Piano Video Lesson: Why Your Piano is Not Protected (with Guest Brian Janey)

ROBERT: Welcome to livingpianoscom, I'm Robert Estrin here with a very important subject for you about the why your piano is not protected. Now what am I talking about here? You know I've had many videos telling you how to care for your piano with a proper environment. Having a dam chaser, or a lifesaver system, or a humidification, or a dehumidifier. Protecting it from the sun, servicing on a regular basis. But I'm not talking about any of that today. I'm talking about that your piano you may think it's insured, but it very well may not be. Now let me explain. A lot of people have homeowners insurance and just assume their piano is covered. But if you have the unfortunate circumstance of a flood, a fire, or something of that nature, you may find that without a rider on your insurance policy, you won't be covered. But how do you even get a rider? How do you prove the value of your piano? Can you just show the invoice of what you paid for it? Or go to your local piano store and have them tell what it's worth? Unfortunately, those don't work. But we have an expert with us today who's going to go through what it takes to be able to get an official appraisal, which is a legal document. And appraisals have to be done by somebody who is legally liable to the IRS, or to banks, to insurance companies. So there's a big deal to this. And fortunately, we've got somebody who's going to tell you all about this. So I'd like to introduce to you, Brian Janey, from Allegro Piano Service in Fallbrook, California. Welcome, Brian.

BRIAN: Thank you, Robert, so much for allowing me to be on today. This is really, really an incredible thing. And yes, I've been a piano technician for 25 years. I have about 950 clients within 50 miles of Fallbrook. Stay very busy doing four pianos a day, five days a week. And I recently, in 2019, I joined the American Society of Appraisers and went through, wow, almost 200 hours of training with them to be able to do appraisals in an official capacity. And I've had many, many situations where clients have had pianos that have been damaged in fires, in floods, and other circumstances like that. And they were really horrified to realize that their insurance did not appropriately cover the instrument, because it was not scheduled on their insurance policy. And you have to have an appraisal done to be able to do that. So it's an important part of piano ownership. And just like I so love helping people make music as a piano technician, I want the legacy of that music to continue in the home and not have to be a piano technician. And I think that's why I have some calamity stop it up, because it's not covered by the insurance, and they're not able to replace the piano with one that they had.

ROBERT: You know, I've run into a lot of people in that circumstance, and it could be a real nightmare. Now, there's some misconceptions. A lot of people don't understand the difference between an appraisal and an inspection. Just like when you're buying a home, you have your appraisal, but you also have the inspections. And these are two distinctly different things. And so it is with pianos. Now, the good news is for someone like you, who does both piano work and also appraisals, you can assess the condition which, of course, enters into the value of a piano. And I also understand that you're able to do this remotely by getting key pictures of the piano. So maybe you can discuss a little bit about these differences and the legal document. I know there's the USPAP, the Uniform Standard of Professional Appraisal, that enters into all of this. And maybe you can talk a little bit about the difference between appraisals and inspections, and what's really required of someone like yourself to be able to make a document that will hold up in case there's a claim.

BRIAN: The thing that's necessary to be, you know, qualified as an appraiser is to go through an array of training. And I found myself being trained by some of the best personal property appraisers in the country when I hooked up with the American Society of Appraisers. And it was a real privilege. It is a very eclectic group of people. And I found out I'm the only one actually in the American Society of Appraisers that has more than a few thousand members. It actually does pianos specifically. So it is a very interesting circumstance to be in. You do get an extensive amount of training in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal practice, which is something that applies not only to real estate and, you know, everything in between, but also to personal property like pianos. And, you know, it's been a fascinating journey. I've encountered a lot of very interesting people, folks that appraise both everything from fine art to machinery. And I mean, I even encountered one guy in a class that actually appraised herds of cattle. So it's a real wide array of people that you find yourself amongst. But it is a very interesting aspect of that whole profession.

ROBERT: I know a lot of people confuse appraisals with the value of the piano because there are so many different values of pianos. If you walk into a showroom in a piano store, there's one value. If you look on Craig's List, there's another value. If you want to trade in a piano, yet another value. The wholesale value is different from the retail. And then estate settlement is another value. So appraisals are a whole separate issue that really satisfy not just these kind of legal disputes and estate settlement and insurance claims, but also sometimes people want to donate a piano to a nonprofit and be able to enjoy tax deduction for that. And I suppose they also need some sort of official document in order to be able to not get in trouble later on with the authorities. Is that right?

BRIAN: Yes, there is a, you know, it is an appraisal report that actually is submitted with people's taxes, whether they're doing something with an estate or they're doing something with a tax donation. And I've got a couple of circumstances right now with people that's with Steinway's. One was donated to a church, another was donated to a college in Pennsylvania. And I'm working on those appraisal reports right now. And I also have, you know, a circumstance with people, you know, getting appraisals for insurance purposes as well. So yes, it is a legal document. When you enter into the realm of calling it an appraisal, I kid with colleagues that are piano technicians that if you ever find yourself being asked to put a value on something and the people that are going to use the information that you're providing are folks that wear suits, you need to make sure that you have an appraisal professional appraisal because if it's a, an attorney, an insurance, uh, you know, adjuster or, uh, one of their actuaries or an accountant or something like that, they're going to be looking for compliance to the uniform professional, you know, to use PAP, which is the uniform standards of professional appraisal practice. So it is important to make sure that it is done right, because that is basically a document that people are using to make financial decisions.

