Several years ago, one of my columns dealt with the theft of alarge number of music CDs from an auto and the issue of whether theinsured's homeowners or auto policy should respond to the loss. TheISO PAP and HO policy language was confusing, the scope of coveragewas unclear, and the two forms didn't coordinate well on the issue.The situation was made even more painful by the adjusters' andforms writers' failure to address the greatest loss resulting fromthe theft–the emotional blow suffered by a music lover deprived ofa lifeline to sanity: the tunes!

Many times an otherwise tedious drive has been rendered morebearable by “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” exploding from mycar's speakers, or by singing the blues along with Stevie RayVaughn or Buddy Guy. One reason my buddies and I so enjoyed thatscene in the “Wayne's World” movie when the characters sang“Bohemian Rhapsody” in the car was that we had done the same thingwhen Queen originally released the song years earlier. My collegeroommate's girlfriend even drove a Pacer!

But, alas, those who earn their living in the ISO forms dungeonsevidently either have tin ears or think “tone deaf” is a rapper.Since my first plea for coverage clarification, back when Princepartied like it was 1999, property forms have not been changed torectify the aforementioned travesty. Perhaps the forms folksthought I had described an isolated incident, of interest only to afew parrotheads.

Well, wait no more, recalcitrant ones! AC/DC's highway to helllies before us. And proof that the-day-the-music-died is upon uscomes from no less an unimpeachable source than the WashingtonPost. To quote from an April 16 article by Del Quinton Wilber:

“The burglar visited every room of Sara Scalenghe's NorthwestWashington apartment, stealing an expensive digital camera and agold necklace passed down from her grandmother. But Scalenghe didnot begin seething until she confirmed her biggest fear: Her newiPod had been swiped, too. The digital music player held 50favorite songs, ranging from Mozart selections to Italian rap. Thedevice also contained thoughts on a looming dissertation andrecorded conversations with friends. For Scalenghe, her privacy, aswell as her home, was invaded. 'I know it sounds silly, but itchanged everything, I was really upset,' said the 34-year-oldgraduate student. 'I can't explain it, but it hurt.'”

The same article reported that another woman had her laptop andiPod stolen. Between the two devices, she lost 3,000 songs she hadeither purchased or laboriously harvested from her CD collection.One other theft victim, who lost 2,000 songs when his iPod wasstolen, particularly mourned the time he had invested in collectingthem. “This relationship with my iPod was built on downloading allthe music. The time and effort of developing a library makes youvery connected with the library. It took the better part of twomonths. Now, I have to start all over again.”

And for those who think I exaggerate the emotional woundsinflicted by such crimes, heed well the words of a noted expertcited in the Post article:

“Everybody has a lot of memories they associate with music, andmusical taste is usually very important to people,” said AnitaBoss, a forensic psychologist in Alexandria, Va., who has counseledcrime victims. “You actually have a piece of identity theft here.Anytime something is stolen that is so personal, victims are goingto have a reaction like that. It's not the same as stealing acoat.”

Preach on, sister!

Now consider the situation we face as agents representing theftvictims. Depending upon the total value of the items stolen, we mayor may not face a claim below the policy deductible. If the totalexceeds the deductible–since all three of the thefts cited in thePost article were from residences–the homeowners policy clearlywill provide coverage. If the thieves had taken the same items froma vehicle, the homeowners policy still should respond in mostcases, assuming the stolen devices were not, as stated in the“Property Not Covered” section of the HO form, “Electronicapparatus and accessories designed to be operated solely by powerfrom the electrical system of the 'motor vehicle.' Accessoriesinclude antennas, tapes, wires, records, discs or other media thatcan be used with any apparatus described above.” The PAP shouldpick up any musical device fitting the exclusionary language,subject to the policy's deductible provisions.

If at the time of loss the insured uses devices in the auto thatotherwise are covered by the homeowners policy–powering the itemswith one of those now-ubiquitous power adapters (iPods and laptopshave frustratingly short battery life) plugged into the auto'selectrical system–the internal HO coverage limit still applies:“$1,500 on electronic apparatus and accessories, while in or upon a'motor vehicle,' but only if the apparatus is equipped to beoperated by power from the 'motor vehicle's' electrical systemwhile still capable of being operated by other power sources.”

But even if we find coverage for the devices themselves underthe forms language, we still fall short of providing help for thegreater loss suffered by the insured-the pain and anguish of losingmemories, music and invested time and effort. If we as agents trulyare to counsel our clients and offer options for protecting theirproperty, it becomes, in the words of the Moody Blues, a questionof balance.

The scenarios described in the Washington Post article, whichare growing in frequency and severity, as electronic gadgetsincreasingly become part of our lives, once again reveal theimportance of being more than mere sellers of policies. We mustfollow the Yardbirds' advice to see every account not merely asone-dimensional (the need for insurance coverage) but “over, under,sideways, down.” In other words, forget Jim Dandy-it's riskmanagement to the rescue!

In all of the above examples, one small bit of advice would haveserved as a bridge over troubled waters. Whenever you storesomething of value on a digital device that can be lost in a NewYork minute–especially if you spend a significant amount of timedoing so, heed the wisdom of Steely Dan and go back, Jack, and doit again. In other words, make a backup. With the plethora of flashdrives, portable hard drives and online file-storage options nowavailable, an insured need never risk losing both a device and itscontents.

Do you include such recommendation in every coverageconversation you have with an insured? And I'm not just talkingabout music exposures. That original loss described in the Postincluded a digital camera, too. And what about all the personalphoto images the owner may have left in her camera or laptop? Iwonder if she had been advised to get an appraisal on hergrandmother's gold necklace to determine if the homeowners'internal limit on jewelry was sufficient, or if she needed anendorsement or floater.

To paraphrase Billy Joel, if we're in a risk-management state ofmind, we can turn our insureds' highway to hell into a stairway toheaven. With you by their side, providing not only coverage butalso expertise and effective counsel, they no longer need fear thata petty thief will leave them “blue on black.”

Tommy will be proven right after all. Listening to you, they'llget the music.