary by insurer). The principles are the same across Europe, but insurance is national – buy your cover from an insurer in your own country.

A home contents policy covers instruments as part of household contents – but income-earning use (gigging for money) is typically excluded or capped at a low maximum. If you play gigs for money, an expensive instrument may effectively be uninsured even though the home policy is in force. That's when you need separate instrument or equipment insurance.

Check the basis of compensation too: is a loss paid at replacement value (a new equivalent) or at depreciated value, with a deduction for age? For an old amp or mixer, age depreciation can cut the payout to a fraction – worth knowing before a loss, not after.

A tour's insurance usually comes from these – they cover different things, so one doesn't replace another:

• Instrument and equipment insurance (property cover, often "all risk"): covers breakage, theft and loss. A good policy is valid worldwide and in transit – check the geographical scope.
• Liability insurance (operational liability): covers damage the band causes to third parties – for example the venue's property or the audience. It's not mandatory, but a venue or promoter may require proof of it before the show. Ask the organiser.
• Travel insurance: covers people (illness, accident on the trip), not gear. Important especially for gigs abroad.
• Cancellation and event insurance: covers the financial losses of a cancellation, but is aimed primarily at the event organiser – relevant to a performing band mainly if you put on the show yourself.

Policy terms vary by insurer, so don't assume – check these in your own policy before the tour:

• Professional / income use: does the policy cover instruments when you gig for money, and up to what amount?
• Transit: does it cover the gear in a vehicle and in freight, not just at home?
• Theft from a vehicle: is theft from a locked vehicle covered, and on what conditions (e.g. visible signs of break-in, gear out of sight)? This is a common gap.
• Cover abroad: is the policy valid abroad, and is there a time limit?
• Basis of compensation: replacement value or depreciated value with age deductions?
• Excess and valuables sub-limit: an expensive instrument may exceed a special limit and need to be insured separately.

This is often confused: an ATA carnet is a customs document for taking gear temporarily outside the EU (it's a security for customs duties, not property insurance). An A1 certificate proves you stay in your home country's social security abroad. Neither covers a broken or stolen instrument – you need separate equipment insurance for that. See touring paperwork and ATA carnet and CITES.

Don't rely on a home policy to cover gig gear – income use is often excluded. Get separate instrument/equipment insurance (ideally worldwide and covering transit), find out whether you need liability cover, and take travel insurance for people on gigs abroad. Check the basis of compensation, the excess and the cover abroad in your own policy. And remember: a carnet and an A1 are not insurance.

In KIERTUE you can attach insurance details and a gear list to a show, so they're available to the whole band if something goes wrong.