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Have you ever had that sinking feeling when you realized your favorite viola or bow had met an untimely fate?  Have you ever had a friend tell you that he or she had accidentally backed over their instrument with a car?

With the briefest mental lapse, musicians can place the key tools of their trade in jeopardy and perhaps suffer substantial financial losses as well.  Accidents happen in a split second.  Many could perhaps have been avoided. For those that cannot be, it is important to be properly insured. This article will discuss habits to keep your viola protected, as well as what to consider when shopping for insurance coverage.

Based on more than thirty years in the business and having seen a wide range of bizarre accidents, here are some of my cardinal rules that should help avoid discussing a claim with your insurance agent. Most importantly, avoid thinking that accidents can’t happen to you!

• Never leave your viola on any chair or seat where it can be knocked off or squashed.  Players in professional orchestras assume their colleagues are careful.  However, the instrument is exposed and can be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

• Never hang a bow on the music stand or place it on the lip of the stand.

• When you put the instrument in its case, secure it by closing the case and locking or zipping it.  Many a player has picked up a case that wasn’t completely closed and had the instrument fall to the floor.  Broken necks are both painful and expensive!

• Keep your case closed when you have cats that find your case to be a comfortable bed.

•   Never put your case on the ground behind a car.

• Never leave your instrument on the curb and drive off or leave it in a taxicab. Maintain physical contact with your instrument case when traveling.   It took the Chicago Symphony a number of years to recover a viola left on the curb.  The world renowned violinist in New York who left his Strad in a taxi cab was extremely lucky to get it back.


• Do not place your instrument in the trunk of a car.  It will become airborne in a sudden stop, with potentially disastrous consequences.  If the weather is cold, the wood could crack and if it is hot, the glue and/or the varnish could soften.  I have seen several instruments requiring surgical removal from their cases because the soft varnish adhered to the velvet lining.

Air travel with a viola presents a unique situation:

• Avoid checking any instrument of value as luggage on an aircraft.  Tell the ticket agents the viola is a violin, which is specifically listed as a legitimate carry-on.  Ticket agents do not necessarily know what a viola is.

• When traveling on a long plane trip with your instrument, it is a good idea to lower the string tension slightly. The dry, pressurized cabin can tighten the strings, which in turn exerts more tension on the top of the viola.

• Check the length of the horsehair on your bow before you fly and loosen the hair as much as you can.  Aircraft cabins are very dry and will cause the hair to shrink.  Under extreme conditions, the shortened hair could snap off the head.

Even when the instrument is around its case, there are several important ways to protect the viola and bow:

• Never leave the head of a bow sticking out the end of the case. If the case closes accidentally, the stick might be decapitated. Never leave your instrument with a shoulder pad attached in an open case. If the case shuts, it could crush the bridge and put the sound post right through the top.

• Always secure the bow in the case. When putting the bow in its holder, always lock the bow spinner.  It is amazing how much varnish damage can be done by a loose bow in the case.

• Always use the Velcro locks or leather straps to restrain the instrument. An instrument which can move, can also hit the bow spinners.  A good pop with a bow spinner can crack the top.

Be aware of safety features when selecting your case.  Make sure your viola fits properly and cannot move around.  If you live in cold climates, pay attention to how well the case insulates the viola.  Pay particular attention to the amount of cushioning on the sides as the case gets carried with the instrument on its side and generally set down the same way.  Side cushions are certainly as important as suspension features.

Don’t leave your instrument in a parked car even if it is locked.  A couple of well-known violin dealers left some very expensive instruments in a parked car at the Los Angeles airport only to find they were gone fifteen minutes later.  Some insurance companies will cover a loss if the car is locked, some will not.

Having been in the business for more than thirty years, few accidents surprise me any longer. The following are among the more bizarre (and avoidable) claims I have encountered:

• A high school orchestra in Michigan was rehearsing when the fire alarm went off.  The players were instructed to leave their instruments on the chairs and exit the building immediately.  Never mind that the instruments would have been incinerated in a fire- when the orchestra returned to the rehearsal room, two of the instruments had vanished.

