New Powerbook - Should I Insure??

[quasar720]

I've read in these forums and elsewhere that people recommend insuring your powerbook against theft and non-warranty covered damage. Does anyone have any tips regarding the best way to go about doing this? I am guessing you could add it to your homeowner's, but being a laptop it will often be away from my home...

How have you insured your machines?

 

[Chaszmyr]

I think you can take it to CompUSA and get insurance which includes accidental damage and such. It's possible that they no longer offer such insurance though.

 

[Enigma]

Don't know about anywhere else, but here in the UK I can have personal items insured away from home up to a certain value. When I took out a new home contents insurance policy I took this option to cover my laptop, digital camera and musical instrument (tenor horn, worth ~£1000) outside my flat. I phoned the insurer (Halifax) to check I was interpeting their policy correctly (you know what insurance companies are like) and they said all those items would be covered outside my flat.

 

[SilentPanda]

Call up your insurance company and ask them. They would know best.

 

[BakedBeans]

yeah home insurance, thats the best bet it should only cost an extra couple of dollar/quid (depending on where your from)

although ive not done it.... but if i drop it...i will lol

 

[stevehaslip]

yes! get insurance and make sure its "New for Old" that way if it gets stolen or broken then you are laughing because they look at your receipt and you get the modern equivilant for you money. ie a new powerbook!

i am not suggesting that you break your powerbook just so you can get a new one!

hmm.......G5....cough....G5....

You will have to pay an excess before you make any claim, i guess it would probably be about £50.
I got lots of forms about laptop insurance when i applied to Uni, it seems wise.

 

[MrSugar]

www.safeware.com

that's what I have, it covers theft, damage, etc.

 

[quasar720]

www.safeware.com

that's what I have, it covers theft, damage, etc.

Thanks for the link! They quoted me about $120 as an annual premium. Is that around what you are paying? I think I will check with my homeowner's as well to see if I can get a discount...

 

[stevehaslip]

Thanks for the link! They quoted me about $120 as an annual premium. Is that around what you are paying? I think I will check with my homeowner's as well to see if I can get a discount...

I think that you will be able to get it much cheaper on your home owners insurance!

 

[BakedBeans]

yes! get insurance and make sure its "New for Old" that way if it gets stolen or broken then you are laughing because they look at your receipt and you get the modern equivilant for you money. ie a new powerbook!

i am not suggesting that you break your powerbook just so you can get a new one!

hmm.......G5....cough....G5....

You will have to pay an excess before you make any claim, i guess it would probably be about £50.
I got lots of forms about laptop insurance when i applied to Uni, it seems wise.

so steve...when the g5powerbooks come out in say...mid 2005.. if i got this new for old insurance (where from btw) i could have my powerbook stolen or throw it out of the window... pay 50quid and get the g5 for nothin?

 

[stevehaslip]

so steve...when the g5powerbooks come out in say...mid 2005.. if i got this new for old insurance (where from btw) i could have my powerbook stolen or throw it out of the window... pay 50quid and get the g5 for nothin?

......yes that could be one interpretation. If they no longer make the model you had then you have no choice but to accept a new G5. oh well!

Laptops get stolen all the time, I wouldn't be suprised if i actually lost my one day or it got swiped. I'm carefull but these things to happen, constantly.

Your insurance company will send you forms etc and will most likely give you a cheque for a new computer. Although you will be lying when you make the claim which is wrong!

Edit: you can get laptop insurance from pretty much any insurer such as direct line or whoever your home insurance is with. It will be cheaper to add it to your current home insurance than it will be to take out a whole new policy just for the laptop.

 

[brap]

......yes that could be one interpretation. If they no longer make the model you had then you have no choice but to accept a new G5. oh well!

You'd need to read the small print to see how you can do it. I have student's idiocy cover (as I like to call it) covering droppage, theft, spillage, acts of god, you name it; the only thing is they will cover the piece up to a certain value. They do have the caveat that the piece will not be of a higher value even you offer to pay the premium, and if the item isn't available you will get the cash up to the current retail of your laptop.
I therefore hiked the price of my PB to the retail value, and told the insurer to put it down as "Apple Mac Powerbook" - these guys know nothing about Apples, so when I drop it in ooh, June next year, guess what I'll be getting

 

[Abstract]

I have mine insured with my parents homeowners insurance for an extra $10 CDN per year, or about 4 quid per year. It covers literally everything you can think of, there is absolutely no deductible, and its cheap as chips.

