Has anyone tried to have their shamisen insured? Its a complete nightmare here in the UK as - once you have explained what a shamisen is (and all it’s accessories) - the reaction is ‘don’t think we can insure that as we’ve never heard of one before’! I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or contact Spielberg with an idea for the next movie (“Indiana Jones and the Quest for Shamisen Insurance”). 
Hi Bill,
that is a very interesting question. I only have mine covered as a part of my household items (there’s an insurance for that in Germany) and hope for the best should anything ever happen.
So, I can’t help you with this, but I hope you’ll continue sharing your experience with that issue here in the forum, because it is so very relevant!
Wishing you the best of luck, and I’ll ask around and see if friends with other exotic instruments have any good ideas!
Cheers 
Yeah, I can put it on my household contents insurance but it will not be covered if I take it outside of my home (which I do for lessons). On top of that it is not covered on my vehicle insurance due to its high value. I always believed anything was insurable (if you paid the premiums) but in this case even the musical instrument insurance companies won’t touch it because they have no knowledge or experience with the shamisen which makes them nervous about offering insurance. It seems a bit of a conundrum and I’ve had to increase my level of frustration from ‘miffed’ to the more serious ‘peeved’! 
https://www.allianz.co.uk/personal-insurance/musical-insurance.html
This site seems to cover musical instruments in the UK so hope it helps.
Mari
Hi - thanks for getting in touch.
When this topic started I had spoken to Allianz already; they were reluctant to even quote for insurance because the person on the telephone had never heard of a shamisen and her first response was to say it was something they wouldn’t insure.
I don’t know if this has changed in the last year - may be I should try them again.
Thanks again
I think if you can provide bill of sale and an evaluation or an attestation its a variation of a lute stringed instrument of wood with xxxx materials needed for a school and comparable printouts with replacements prices there might be ways someone or an agent experienced can say oh we are talking about a policy about 1,000 to xxxxx…maybe a hassle or initial trouble to set up comparisons that the first agent did not want to get into? Good luck and hope it works out.
Was going take my practice beginner shamisen with me when I travel . I always buy I travel insurance - and company said it would cover up to $600 . Which works for this instrument.