[not]

Hi. I just read a post about a head-fi loving guy who's dog ate his headphones and thought I would share a bit of info about insurance.

It wasn't until I was I in my mid-20's that I realized I could get affordable insurance to protect much of my electronic gear. At the time I was buying alaptop, video cameras, etc that I needed for work and I wanted to protect my investment.

The option many people choose is "renters insurance". That typically protects stuff in your house from theft and damage. So if someone breaks in and swipes your laptop you may be covered.

But what if you travel with your gear...like many of you probably do with headphones...well then you might want to check out a thing called a "personal articles policy".

In my experience a personal articles policy is cheaper and covers more kinds of damage/theft but is targeted to just a few things I choose...rather than everything in my apartment as in the case of renters insurance. I realized that I really only have a few things that are worth the money to me to replace. You may feel different if you worry about replacing a whole wardrobe after a fire or something.

Basically I pay $60-80ish a year for a personal articles policy (compared to hundred a year for renters insurance!) to cover several thousands of dollars in gear. In my case it covers, theft, fire, accidental damage...even screens on laptops which warrenties like apple care don't cover.

I once accidently did $500 in damage to my laptop while traveling and the insurance company covered it even though it was just carelessness on my part.

I get mine through State Farm but I think it is a standard but under-advertised kind of policy that is available through any retail insurance company.

I am not a lawyer or a insurance advisor or a financial advisor so do your own research and talk to your own insurance person...but with that said I can't see why it wouldn't work for you folks that buy fancy gear and assemble hi-end portable rigs with hundreds of dollars invested in amps, silver wires and what not.

Cheers.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Thank you for posting this!

I'm covered under auto/homeowner's/credit card warranties, but I don't have this. I regularly carey around a camera, laptop, phone, etc. that I'd like to have covered, but didn't think I'd be covered under every situation. But this is a bargain - I'll be sure to add it.

Thank you again.

 

[Assorted]

That is excellent information that most people don't know -- that's why they end up buying $100+/year accidental damage insurance for their Dell/Lenovo/etc laptops when there are much cheaper alternatives like the one you mentioned.

 

[Caribou679]

How much is your deductible?

"In an insurance policy, the deductible (North American term) or excess (UK term) is the portion of any claim that is not covered by the insurance provider. It is normally quoted as a fixed quantity and is a part of most policies covering losses to the policy holder. The deductible must be paid by the insured, before the benefits of the policy can apply. Typically, a general rule is: the higher the deductible, the lower the premium, and vice versa."

 

[not]

I have no deductible.

And in my experience, there was a minimum yearly fee that had several thousand in coverage so I worked it out to decide how much I could cover as cheaply as possible.

They are going to insure things for the cost of purchase so you bring in receipts for each...sometimes they want to take a picture of the thing.

Luckily lots of stuff plug into a laptop and so my video camera, printer, pda, and software are all grouped together.

My policy is coming due so I am going to see if I can add headphones.