Should I get business insurance to offer Piano lessons?

by Guest » Tue Oct 22, 2013 05:38 am
Guest

My husband has started teaching piano lessons at our home with a couple of students. But I’m sure the numbers will swell up. I know this would be considered as a business and if any student does any damage to the piano, would our home insurance company pay? Or, do we need to get a business insurance policy? Where could I find a high deductible low premium business insurance that would help?

Total Comments: 7

Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 06:43 am Post Subject:

if any student does any damage to the piano, would our home insurance company pay?

Probably not, at least not without an endorsement to cover it. You can talk to your agent to see if your HO insurer will add a limited endorsement for "commercial property" -- but that could also trigger an endorsement excluding personal injury liability for any students on your property for lessons, in which case you would need a commercial liability policy.

do we need to get a business insurance policy? Where could I find a high deductible low premium business insurance that would help?

You could purchase a commercial package policy that includes coverage for both personal liability and property damage, but even with a high deductible, there is still going to be a minimum premium of several hundred dollars to make it worth the insurance company's time to underwrite the policy and pay commissions, so this is probably not a reasonable solution. You'd be looking at an annual premium of $500-$800, which is probably a lot more than you were thinking.

What kind of "damage" could a piano student do to a piano? Unless yours is a Steinway, I can't conceive of any damage running more than a couple of hundred dollars. Just have the parents of any juvenile student sign an "indemnity agreement" to reimburse you for 100% of any damage done to the piano -- that damage could be covered by their homeowner's insurance.

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 06:53 am Post Subject:

You could get a rider to your current homeowners policy. However, you might want to shop around to get the best rider that adds maximum value.

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 02:09 pm Post Subject:

the best rider that adds maximum value.

And what rider would that be Mr. I'm Not An Insurance Agent? If one has a homeowner's policy from company A, what other company's rider can be attached to it? Your solution makes no sense.

Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 09:10 pm Post Subject:

The reason for insurance is to help protect against unknown situations that could otherwise cause problems financially if something were to happen. The point behind your husband having insurance would be to protect him if a student were to hurt themselves in some manner. The truth is that you may not even need any insurance until the business grows enough that you have a large number of people coming and going on a regular basis. This can be a challenging question for many people starting a business. It can be challenging to be able to afford the insurance, but it can also be extremely unaffordable to need the insurance in the case of a situation where someone gets hurt.

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 02:58 pm Post Subject:

The truth is that you may not even need any insurance until the business grows enough that you have a large number of people coming and going on a regular basis.

Really? Sole proprietors put all of their personal assets on the line every day they conduct business without commercial liability insurance. Only a fool would listen to this advice.

All it takes is for one person -- perhaps the only student the fellow has -- to slip and fall on the walkway to the front door and break a leg, to trip on a throw rug in the piano room and break an arm, or have the top of the piano fall on the student's hand or head and cause an injury for the OP and her husband to discover that their homeowner's insurance provides exactly $0 coverage for business-related losses and their $1 million umbrella personal liability policy also provides the very same amount of protection . . . $0.

I'm sure no one wants to end up on the losing end of a personal injury claim, especially one like my son's father-in-law, who fell from a shoddy ladder supplied by his church for the volunteer work he was performing on their building in early 2001 and broke his leg (shattered the fibula is a better description). In the last 12-1/2 years, he has had no less than 32 surgeries and 45 hospitalizations, not to mention the loss of his leg due to improper healing and infections. Just 10 days ago, he had to be airlifted to Seattle for yet another hospitalization and surgery due to a PIC line that was improperly placed and blew out, causing him to nearly bleed to death. He has since had at least 7 units of blood replaced.

That is the experience of just one person. It doesn't take "a large number of people" to cause a multimillion dollar loss. Just one might be more than enough.

Anyone who operates any type of business without liability insurance runs the risk of 100% liability for another person's damages related to the conduct of the business. For as little as $400-$500 per year, a person can obtain $1 million or more in protection for the business.

$400 or $1,000,000? A or B? Should be a "no-brainer."

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 08:09 am Post Subject:

You should take small business loans for your piano classes, yes, if your student damages your stuff, then the insurance company is going to pay. You can use Property Insurance, Business owner’s policy (BOP), Commercial Auto Insurance, Worker’s Compensation.

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 03:05 pm Post Subject:

You should take small business loans for your piano classes,

Loans? Why? What does this have to do with insurance needs?

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