How are you doing your claims?
The second last time I phoned, the clerk said something to the effect of "Oh, you've only had three claims in the past few years. I can process that right away" and I had a cheque in the mail a week or so later.
But that was in 2009.
So I guess they keep an eye on the number of claims from a given person. Which makes sense, since they are basically running on an honour system.
"Trust in God, but count the cards."
Given the value of your instruments, I guess you are doing much higher value claims than I would on my cheap books. Which would also make a big difference.