Guide to Computer Insurance Cover

As with many home appliance purchases, it is common to be pushed a computer insurance cover or warranty product at the point of sale. Computer retailers are known to make a considerable profit from this hard sell as customers incorrectly believe they're doing them a favour. A couple of minutes spent looking at a computer insurance cover specialist will open your eyes. The retailers can mark up their computer insurance cover by three or four times the price offered by computer insurance cover specialists, and that's usually for fewer benefits!

Best Computer Insurance Companies

When it comes to specialist insurance policies, you'll want to know you're buying from a reputable insurer. Our picks of the market are:

Why buy computer insurance cover?

We're all becoming increasingly dependent on our laptops and computers these days. Add to this the fact that your computer is usually the first target for any opportunist thief and you'll see the need for computer insurance cover. It is estimated that 70,000 computers are stolen in the UK each year, whilst 100,000 are accidentally damaged. To be honest, you're not going to be that bothered about those statistics, you just care whether you're one of them. But can you afford to take the risk without computer insurance cover?

Computer insurance and home contents cover

Of those who already have home insurance, or at least a contents insurance policy, many are tempted to consolidate the administration and combine their computer insurance cover under one policy. However, you should be very careful if you do this. Many contents insurance policies exclude or limit computer insurance cover in their small print as well as limit the value of any single item (which a computer is likely to exceed). Bear in mind that it's not just the cost to replace your equipment but also the irreplaceable data stored on your machine. Many contents, business and computer insurance policies are starting to include this protection now - so check your computer insurance small print to see if it is included before you buy.

If you make a claim for the damage, loss or theft of your computer, your premium for the next year is likely to rise. However, if you have dedicated computer insurance cover, the increase will be marginal in comparison to a contents insurance policy where the premium will rise in relation to the total value of goods covered.

Although most home insurance companies are better with portable items than they used to be, you could also find a problem when claiming for a laptop lost or stolen away from the home. You should not find the same problem with a computer insurance cover. The main exclusions from a computer insurance cover specialist will probably include maintenance costs, electrical or mechanical failure, wear and tear or anything relating to fraud and dishonesty.

Computer Insurance Companies

If you're looking to insure your computer equipment or laptop on a separate policy to your home contents insurance, here's a helpful list of computer insurance providers who offer policies for these specific areas:

• Computer Insurance Comparison