ROBERT: Speaking of legal precedent, maybe you can tell me and shed some light on the case, the 1959 U S court of appeals merchants insurance versus Latimore. What was that about? What's the significance of that in regards to appraisals and how does that enter into this whole equation?

BRIAN: You know, the thing with that particular case, and we studied that extensively in my coursework was the, this particular person, um, had an array of artwork in their home and they decided only to schedule a certain part of it. They didn't schedule all of it. Well, she had a fire in her home and what ended up happening is, uh, the insurance company only, uh, you know, agreed to what it is they legally set up to do. And that's provide coverage and indemnification for the things that were scheduled. But she took the insurance company to court to get basically compensation for the rest of the artwork that was also destroyed. And the court actually ruled in insurance companies favor. Um, and that's one of the things that's super important about, you know, people that have nice pianos. I mean, even so, I mean, I've done appraisals even on, uh, you know, lesser uprights and so forth like that. I mean, even some of those could, you know, could cost well into the five figures to replace. So it's important to make sure that you do get your piano appraised and that you do inform your insurance company that you have one. Um, because if you don't tell them about it, you know, the court precedent there basically puts you in a very bad position if something does happen to it.

ROBERT: Now you have a unique perspective now that you're trained in this whole appraisal business, but, uh, maybe you could tell us a little bit about the realm of piano work that you do in your, in your business. So that what your realm of understanding is on the various components of pianos and how you're uniquely qualified for this, because I assume that there was a lot of thought that went into going into this field and your background as a technician for 25 years, I'm sure entered into it. What sort of things do you do on pianos?

BRIAN: Oh my, I, I take care of all kinds of pianos. I mean, I have clients with pianos that are, you know, a little sketchy and a little tough to tune. And then I have also clients with wonderful American, you know, made pianos and, uh, you know, European made pianos. I take care of pianos on a number of stages, uh, locally as, um, and I found myself working for some pretty famous folk, um, on occasion when I'm on those stages, which initially was very intimidating, but I kind of got a little bit of a sense of what it was like to be on stage and I was like, Oh, I'm just going to do this thing. But I kind of got over that and realized I'm just one of the guys that's on the stage. I just got a job to do and then I leave. Um, I kid everybody that there's a big local casino that I take care of pianos at for shows and so forth. And it's pretty funny because I actually walk into a casino and I actually always make money. So, it's, uh, you know, kind of, it's a neat gig. Um, and I do, it is such a beautiful thing to be in people's music. Um, that is just, uh, one of the things that I just think is, I think there's so many people that, uh, probably would enjoy this trade. Um, and there is actually a need for more and more piano technicians. I mean, there's been a half dozen guys in my local neck of the woods that have all retired or moved away and left local, left large clientels, um, which is probably one of the reasons why it's a little tough right now to get an appointment with me because I'm booked up quite a ways in advance.

ROBERT: I can tell you when we first moved to Cleveland a couple of years ago, being able to get a team of piano technicians here was an arduous task. It took us a while because everybody was booked up months in advance. It's an actually a great field to go into. You can, you can, you can move pretty much anywhere. It seems like there's a, there's a dearth of, of qualified piano technicians and even the piano technicians who are subpar seem to be busy. So even if you're starting out, it's a great field because there's a lot of people who are aging out of this profession. So you've got a great website. I know you've got a couple of websites, but the piano appraiser .com. Is that, uh, what people should check out to find out more about it?

BRIAN: For the realm of piano appraisal. Yes.

ROBERT: That's the one to go to.

BRIAN: And, uh, yeah, there's basically, if you go to that website and you've clicked the contact me form, um, basically it'll take you to a place where you basically put in your information, what kind of piano you have, what sort of appraisal work that it is that you're interested in talking about. And I'll, I'll be in touch with you. It is a fantastic.

ROBERT: And for people who are in the Southern California area around Fallbrook, uh, your website for piano work is what?

BRIAN: Uh, schedule my keys. Actually, that's the easiest one to remember. Um, you can go to your right to my website and, uh, it is a, yeah, it's, I service Northern San Diego County as well as Southwest Riverside Temecula Valley area.

ROBERT: Beautiful. You're right in that nook over there. I remember it well. You've been a, uh, a real godsend for us for all the pianos we've sold in that region over the years. And I'm just so glad you were able to join us because this is a really important topic and a lot of people never give much thought to this. You know, people spend thousands of dollars on a piano and assume it's covered, but this is something that I'm sure a lot of people listening to this are going to check with their insurance agents and, uh, contact you or someone at least to be able to get their piano appraised, uh, to make sure it's covered in the, you know, the unfortunate possibility that something happens to it. So I want to thank you again for joining us. It's been a real pleasure, Brian, and I'm sure we'll be in touch together. All right.

BRIAN: Thank you so very much. And I can, I can do appraisals pretty much anywhere in the country, just based on photographs and so forth. So I look forward to helping anybody that would like to make contact. And thank you so very much, Robert, for having me on.

ROBERT: You got it. And thanks everybody for joining me again. I'm Robert Estrin here at livingpianos .com, your online piano resource. Thank you.

Find the original source of this video at this link: https://livingpianos.com/why-your-piano-is-not-protected-with-guest-brian-janey/

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