In all likelihood, yes—an instrument for personal use will typically be covered by the contents coverage portion of your homeowners policy. It is one of your personal belongings, so it has the same coverage afforded to all the other belongings in your home. There are a few caveats that are important to be aware of, though.

Suppose you are a music professional or semi-professional musician and use your instrument to make money. In that case, it will likely not be adequately covered (or covered at all) by your home insurance—you need a commercial musical instrument insurance policy separate from your homeowners insurance.

The most common type of home insurance is a comprehensive coverage policy, which means all your items are covered except those expressly excluded from the policy. But if you have a broad-form policy, it works oppositely—everything is excluded except the items specifically included on the policy. In that case, your musical instrument insurance is likely not included and would have to be scheduled.

Suppose you have a comprehensive policy, and your instrument falls somewhere in the value range of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. You don't need to worry about having it appraised and scheduled explicitly on your policy. But high-value instruments, similar to coverage for other high-value items, like jewellery insurance, should be appraised and scheduled to ensure you receive their total replacement value from your insurance provider. People sometimes assume that if their overall coverage limit is more than the cost of their high-value items, there's no need to worry, but that's not necessarily the case. If your house and belongings were destroyed in a catastrophic fire, you might have $200,000 worth of personal property coverage to replace your belongings. But if it costs you $70,000 to replace an expensive instrument such as a vintage guitar, that only leaves $130,000 for everything else—and since that's likely not going to be adequate, you would find yourself underinsured.

If you need help determining whether you have the musical instrument insurance protection to prevent financial loss should your instrument be damaged or destroyed, the best course of action is to call and speak with your experienced broker at Morison Insurance. One task they may advise you to complete is a home inventory list. This will allow our expert brokers to see each critical item and its current value. They can review your current coverage and ensure you have exactly what you need or recommend options to ensure you have the full, comprehensive musical instrument insurance necessary for total peace of mind. 

That depends on your insurance carrier, but for the most part, insurance companies don't tend to include particular limits for Ontario musical instrument insurance on their comprehensive home insurance policies. That means you don't have to worry that only a portion of your overall contents insurance limits will be applicable to replacing or repairing your musical instrument.

Your recording studio should be covered under your homeowners' insurance policy as long as your recording studio is for your personal use, not for commercial purposes. For example, suppose you rent or use your studio or pieces of equipment to make money. It is considered a commercial studio, and you would need a commercial insurance policy for adequate coverage.