 

[stevehaslip]

You'd need to read the small print to see how you can do it. I have student's idiocy cover (as I like to call it) covering droppage, theft, spillage, acts of god, you name it; the only thing is they will cover the piece up to a certain value. They do have the caveat that the piece will not be of a higher value even you offer to pay the premium, and if the item isn't available you will get the cash up to the current retail of your laptop.
I therefore hiked the price of my PB to the retail value, and told the insurer to put it down as "Apple Mac Powerbook" - these guys know nothing about Apples, so when I drop it in ooh, June next year, guess what I'll be getting

You say that you hiked the price up of your powerbook to the retail value? how much less did you pay then? Do you have to have proof of purchase to claim? if so won't they see that your powerbook cost less?

 

[brap]

You say that you hiked the price up of your powerbook to the retail value? how much less did you pay then? Do you have to have proof of purchase to claim? if so won't they see that your powerbook cost less?

Nah. It was a really wooly affair, actually - I asked about cover for the laptop, they just asked for a price. I asked if my Wacom tablet, and sundries were covered, and they said the cover was up to x amount - if you want to include extras just hike up the price. So, I decided to go for retail value of powerbook + upgrades + extras (battery), because if worst came to worst, they may want to make the purchase on my behalf; I have known insurance companies bitch about this.
Basically, I'm paying the premium based upon the value I gave them, so when it all shakes out I'm paying extra for the extra cover. They don't need reciepts - they take the stand that if I'm willing to pay that premium, then that's the proof they need. Just FYI, it's with Endsleigh, added onto student posessions cover.

 

[kerb]

so steve...when the g5powerbooks come out in say...mid 2005.. if i got this new for old insurance (where from btw) i could have my powerbook stolen or throw it out of the window... pay 50quid and get the g5 for nothin?

yeah you've got to love insurance fraud

 

[kerb]

You'd need to read the small print to see how you can do it. I have student's idiocy cover (as I like to call it) covering droppage, theft, spillage, acts of god, you name it; the only thing is they will cover the piece up to a certain value. They do have the caveat that the piece will not be of a higher value even you offer to pay the premium, and if the item isn't available you will get the cash up to the current retail of your laptop.
I therefore hiked the price of my PB to the retail value, and told the insurer to put it down as "Apple Mac Powerbook" - these guys know nothing about Apples, so when I drop it in ooh, June next year, guess what I'll be getting

jail time? a fine?

 

[brap]

jail time? a fine?

Heh. Unlikely; the guy seriously didn't give a s**t... All I'm doing is putting retail, instead of edu, in case they want to buy the replacement not me - in which case I'd be down... a lot.

 

[justinshiding]

Heh. Unlikely; the guy seriously didn't give a s**t... All I'm doing is putting retail, instead of edu, in case they want to buy the replacement not me - in which case I'd be down... a lot.

That makes sense, even though I got a good price on my car I wouldn't want to insure it for less than it's going to cost me to replace it.

Justin

 

[yippy]

One last question

If I get my powerbook insured with homeowner insurance, is it still worth it to get AppleCare? I am also going off to college with a new powerbook and I want to make sure that if something happens I am covered, but I don't want to spend money needlessly.

Thanks

 

[stevehaslip]

If I get my powerbook insured with homeowner insurance, is it still worth it to get AppleCare? I am also going off to college with a new powerbook and I want to make sure that if something happens I am covered, but I don't want to spend money needlessly.

Thanks

Yes, because Applecare covers faults in the hardware whereas insurance covers damage accidents and theft etc. If you ring up your insurance company and say that the hard drive has failed they won't help you. On the other hand if you phone up applecare and say that you dropped your laptop or it got stolen they won't help you at all.

Also putting the full price for your computer is wise if you got an educational discount because if you make a claim within a year Apple won't let you buy another laptop. You are only allowed to purchase one laptop and one desktop per year. But what if you bought a refurb? theres no guarantee that you'd be able to get the same computer again for the same money, should you just put the price for the new equivilant?

