Insurer asking for laptop password

Sandtree

[Deleted User] said:

TSx said:

This is fairly standard with insurance claims but I understand your concern. Ultimately if you can't reach an agreement with the insurer, you can make a complaint and if still not happy escalate to the Financial Ombudsman. A cursory glance suggests they have upheld the insurers position with a similar complaint

Thanks. That's quite a poor decision really. Does not account for the gross invasion of privacy necessary, and the lack of alternative options available.

For anyone else with a laptop, maybe the best thing to do is take a photo of the screen with that day's BBC News front page displayed every month. Then you can give them the photo as proof.

Edit: Thinking about it, there is a flaw in this requirement.

I have a laptop that I mostly only use when travelling. Due to the pandemic it's been turned on only once or twice in the past two years. I would expect it to be covered it I pulled it out today and spilt liquid on it.

Clearly policies covering mobile devices need to be examined carefully to see if they really do cover mobile devices, or if they are more just for things you keep at home and use regularly.

The issue is mainly one of it being a new policy and no prior insurance... if you show years of having such insurance with no claims an eventual claim won't raise any concerns even if you are newly into the next policy year.

TSx

[Deleted User] said:

TSx said:

This is fairly standard with insurance claims but I understand your concern. Ultimately if you can't reach an agreement with the insurer, you can make a complaint and if still not happy escalate to the Financial Ombudsman. A cursory glance suggests they have upheld the insurers position with a similar complaint

Thanks. That's quite a poor decision really. Does not account for the gross invasion of privacy necessary, and the lack of alternative options available.

For anyone else with a laptop, maybe the best thing to do is take a photo of the screen with that day's BBC News front page displayed every month. Then you can give them the photo as proof.

Edit: Thinking about it, there is a flaw in this requirement.

I have a laptop that I mostly only use when travelling. Due to the pandemic it's been turned on only once or twice in the past two years. I would expect it to be covered it I pulled it out today and spilt liquid on it.

Clearly policies covering mobile devices need to be examined carefully to see if they really do cover mobile devices, or if they are more just for things you keep at home and use regularly.

It will depend on the policy wording, and providing it is clearly outlined, I don't see why it would be considered an unfair term - gadget insurance is notoriously fraud-prone so a restriction like this helps to reduce the likelihood of fraudulent claims. A household policy is unlikely to have the exact same requirements and a good claims handler will have identified the laptop usage pattern before they ask for the password so that you know exactly what to expect when examining it.

[Deleted User]

TSx said:

[Deleted User] said:

TSx said:

This is fairly standard with insurance claims but I understand your concern. Ultimately if you can't reach an agreement with the insurer, you can make a complaint and if still not happy escalate to the Financial Ombudsman. A cursory glance suggests they have upheld the insurers position with a similar complaint

Thanks. That's quite a poor decision really. Does not account for the gross invasion of privacy necessary, and the lack of alternative options available.

For anyone else with a laptop, maybe the best thing to do is take a photo of the screen with that day's BBC News front page displayed every month. Then you can give them the photo as proof.

Edit: Thinking about it, there is a flaw in this requirement.

I have a laptop that I mostly only use when travelling. Due to the pandemic it's been turned on only once or twice in the past two years. I would expect it to be covered it I pulled it out today and spilt liquid on it.

Clearly policies covering mobile devices need to be examined carefully to see if they really do cover mobile devices, or if they are more just for things you keep at home and use regularly.

It will depend on the policy wording, and providing it is clearly outlined, I don't see why it would be considered an unfair term - gadget insurance is notoriously fraud-prone so a restriction like this helps to reduce the likelihood of fraudulent claims. A household policy is unlikely to have the exact same requirements and a good claims handler will have identified the laptop usage pattern before they ask for the password so that you know exactly what to expect when examining it.

I didn't say unfair, I said you need to check it carefully to see if it's actually worth having since it would clearly not cover many items that only get occasional use.

It also seems like if you damaged your device to the point it could not turn on, or lost it, they would have no way of checking it. What would they do then, deny your claim?

OP, I have another idea. If you have a Google or Apple account maybe you could check the history on there. If you didn't turn it off then it might have some historical data for your laptop to show that it was in use.

bigjimfeet

An update for anybody who’s interested!

The insurer have now said that, since the device still switches on and works, they don’t need to check for last usage date - but they do need to check for any previous repairs/contact with Apple and so need my password for this purpose.

After speaking with Apple, they’ve told me to not give my password away and said that the insurer can get the info they require just from my Apple ID (but not any associated passwords). They’ve said in particular the instruction to not wipe data and then give away my password is, basically, “not right.”

So the negotiations continue….