• A well-known New York violinist was in a hurry—late for a gig.  Oops, he forgot something in the house. Absentmindedly, he set the violin behind the car.  It was a rather helpless feeling to hear the crack of the case and the instrument as he backed up.  As he searched for another instrument, his colleagues would often ask him if he had “run across any nice instruments lately.”

“Instrument ‘finishing’ courtesy of German Shepherd puppy.
Photo by Eric Chapman.

• Bear, my large Samoyed sled dog, is a superb judge of quality viola sound.  When he rolls on his back with all four paws in the air, his vote has been cast for his preferred tone.  If your dog is not quite as astute and has eaten your homework or shown other vindictive tendencies, keep your viola out of reach.  In my practice room is a “wall of shame” filled with quality instrument accidents.  What is left of one instrument is only the treble side with the post still standing, kindness of a hungry German Shepherd puppy.  It never occurred to the player that the dog might mistake the instrument for a rawhide bone!

• Once in a while, an accident is totally independent of its owner or player. A number of years ago, I received a call from an administrator at the Met Opera—accident—appraisal needed.  This one involved a cello packed in a shipping crate.  As the Met orchestra had just concluded a tour, the crates were being moved for unpacking.  The moral of the story—if you happen to be an operator of heavy machinery, don’t drop a shipping crate off a forklift!  The instrument had been split the entire length of both the top and back.

Good insurance coverage is essential. Choices abound, but the fine print, especially “exclusions” need to be examined carefully.  Keep in mind that policies are only as good as the way the company handles claims.

With instruments and bows of value, it is prudent to insure with a company that specializes in musical instruments.  If you play with a major symphony, the orchestra will have its own carrier at rates generally more favorable than with individual policies.

The greatest risk to owners, in my experience, is the way insurance companies cover “loss of value.” Most claims involve damage and more damage claims involve bows rather than instruments.  While many believe that theft is the greatest risk, the “stolen goods” category is actually a small segment of insurance claims.

“Loss of value” means the decrease in value of an item due to damage.  If, for example, you paid $20,000 for a Sartory bow and then broke the head, the loss of value is 70% or $14,000.  You will also have the cost of a spline or other restoration.  If your bow was properly insured, your 70% loss of value will be paid to you.  The caution with homeowner’s policies, as opposed to policies with insurance companies specializing in instruments, is that the loss of value- in this case, $14,000- is often not covered leaving the owner on his own except for the cost of the repair.

Another common exclusion often found in homeowner policies is “professional use,” which insurance companies generally interpret as accepting any money for performances.  If, for example, you were paid $100 for a wedding gig and it was the only time you ever got paid for playing, the insurance company would have an “out “for any future claims and you could be out of luck.

Beware of other exclusions in homeowner policies, such as damage from floods.  Many policies in California exclude earthquake damage.  It is best to have all-risk, worldwide coverage.

Be extremely careful if you are inclined to loan a valuable instrument to another player.  The key issue very often is what is termed “gross negligence.” Here is a perfect case in point:  A number of years ago, a very well known quartet violinist had borrowed a Strad for some concerts.  Having played a concert in a series on Nantucket Island, he went to his house, closed the door, put the instrument on the kitchen table and went to bed.  When he came downstairs in the morning, the Strad was gone.  What had he not done right in the eyes of the insurance company?  Exercise due diligence and lock the door!   That omission was deemed “gross negligence” and the company was not planning to pay any claim to the user who did not have insurance of his own on the instrument.  The insurance company would, in a case like this, pay the owner and then sue the user to recover the funds. Fortunately for all concerned in this particular situation, the Strad appeared in a Nantucket ferry boat locker several weeks later and a very difficult situation was avoided.

The best ways to prevent disaster include securing your instrument and bow at all times, make certain that it is comfortable (if the environment is comfortable for you, then it is fine for your instrument), and be aware of its whereabouts at all times.

Take great care, and do not take anything for granted.  Accidents can happen to you!

---A founder and current Board member of the Violin Society of America, Eric Chapman owns Eric Chapman Violins, Inc. in Chicago and serves as Vice President of the Chicago School of Violin Making. He has been commended for distinguished service by both the AVS and the VSA.