Insuring audio equipment

A few notes and recommendations from my experience

Firstly, as noted LPs and other media are not usually covered under most household policies -- a specialist such as Collectibles Insurance can cover them very reasonably and is well worth considering

Secondly while the system itself is likely covered many of you may have a contents policy linked to your house value (say a $300K contents on a $600K house for example) -- if you have a megabuck system it's quite possible you have insufficient insurance, so do check the numbers and if necessary increase the amount of the contents

" I'm thinking of getting an insurance rider on my audio equipment, some of it more vintage. "

It may be nothing, but a rider is a term that is usually used by life and health insurance agents. P&C agents usually use the term endorsement instead. Given that, you may not be talking to the most qualified agent in your insurance office. Keep in mind, I'm just guessing and there may be no cause for concern at all.

If you get an endorsement for you home owners policy, remember that they will only go by what's in print. If its not clearly written in black and white, assume you're not covered. Also consider that some types of claims may not be covered under a standard policy, like wind and water damage. If you're a renter, the rules may be different than they would be for an owner, so just be aware of all the details. 

And as is always the case, no matter what the circumstances are, no insurance company wants to pay claims. Unfortunately, most companies will still try and negotiate settlement, even if the cause and cost of the loss is perfectly clear. You want to try and use a company that will fight you the least. 

If that's the case I'd talk to a high end store and see if they won't write up an estimate (for a fee). I'd also take pictures of all equipment for your records along with the serial numbers.
There are also several websites that have a history of vintage audio equipment, etc, they might also be helpful.

High end insurance companies will do this as a matter of course, e.g. Chubb, Ace (which bought Chubb). I originally insured my hi-fi under a blanket collectibles plan. It is now scheduled by item and retail/replacement value. I have also insured my record collection- easiest way is a blanket, based on an apportionment of value, e.g. X copies at Y dollars, Z copies at A dollars, etc. I have also done a pretty good job of creating a schedule of records, more detailed for the high value records and I do have photos of most of the high value ones. The difficulty, of course, is replacement of a rare older record that is in a high grade of playing condition. So, even assuming that you are insured, and can prove a loss, you are still not going to have an easy time replacing some records. It is something that gives me nightmares some times, but at some point, I have to put this into perspective--my aim is to enjoy these things while I’m still alive. Once I’m gone, this collection, such that it is, will get broken up and sold to others. I’m just a caretaker.

For inventorying and valuing your LPs I strongly recommend using the Discogs app -- it actually makes the process rather fun and also draws you into the broader Discogs community. Better for rock than classical but excels at parsing the differences between pressings and how that links to value. My insurer told me that a Discogs inventory plus current photographs of the aggregate collection would be sufficient for proof in case of loss

ps being an add on insurer Collectible even threw in coverage for earthquakes, as you all know that's a (cost prohibitive usually) extra for those of us on the West Coast for most of our other insurance needs