<HTML>In a message dated 10/29/01 6:09:07 AM Central Standard Time, mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">I know none of us are lawyers here (yes?), so perhaps there will be no definitive answer here. But it seems to me to be pretty far fetched for a piano owner to "force you to buy a whole new piano" in a case like this. I could certainly imagine an extreme situation where they claim that a tech ruined their action - the part they worked on. But if the tech did nothing to the case and belly, etc., but remove the action from it, how in the world could anyone make a claim for a whole new piano stick? I shudder to think............you don't have any direct experience with a case like this.............do you? Terry Farrell   </BLOCKQUOTE> I don't have any personal experience, Terry, but you hear horror stories. You bring a Starck grand action in your shop, a piano in good condition other than the action needs to be overhauled. (This is an art case, that has been in the family for 75 years.) For some reason the action is destroyed. You can't put in a new action, or even find a reconditioned one.  The customer has the right to ask for another piano, even a new one, of similar design, quality, etc. You should have insruance to pay for that piano. The customer's insurance company is not going to cover that. The insurance company might give the money to the customer to get another piano, but the insurance company will come after you to get their money back. However, the possibility of an actual loss is very slim. So I carry the insurance to cover me "just in case." But that is not the only reason I have insurance on the pianos in my shop. I have liability insurance not for the damages that MIGHT occur. I have insurance to pay the lawyer to defend me in case a customer decides to sue me for something I didn't do. You know how it is in the country. You're guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. It will cost you a lot of money to defend yourself. But if the insurance company has to pay, they will defend their interest, or at most, pay the settlement. Wim</HTML>