Appraisal for Insurance

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 11/10/99 10:27:23 PM !!!First Boot!!!, Pianogreig@AOL.COM 
writes:

<< When preparing an appraisal for insurance purposes, is the appraised value 
to 
 be the market resale value for the instrument in it's present condition or 
 for replacement with
 the same brand or one of equal value?   And does "sentiment" figure in at 
all?
 
 The case in point: my client has her mother's piano which she is now passing 
 on to her daughter - a very good 6 foot Weber from 1920 in excellent 
 condition (restrung, with refurbished action/hammers, etc.).  A new Weber 
 would not equal the quality of this piano, but to replace it with one of 
 equal quality would cost far more than it would bring on the used market.  
 
 Any experienced appraisers out there?  Thanks.
 
 Bruce Greig, RPT, NYC
  >>

I do both. I appraise the piano in it's current condition, based on what the 
piano might realistically bring on the open market. If you have the Ancott 
book, you can look up what a comparable new piano is worth. If you don't 
think the current model is of the same quality as the older model, then 
choose a piano that you think might better fit the quality. However, an 
insurance company might balk at that. They won't know the difference. All 
they know is that it is a Weber, and a new Weber is $XXXX. Never mind that 
the old Weber was of the same quality as a Baldwin. 

One more thing about the replacement value. The customer can only get a new 
piano for their old piano if they have replacement value insurance, and if 
they have the piano listed as a separate item. 

Willem Blees