is this insurance ok?

magoogy

my household insurance has £100 excess (morethan) so am wondering whether to take extra insurance for my laptop - is this one ok if i should?

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=COMPONENTVIEWPAGE&USG=COMPONENT&ENT=COMPONENT&KEY=54008

thanks

dauphin

If your household contents insurance covers your laptop, albeit subject to £100 excess, all you stand to gain by taking separate cover for the laptop is £100 - and for that you would be paying a premium of £50. Doesn't seem like a very worthwhile deal; you are effectively reckoning on there being a claim within the first 12 months!

magoogy

so - would you just leave it but if it does need mending pay the £100 - seems steep - or maybe this one?

http://www.domgen.com/products/computer-care/introduction.html

for only £6 a month unlimited repairs - my teen is accidentprone and just chucks everything on the floor - so, i think maybe i would be better insuring...this amount he could afford himself anyway - is there anything i should be aware of in the small print?

thanks

dauphin

The Domestic & General policy is a quite different animal from the policy you first asked about. It is intended to cover breakdown of the computer, as against theft, accidental damage, etc.

As far as the insurance through Mesh is concerned, no, I certainly wouldn't bother if the laptop was covered under my contents policy with £100 excess. If you did have to make a claim in the first year, at least you would have saved the £50 premium so you could put that saving towards the excess. And it is also a term of the policy that if you make a claim, you have to pay a pro-rata premium for the rest of the year if you wish to continue cover. So if you claimed after, say, 6 months, you would have to pay an extra £25 to continue cover for the rest of the year. Cost to you of first year's cover: £75.

The D&G policy is pretty expensive in my view - £72 for the first year to cover breakdowns, and if it's a new laptop there should be some sort of a warranty to cover this anyway for the first year at least. And I don't see this policy paying out if damage has been caused by misuse of the computer - eg. if it was left on the floor and the screen got cracked.

It's up to you of course, but I would be happy to rely on my contents cover if it covered the laptop with £100 excess. And if it was my kid I would tell them to take care of the laptop because if they damaged it, there's no way it would get replaced and if they couldn't be trusted to take care of it I wouldn't let them near it in the first place!

magoogy

thanks for your help - i realise i didnt make myself clear - sorry...i realised the first was crap but didnt explain - thanks for pointing that out

where would i find info about whether the laptop is covered for the first year ta?

also - my son is 19 and a hardworker but is a typical man - never picks up after himself - hes not really a kid so i cant tell him off lol - do try but am nagging lol - he was always tidy till he left school and went downhill typical teenstyle with the laziness in his room - sorry if i gave an otherwise impression...

thanks for your help

very much appreciated