| Author |
Message |
Chuck Deaton
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2000 - 11:11 pm: | |
In addition to not buying insurance, I don't buy the maintenance agreement either. Both times a laptop has crapped out on me I had to go immediately. "rat" like rat now. I use Winbooks, which are only sold on the internet, so that I can order a new one and have it shipped wherever I happen to be.
My other problem is that I just don't have the time to argue with some company adjuster and her supervisor over what I am going to be paid. My advice is to forget insurance coverage, put the premium saved and the maintenance fee saved into the bank and buy a refurbished Winbook.
Then don't let it out of your sight. |
PBurch
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2000 - 3:22 pm: | |
There was a court case in Alberta Canada a couple of years ago. Insured bought a used piece of computor equipment for $5000 and it was stolen. Replacement of the entry level comparable (although much superior) piece of equipment was $90,000. Co-operators Insurance denied and fought and lost. Like kind and quality includes the closest available equipment even if it a major upgrade. |
Gayle
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2000 - 1:49 pm: | |
Jim, you are right, this is the one we discussed. My HO carrier is Auto Club with form #HMR4099A/E0799, with replacement cost. The policy states they will pay "the cost to replace the lost or damaged property with property of the same kind, of resonably similar quality, usefulness, and in the same condition" I believe the insured should not be penalized for a changing computer industry where your laptop is not made after 3 months. It is true that a new laptop would be better than my old one, but I do not think it is an intentional upgrade. There are many better models IBM makes, the one I want is the one they state replaces my old one. Auto Club also does not want to pay for my power cords for my GPS and laptop because they are used with the car, but the policy states they do not pay for items stolen from a vehicle if it is permanently installed, which these were not. What do you think? I want to speak with my adjuster's supervisor about her decision regarding my claim and replacement cost, I don't think she is interpreting the policy correctly. |
Linda (Linda)
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2000 - 1:44 pm: | |
Gayle, I agree with Jim. We need more information to be able to answer your questions.
I personally do not have my laptop insured for the same reason Chuck doesn't. I did, however, get a maintenance agreement when I purchased mine at a cost of $514.00 for 5 years which would cover it for ANY damages. I can handle the loss of the equipment but the repairs are a killer.
This doesn't help you in your current situation, but without more information it is not possible. |
Chuck Deaton
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2000 - 10:42 am: | |
There are two ways to handle loss.
One is to insure with a deductible, pay the premium and wrestle with an insurance company when property is lost.
Two is not to insure losses that you can handle.
I always chose the later. A point is that over time you pay enough premium to pay for small losses. To me the physical loss of a laptop is small, it is the data that is a killer. I dropped one this winter and lost file cabinets of data.
As an adjuster I am interested in this because we all handle losses of items (laptops are an excellent example) that while the price goes down (my laptop cost about $2000 before Christmas now a better one is around $1,300.00) the quality goes up. |
Russ (Russ)
| | Posted on Monday, July 31, 2000 - 7:40 am: | |
Do you have the UPP replacement cost endorsement?
What does your policy say about UPP used for business purposes? I schedule all my business personal property, been there done that. |
Jim (Jim)
| | Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2000 - 10:08 pm: | |
Gayle, I think you and I talked about this situation in Chicago a few weeks ago. It might help our readers to answer your question if you would advise us of which policy form you reported the loss under. And are there any endorsements to your policy? |
Gayle
| | Posted on Sunday, July 30, 2000 - 7:33 pm: | |
I am working as a cat adjuster and while I was out on assignment, my laptop was stolen. If that wasn't bad enough, now my insurance company does not feel they owe me for replacement cost on a 9 month old unit. They have advised me they do not owe for upgrades (even though the old unit is not available) and therefore do not feel this unit qualifies for the replacement cost endorsement. I am quite upset and wonder if anyone has dealt with this issue first hand and have give me any insight on how to deal with it. Thanks for any assistance! |
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