Do you have five minutes to finally understand insurance?
Life comes at you in double-time when you’re trying to keep up with students and events. In the daily scramble, it’s easy to rush straight past the most important protection for harpists and harp teachers: insurance.
Want to know why a harpist would need insurance and how it works? This prestissimo primer outlines why protecting your teaching or performing is important and which liability insurance coverages harpists need for the real (and sometimes surprising) risks you face.
What Is Liability Insurance for Harpists?
Harpist insurance is a financial safety net for harp performers and teachers. It’s designed to cover your costs if you or your business gets sued or has to pay for harm done to others because of your teaching or performing.
When a student slips in your studio, an event guest trips over your harp case, or one of a thousand accidents wriggles through your careful planning, insurance for harpists can help you through it by paying for repairs, medical bills, lawyer fees, settlement costs, and more.
Do Harpists and Harp Teachers Need Insurance?
Yes! Liability insurance is a must for performing harpists and harp teachers in more ways than one:
1: Liability insurance pegs you as a serious professional.
Venues and clients want to work with seasoned harpists who know their risks and have a plan in place. Being insured makes you stand out from less prepared performers and teachers.
2: Venues or clients may require proof of insurance to book you.
Venues often insist you present a certificate of insurance (or COI) before they contract with you, because they’ve seen enough accidents to know liability insurance is necessary. Insurance gives you more freedom to book the gigs and teach in the settings that you want.
3: Even an accident can end in a lawsuit.
Liability insurance shields you from being on the hook financially for common mishaps musicians and music teachers face, like injuries and property damage.
At Insurance Canopy, our average request for payment (also called a claim) from performer policyholders is about $2,480. Our most expensive claims from musicians cost over $10,000, and the median cost of a personal injury lawsuit nationwide is about $31,000.
That’s a lot of gigs and harp lessons!
Image provided by American Harp Society
If I’m Not Required to Get Liability Insurance, Can I Skip It?
Even if liability insurance isn’t required to work with your preferred venues or clients, most harpists can’t afford to teach or perform safely without it.
Myth: If I’m careful and professional, I don’t have to worry about getting sued.
Reality: Small businesses are more likely to get sued in the U.S. than almost any other country. 90% of businesses in the U.S. experience a lawsuit at some point in the business’ lifetime.
(Note: Many harpists don’t think about their gigs or lessons as a business, but you have the same risks. Because you’re providing a professional service for payment, others will view you as a business regardless of whether you did the extra paperwork.)
Playing or teaching without liability insurance is taking a gamble when the odds aren’t in your favor. Even careful professionals can make a mistake or get sued for something that wasn’t their fault.
What Does Liability Insurance for Harpists Cover?
Music Teacher Insurance and Performer Insurance from Insurance Canopy covers harm to others caused by your business, but each is tuned to handle slightly different legal risks.
Harpists who work with students need Music Teacher Insurance. This policy also covers teachers for their personal gigs and performances as long as their main source of income is teaching.
Performers who deal with events and venues need Performer Insurance. (We also call this coverage Musician Insurance.)
Like all the sections of an orchestra contribute to a full sound, each of these policies bundles multiple types of coverage to protect you from all angles. These are the most important insurance coverages for performing harpists and harp teachers:
General Liability
General liability coverage is designed to pay for bodily injury and property damage your business causes to someone else. Interacting with students, audiences, and venues puts you at risk for accidents, so general liability protection comes with both our Performer and Music Teacher Insurance.
How It Covers Music Teachers
Miranda holds her student recital at a local church. During rehearsal, students messing around accidentally knock over some of the church’s sound equipment backstage. General liability steps in to cover the church’s property damage.
How It Covers Performers
While navigating a crowded wedding reception with her harp, Tabitha accidentally bangs it into a wall, leaving a hefty dent. The event hall serves her with a lawsuit to pay for repairs. General liability takes care of the bill.
Professional Liability
Professional liability coverage covers your teaching advice if something you do or fail to do harms a student. Professional liability is part of our Music Teacher policy because expert advice is the cornerstone of your business.
How It Covers Music Teachers
Brendan was sued when his young student fell off the stage and was injured during a recital practice. The suit alleged improper supervision and the student was awarded medical expenses and damages of $15,000. When accidents like these happen, Professional Liability can keep you from paying court costs out of pocket.
Products-Completed Operations
Products-completed operations coverage protects you against damage due to your completed lessons and performances. It also covers harm caused by products you use to teach or play. Performing in particular requires plenty of gear (and creates plenty of lawsuits), so this coverage comes with our Performer and Music Teacher policies.
How It Covers Performers and Performing Teachers
Cassandra amplifies her harp to carry across a crowded auditorium. A stage crewmember trips over her amp cord and sprains their ankle. When they sue her, products-completed operations can cover the bill.
Image provided by American Harp Society
Damage to Premises Rented to You
Damage to premises rented to you covers teaching, performance, and recording spaces you rent against fire damage, or any damage within the first seven days. It’s part of both our Performer and Music Teacher Insurance policies.
How It Covers Music Teachers
The wiring of Ana’s ancient laptop fails, starting a fire in her rented harp studio. Damage to premises rented to you handles the renovation costs.
How It Covers Performers
Jermaine rents a local event hall for a concert. During setup, a piece of heavy audio equipment falls and damages the wooden flooring. Damage to premises rented to you covers repairs.
Personal and Advertising Injury
Personal and advertising injury offers protection against advertising mistakes. Performing harpists and harp teachers need to promote their businesses, so our Performer and Music Teacher policies both include this coverage.
How It Covers Music Teachers
A local music teacher takes Maya to court, claiming she stole their business name, even though she didn’t even know their studio existed. Personal and advertising injury insurance can cover attorney and settlement fees.
How It Covers Performers
Taylor has a horrible experience contracting with a recording studio and posts a bad review. When the studio sues them for libel, personal and advertising injury can cover court costs.
Cyber Liability Insurance
Cyber liability insurance is an optional coverage you can add to annual Music Teacher or Performer Insurance policies for financial protection after a cyberattack. You’re legally responsible for safeguarding the personal info (like credit card or phone numbers) you collect from others, so coverage for legal expenses from a cyberattack is crucial.
How It Covers Music Teachers
Riannan clicks a link in a phishing email. Suddenly, her students’ credit card numbers are for sale online. Cyber liability helps her pay the court-mandated data recovery costs.
How It Covers Performers
Andreas stores venue info from past events on his work phone. When he gets hit with ransomware, the cybercriminal gets sensitive data from every venue he’s ever worked with. Cyber liability insurance handles the cost of the data breach lawsuits that follow.
Image provided by American Harp Society
Maintenance Protects Your Harp. Insurance Protects Your Business.
The delicate dance of tuning, cleaning, restringing, and regulating guards the investment and passion you’ve poured into your instrument. In the same way, liability insurance keeps your livelihood healthy, safe, and prepared to thrive over the long term.
Want to learn more about liability insurance for your performance or teaching? Visit the Insurance Canopy and AHS partnership page to claim your membership discount and keep tuning your risk-management knowledge.
