Lúnasa theft in New Zealand

[djm]

Any insurance company will get the police case number, which contains the details of the theft, so there's no way they would not know you were playing professionally, and that the theft occurred not in your home, but at a professional venue. You would not be covered under a home policy.

Professional musicians get ripped off all the time, or claim to, so the insurance policies for them are not cheap (high risk). I guess you have to find a balance if you're playing professionally, to determine whether your instruments really have enough value to justify the higher rates.

djm

[glauber]

Here's the link for the insurance available to members of the NFA by Clarion:
http://www.nfaonline.org/resInsurance.asp
It looks pretty good to me, has anyone here had bad experiences with them?

(Note: somebody just emailed me and let me know that Clarion now has a higher deductible ($1000) for instruments stolen from the stage, or you can pay a higher premium and keep a low deductible. I'll get in touch with them and get the details, eventually...)

[sturob]

Clarion! That's the name, now I remember.

Also, right, DJM, that would be the easy way for them to find out about the theft. DOH!

I have thought about contacting Clarion to ask them about insurance. I just have no idea what it would cost, and the last time I tried (which was several months ago) their online system didn't work to request a quote, and I was too lazy to call, blah blah blah. As it stands right now, I only carry riders for two instruments (the Rudall and an 18th-cen. set of pipes), but I probably should get the lot of them covered.

I wonder if they'd discount more than one instrument. Heh heh heh.

Stuart

[glauber]

Are you a member of the NFA, Stuart? (It's kinda of like an NRA for flutes ). It may be worth it getting a membership for the isurance rates. The insurance is not just for flutes, but any instruments.

[RudallRose]

>>Hey Dave, didn't you once say all things Rudall find their way home eventually? I'm paraphrasing terribly, but what do you think the chances are of this flute being recovered?<<

I was actually referencing "home" as the Rudall/Rose Catalogue. Sooner or later, they come home to be listed.
Anyway.....twisting the phrase some......I would think the chances are excellent....if there are some distinguishing marks or identifiers.
Plus....it's New Zealand. Not like it's not a huge country.

Then again.....Molloy's stolen Olwell has yet to be recovered, hasn't it?

I would think with everyone on the lookout, such a sale would have to be quite surreptitious. And wouldn't you fear playing it out?

Should be good news on the horizon for Kevin, I trust.

...
regarding insurance, I asked my agent/carrier about paying gigs and such.....not a problem as long as it's not my profession full time (which it is not).
So, my policy covers theft even if it is a paying gig.

Where insurance gets weird is the documentation needed to value the instrument. For newly-made flutes, not so tough. For vintage flutes, much more difficult.

dm

[johnkerr]

Anyway.....twisting the phrase some......I would think the chances are excellent....if there are some distinguishing marks or identifiers.
Plus....it's New Zealand. Not like it's not a huge country.

Then again.....Molloy's stolen Olwell has yet to be recovered, hasn't it?

I would think with everyone on the lookout, such a sale would have to be quite surreptitious. And wouldn't you fear playing it out?

Should be good news on the horizon for Kevin, I trust.

Assuming of course that the thief actually knows what (s)he's got. Could be that they just did a quick and general ransacking of the dressing room, grabbing bags and such. If Kevin was out on stage at the time of the theft, it's likely that the new flute was all packed up and stuffed in a bag of some sort. If that's the case, the thief might open the bag, see the flute and not realize what it's worth. (Although from the description I've seen, it does sound rather impressive, and surely it still looks brand spanking new.) Then, in a worst case scenario, the thief might just dump it for whatever (s)he can get at a pawnshop or somesuch, where again it might not be recognized for what it is and never come to the attention of the serious flute community.

Let's hope that and other equally bleak scenarios don't take place, though, and Kevin gets his flute back! I'm due to see him when Lunasa hits here for a gig next weekend, and I doubt he'll be his normal effervescent self with this hanging over his head. He'll probably still be working through the seven stages of grief. What a senseless loss...

[glauber]

Assuming of course that the thief actually knows what (s)he's got. Could be that they just did a quick and general ransacking of the dressing room, grabbing bags and such..

I think that's most likely what happened. I think the main hope now is that the thief either abandons the stuff somewhere and it's found, or dumps it in a pawn shop and somebody recognizes it.

[AaronMalcomb]

You never know what folks are going to do with a stolen instrument. They could pawn it, fence it, or toss it.
Last year some folks were staying in dorms at Glasgow Univeristy in Scotland while competing at the World Pipe Band Championships. Their room was broken into and their bagpipes were lifted. They searched the premises and found the bagpipes stashed on the roof.
So Mr. Crawford could, with help, keep an eye on the pawn shop activity and scour the venue to see if perhaps they were stashed somewhere.

Cheers,
Aaron

[RudallRose]

a great thought!

and at worst, he'll have to remain in New Zealand for a couple months.

I could think of worse things!

dm

[LadyDi]

Well, all this craziness didn't stop them from playing a great set of gigs at the Potomac Celtic Festival this past weekend! They were unstoppable, even in the face of utter chaos!

By the way, hi everyone, I'm new to the message forum - first post!

Diana

[Cathy Wilde]

Welcome, Lady Di!