Unfortunately, car insurance for musicians seems to continue to rise, year on year. There are various factors that will affect the premium insurance companies will quote you, from your age, where you live and the type of car you drive – the price will fluctuate drastically.
Unfortunately, in this case, the primary factor working against you is your occupation. In the eyes of most mainstream insurers, musicians are irresponsible and risky to insure.
Whilst this may be true for some, the nature of the occupation means cars are often left outside squalid music venues waiting to be vandalised or tend to accumulate hundreds of miles on tour.
This is unsatisfactory to a company who prefers its customers to be suburban families, complete with a white picket fence and a ‘safe’ occupation.
The fact of the matter is that, if you’re anyway involved in the entertainment industry, most insurance companies are going to consider you a greater risk and therefore demand a higher insurance premium.
So, considering that many musicians earn around £20,000 per year, how do musicians go about getting their vehicles insured at an affordable premium?
1. Keep a clean driving license
The easiest way to keep your premiums low, no matter what your situation, is to keep your driving license clean.
This means not taking any chances by speeding on the way to gigs, or risking getting into accidents. It sounds obvious, but being really careful on the road can save you a tone of money in the long term.
2. Don’t insure for the miles you don’t drive
When trying to work out your average distance on work trips, it’s important to remember factors like communal travel.
Do you occasionally share a trip in someone else’s vehicle? Do you usually only commute part of the way, and then hop on a tour bus or into the band van? Be realistic about the amount of miles you drive.
3. Build up your no claims discount
Similarly to point one, insurance companies love people with history of not claiming on their insurance. If for any reason you do have an incident, and there is a way to resolve it while retaining your no claims bonus, you’d be smart to investigate all the options.
4. Shop around
A good rule for purchasing any type of insurance is to get a variety of quotes before committing to one company. You may even be able to drive down another companies’ quote by producing a cheaper one from a competitor – even if the company doesn’t advertise itself as beating quotes.
5. Look at companies that aren’t on comparison sites
Companies like Direct Line are not on comparison sites and so it would be a good idea to look up companies like them, so as not to accidentally exclude any good quotes.
6. Increase your excess
If your finances are relatively stable and you have enough cash on hand, then increasing your excess can be a great way to bring your overall quote down.
7. Spread your risk by naming another driver onto the policy
If your partner has a clean driving license, or you have a friend that you trust, you could bring the risk down by naming them on to your policy.
8. If you work in music education, list your profession as a music teacher
It’s worth remembering that the occupation “musician” usually carries one of the highest premiums around. The reasons for this are largely rumoured to be based on outdated stereotypes and a lack of understanding of the profession, but could, of course, be backed up by some factual statistics that aren’t widely public.
Listing your profession as a music teacher, if you work in music education, could significantly reduce your premiums, but it is important not to do this disingenuously if you don’t teach in any capacity.
9. Use specialist insurers
A good way to begin your quest is by seeking a quote from various specialist insurers, aimed at both amateur and professional musicians who wish to insure their vehicle.
What’s more, just because the insurer is a ‘specialist’ it does not mean they are offering a lesser deal. In fact, it is often the case the customers are offered bespoke contracts better suited to their needs than a mainstream insurer could offer.
Similar to other insurers, musicians applying for car insurance will still be able to benefit from various add on features including protected no-claims bonus and an added breakdown cover for an extra cost.
Some insurers also have specialist schemes for drivers with convictions.
Many companies will automatically renew a vehicle’s policy before it runs out, often via direct debit.
Musicians need to be careful of this, as it is often the case that the premium will have increased to a far higher amount than if you shop around and find the best deal.
Just like with musical instrument insurance, with car insurance for musicians it’s important to play insurers off against each other as they are likely to reduce their premiums even further.
10. Look at what other the professionals do
Speak to your fellow musicians and work out what solutions they have found. We asked the Last Minute Musicians community how they organised their car insurance and what premiums they paid, session musician Ian Hendry suggests:
Musicians should describe their occupation as music teacher to bring down the premium.
Ian Hendry
What type of car insurance do you use? Feel free to share information below in the comments section!
