Car and Home Insurance for Musicians: New MU Partnership Gives Members Access to Specialist Cover

At this time when musicians are facing increasingly high costs, there is one essential requirement that is proving a big headache for musicians – insurance. Over the last decade the cost of car insurance in particular for working musicians has skyrocketed, with some insurance companies now refusing point blank to insure musicians.

Musicians are viewed as a high-risk group with strong potential for liability-related claims. The result is that many struggle to get insurance and those who do, could find themselves facing extortionate premiums.

In a proactive drive to remedy this imbalance, the MU has now created a bespoke insurance partnership with one of the UK’s leading insurance brokers, Howden, which includes exclusive benefits on car and home insurance for musicians and bands. This initiative looks set to improve access to robust and reasonably-priced insurance for MU members across their working lives.

Why musicians are perceived as high-risk

This new insurance partnership has been spearheaded by MU Assistant General Secretary Matt Wanstall. He says it has been created in direct response to members’ requests, particularly in relation to car insurance.

“For as long as I can remember members have been telling us that musicians face an uphill struggle to try and get competitive car insurance,” says Matt. “There have been Conference Motions in years gone by asking the MU to set up dedicated car insurance for members.”

Being a musician seems to be a significant factor in raising the price of premiums, he says. “The common theme is that as soon as you mention the fact that you are a musician, your premium goes through the roof.”

It’s a view echoed by David Parker, Divisional Director of Howden, who was instrumental in setting up the partnership with the MU. “Many insurers choose not to quote for people working in the entertainment industry at all,” he says. “Musicians are often treated as a higher‑risk group or face more limited options.”

Matt believes that treating musicians as high-risk does not reflect the reality of most working musicians’ lives. “We believe there are more musicians packing their gear into a car or van and carefully driving home, than ‘channelling’ Keith Moon and driving into a swimming pool,” he says. “So we don’t think they should be [viewed as high risk].”

Narrow nine-to-five parameters

But the perception of musicians as high-risk actually owes more to the varied nature of musicians’ working lives and the fact that they do not fit easily into the nine-to-five parameters created by the insurance industry.

“Working musicians often operate outside standard patterns,” says David Parker. “For example, working late hours, travelling between venues, and performing in a wide range of locations. Regularly carrying and transporting instruments and equipment also increases the perceived risk of loss, damage or accidents.”

Such factors will ramp up insurance premiums and result in some insurers being unable to offer you a policy. This is why bespoke insurance policies for musicians – such as those now offered by the MU and Howden – have been created.

The importance of ensuring your occupation is recorded

Matt Wanstall says that musicians often feel compelled to list their job descriptions in a “slightly skewed” way as it is the only way to fall within the parameters of insurers’ job title definitions.

“For example, someone might describe themselves primarily as a music teacher as opposed to a drummer or musician,” says Matt. “We suspect that this is limiting the dataset for people acting purely as musicians or in musically-related occupations.”

It also means that your insurance could be invalid. If you are registered as a ‘music teacher’ on your policy but a claim is made while you are actually playing a live show, then you are probably not covered.

David Parker highlights the importance of ensuring that a musician’s occupation is accurately recorded on an insurance application, particularly where someone may have more than one role.

A musicians’ experience

Essex-based drummer and music teacher Marc Cecil is all too aware of the importance of ensuring that the occupation of ‘musician’ is clearly listed on his car insurance policy. It was one of his priorities when in February 2026, he became one of the first musicians to take out a policy under the new MU/Howden partnership.

Marc says that numerous insurance companies have been unable to offer car insurance to him over the years. “They just go, ‘No, we can't give you a quote’,” he says.

It’s an experience shared by Barry Dalman, a Liverpool-based jazz pianist, keyboard player and former MU Regional Officer. “I’ve had quotes of £5,000-plus for a 14 year-old (diesel) Audi A5 with over 150,000 miles on the clock,” says Barry. “There were only about three companies that offered quotes that were lower than the value of the car… The general problem is that the majority of the quotes we do get seem incredibly high, to the point where they are effectively refusing to insure you by quoting prices that could never be considered realistic or financially viable.”

Barry was unaware of the new MU and Howden insurance initiative when he last renewed his car insurance but says “I’ll be getting one next time”.

Marc, meanwhile, learned about the initiative early on and agreed to put himself forward as a trial case for Howden to test the efficiency of the new partnership. Howden came up with a good quote for car insurance, says Marc, and he used it to go back to an insurance company that had quoted him a particularly high premium. “Suddenly, they could do it for cheaper than they could 10 minutes before,” he says.

Marc’s contact at Howden then phoned him back. “He said ‘Look, I understand you're accepting the quote, that's fine, but there’s a fourteen day cooling-off period and I would love the opportunity to try and beat the quote.” Which is exactly what he did. Two months on, Marc has a policy through Howden that he says is far more competitive and robust than the policy he previously had.

One aspect that impressed him was how detailed the representative was when enquiring about his work. “He was very, very thorough about my actual working day so that I'm insured for what I'm actually doing. It’s very popular [for insurers] to put a musician down as a music teacher. So I was very clear that I wanted cover as a musician [as well]. He sent me a photocopy of the form he had filled out, which said ‘working musician’ and ‘music teacher’. They were really good. It’s better than I’ve experienced before."

The benefits of the new partnership

One of the most common misconceptions about standard car or home insurance policies is that they automatically cover music‑related activity. This is often not the case, says David Parker.

“In practice, this is often excluded unless it has been specifically disclosed and agreed with the insurer,” he says.

By contrast, one of the strengths of the partnership between the MU and Howden is that it is a bespoke arrangement rather than a standard, off‑the‑shelf product. This ensures flexibility and a thorough assessment of musicians’ needs.

“It allows us to properly understand each individual musician’s circumstances so that the cover is structured correctly from the outset,” says David. “This means musicians should not be paying extra simply because of their profession, while also ensuring the policy is genuinely suitable for how they live and work.”

Barry Dalman welcomes the fact that bespoke policies will ensure that musicians can declare all musical activities and/or multiple occupations. “This gives you peace of mind that you will be covered for all your musical work,” he says, “and not have to worry that your insurer will try and shirk responsibility in the event of a claim.”


Understanding musicians’ needs

For decades, the MU has been proactive in addressing the insurance needs of its members. In 2005, the MU launched its Musical Instrument Insurance scheme, through Hencilla Canworth, which was recently increased to £3,000 of standard cover as a free benefit of membership.

Another free benefit of membership is the Public Liability Insurance, currently arranged through Aviva, which provides £10 million in Public Liability Insurance to MU members, cover that is frequently required for gigs, teaching and touring.

But this new partnership between the MU and Howden is different to the insurances that are included as part of MU membership, explains Matt, in that members can apply directly via the portal on the MU website and get a quote. Howden also has access to a much wider group of insurers than the MU has had in the past, he says.

“It's an opportunity for members to see if they can get cheaper premiums or insurance more suited to their needs when their motor or house insurance is due for renewal,” says Matt. “The cost will depend on your circumstances, and you choose whether that works for you or not. We hope that members can benefit from these policies and there's the added bonus that for every new policy taken out, Howden will donate £10 to the MU Benevolent Fund which provides hardship funds for MU members.”

“Everyone's situation is different,” concludes Matt, “so we can't guarantee that this will offer the best or cheapest solution for you individually, but we're really excited that members might be able to benefit from these options.”