 

[CalfCanuck]

You should buy insurance to NEVER use it!

It might sound very strange, but all consumer activists recommend setting HIGH deductables and then only using the insurance for a loss that would otherwise destroy you financially.

Examples - your entire home and all it's contents burns down, the car you are driving crashes and causes $250,000 dmages, etc.

If you make claims, you are perceived (rightly) as a higher risk, and will be charged more down the road. It's best to self insure whenever you can.

When you buy a policy, you pay a commision to the insurance broker, you pay the insurance company's annual expenses (running offices, employing all those people, paying for their cell phones!), AND give the companies a healthy profit. PLUS the premiums have to cover all the claims each year, including those from all the people "scamming the system" (see some previous posts...).

This is why ALL electronics stores, computer companies, etc, try to sell you entended warranties as well - they are making a TON of cash off them.

The key is to use as much "free" insurance as possible, then only add as little as you need, with the highest deductables possible.

For example, a Platinum Visa card gives an extra one year warranty (sort of like Applecare) for free. They also provide theft insurance for a few months, I believe. Others have mentioned existing homeowners/home renters policies. A computer worth a couple grand is nothing, as most of these are $50,000 or more.

Be aware that these policies may limit use if used for business - as a travelling professional photographer, I listed a few items on a home policy for a number of years, but the added cost and limited coverage was just not worth it. Now I just self insure (saving $1000 a year).

So if you can bring yourslef to drop $300 a year in a savings account, after 4-5 years you'll have a healthy surplus.

 

[stevehaslip]

It might sound very strange, but all consumer activists recommend setting HIGH deductables and then only using the insurance for a loss that would otherwise destroy you financially.

Examples - your entire home and all it's contents burns down, the car you are driving crashes and causes $250,000 dmages, etc.

If you make claims, you are perceived (rightly) as a higher risk, and will be charged more down the road. It's best to self insure whenever you can.

When you buy a policy, you pay a commision to the insurance broker, you pay the insurance company's annual expenses (running offices, employing all those people, paying for their cell phones!), AND give the companies a healthy profit. PLUS the premiums have to cover all the claims each year, including those from all the people "scamming the system" (see some previous posts...).

This is why ALL electronics stores, computer companies, etc, try to sell you entended warranties as well - they are making a TON of cash off them.

The key is to use as much "free" insurance as possible, then only add as little as you need, with the highest deductables possible.

For example, a Platinum Visa card gives an extra one year warranty (sort of like Applecare) for free. They also provide theft insurance for a few months, I believe. Others have mentioned existing homeowners/home renters policies. A computer worth a couple grand is nothing, as most of these are $50,000 or more.

Be aware that these policies may limit use if used for business - as a travelling professional photographer, I listed a few items on a home policy for a number of years, but the added cost and limited coverage was just not worth it. Now I just self insure (saving $1000 a year).

So if you can bring yourslef to drop $300 a year in a savings account, after 4-5 years you'll have a healthy surplus.

Fair point but I can't drop $300 a year in a savings acount, I'm a student with debts. Why? because living in London is so sodding expensive! If i didn't get my Powerbook insured and it got nicked I'd be screwed!!! (well I'd still have my G5) But I saved for nearly a year to buy my G5, you think that if it gets stolen I am just gonna say "shoot, ahh well"? I have insurance to insure that if horrible things happen to me I can still afford to live. (and still have a mac)

 

[BakedBeans]

do they check up on the powerbook to see if its broken?? i wouldnt bother with insurance fraud but if i just sold it and then said it got nicked then they couldnt trace it... seems like a billiob people would be doing it.....

 

[stevehaslip]

do they check up on the powerbook to see if its broken?? i wouldnt bother with insurance fraud but if i just sold it and then said it got nicked then they couldnt trace it... seems like a billiob people would be doing it.....

I think that if you were to claim that its broken you would have to prove it, you take it to an Apple reseller and get them to say that what has happened is not covered by warantee and is unfixable. So there would be no option but to get a new one.

But my question still stands, what if you got a refurb powerbook? Do you put the price you paid for it? or do you estimate how much it would cost to get another powerbook? You might not be able to get exactly the same powerbook again?