IT Technician/PC Repair business insurance advice

lotties_mum

My husband has been thinking for a while about starting as a sole trader repairing Laptops and PC's etc. Although he is currently going through the process with a business advisor he's still a little naive about insurance. He does have biz insurance sorted for the car but is still not sure about Liability Insurance. All advice is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

GunJack

I think he needs to look at Public Liability insurance of some description, that covers him against damage or loss if, say, a pc blows up on him, causes injury to person/property, etc. An insurance broker should be able to advise properly if DH explains what the nature of the business is.

spannerzone

If repairing electrical items he'll also be expected to test the items for electrical safety (PAT - portable appliance testing) to ensure he doesn't return items that are electrically dangerous etc.

I don't know the current regs but am pretty sure it's expected (although I'm sure many smaller PC repairers don't do this) but if someone got electrocuted or their PC caught fire it would protect the repairer if he has a record showing it was safe and tested when leaving his premises. It's possible insurance would not cover problems like electrocution/fire etc if no PAT was evident, while it's to protect the end user it's also very much about saving your own backside!

PAT testing can also be an additional revenue that he could consider if doing repairs for smaller/medium businesses that are required to have all their electrical equipment PAT tested regularly. (might make more money doing this than PC repairs!)

Public liability insurance is essential, when I was a one man band PC repairer/troubleshooter I got public insurance for about £80 a year if I recall.

My personal experiences showed me that it's not a money maker and everyone and their dog is a PC expert these days so expect to have trouble charging people a decent rate, ideally go for businesses who'll pay a decent rate for a decent service and let the "all repairs £30/no fix-no fee" nonsense to other mugs.

I had an excellent client base made up of mostly affluent middle aged/retired people who were happy to pay something like £25 to £35 an hour for inhouse visits and maybe £70 -£100 for installing a new PC and setting it all up. This was 7 years ago and of course computers are cheaper now and people may not pay much to fix a PC when they're so cheap. Also expect lots of wasted time trying to clear virus infections that (mostly) kids downloaded when looking for free everything (music, films, !!!!!!, games) and then their poor parents try to use the family PC only to find it riddled with junk and spyware. You can spend many hours trying to fix those problems!!

Good luck!

amcluesent

>I had an excellent client base made up of mostly affluent middle aged/retired people who were happy to pay something like £25 to £35 an hour for inhouse visits<

Yep, the silver-surfers would be my target market too. They trick is to lock everything down so they can't fiddle - I simply couldn't believe how my parents managed to find then change the most obscure settings on their PC! Someone should do a Group Policy for older folks.

I'd also look at a remote assistance subscription service, so you install a LogMeIn type app. on their PC then can jump on remotely [STRIKE]if[/STRIKE]when they get in a pickle. £10/month, plus one call free per year, then £25/hr?

spannerzone

amcluesent wrote: »

>I had an excellent client base made up of mostly affluent middle aged/retired people who were happy to pay something like £25 to £35 an hour for inhouse visits<

Yep, the silver-surfers would be my target market too. They trick is to lock everything down so they can't fiddle - I simply couldn't believe how my parents managed to find then change the most obscure settings on their PC! Someone should do a Group Policy for older folks.

I'd also look at a remote assistance subscription service, so you install a LogMeIn type app. on their PC then can jump on remotely [STRIKE]if[/STRIKE]when they get in a pickle. £10/month, plus one call free per year, then £25/hr?

Yeah that remote assistance is a great idea (as long as you state the hours you're available and maybe offer higher charges for unsociable hours) and may save time, frustration and have happy paying customers.

Group policy for parents, now you're talking

spud17

Also expect lots of wasted time trying to clear virus infections that (mostly) kids downloaded when looking for free everything (music, films, !!!!!!, games) and then their poor parents try to use the family PC only to find it riddled with junk and spyware.

Yep, the silver-surfers would be my target market too. They trick is to lock everything down so they can't fiddle - I simply couldn't believe how my parents managed to find then change the most obscure settings on their PC! Someone should do a Group Policy for older folks.

So both the kids and the parents cause problems, that doesn't leave many savvy users then.

You can't beat a good generalization.

spannerzone

spud17 wrote: »

So both the kids and the parents cause problems, that doesn't leave many savvy users then.

You can't beat a good generalization.

yeah basically that covers it...

I found many parents called me in to sort the PC as they assumed they'd broken it.... I'd find the teenagers had downloaded tons of crud (limewire being a popular means back then), once the PC was so infested and useless they'd innocently walk away and the parents got me in, would tell me how clever kids are with computers although they hadn't got around to fixing the problems what with being so busy etc hehe.

For fairness and balance: not all kids are irresponsible with computers, many parents are capable of sorting out computer problems and many silver surfers need no assistance with their computers. That hopefully helps redress my over generalisation

spud17

spannerzone wrote: »

yeah basically that covers it...

I'd find the teenagers had downloaded tons of crud (limewire being a popular means back then),

As one of the older (silver/bald) ones on here, Ritchie and dcm being the oldest I'm also one of the newest to PCs (around 5yrs).

I spent a fair bit of last weekend sorting such a laptop, found traces of Bearshare, Vuze/Azureus, Limewire, Frostwire, Bittorrent and u-torrent.

BUT, they had Rapport from their bank, so were happy to use it for internet banking, once I'd cleaned it to the best of my ability.

I recommended a format/reinstall.

A test I've used, when parents say my kids know all about computers, is to ask them to ping the router.

spannerzone

spud17 wrote: »

As one of the older (silver/bald) ones on here, Ritchie and dcm being the oldest I'm also one of the newest to PCs (around 5yrs).

I spent a fair bit of last weekend sorting such a laptop, found traces of Bearshare, Vuze/Azureus, Limewire, Frostwire, Bittorrent and u-torrent.

BUT, they had Rapport from their bank, so were happy to use it for internet banking, once I'd cleaned it to the best of my ability.

I recommended a format/reinstall.

A test I've used, when parents say my kids know all about computers, is to ask them to ping the router.

That all sounds very familiar

I think the problem with some youngsters is not so much as they're totally PC savvy and capable of sorting out anything but more likely to have no fear of clicking things until something happens or install stuff without fear of what might happen. Other (usually slightly older) comp users will probably be more concerned about just clicking on stuff and may even stop completely until given the all clear by someone they consider more expert on the matter.

It's easy to forget that we're all now networking, sharing, setting up very complex equipment that not so long ago could only be done by IT technicians and now anyone is encouraged, or expected, to be able to get online and computing. It's remarkable that so many people can deal with the technology really.