Would You Like Insurance With That iPad?
Ah the insurance upsell is almost as classic as would-you-like-fries-with-that upsell. Most of the time I will say no. My philosophy is, if it is more of a durable item or has a potential high resale value I’d say yes. I know, a laptop for some is a durable item and it is to a certain extent but because their value drops sharply the moment you walk out the store, it costs less to get a new one.
Some devices will always retain a better resale value than others. I have not researched this part but think most Apple products tend to retain a higher resale value than most gadgets. And the iPad perhaps one of the highest? It is still way too early in the game to tell.
However, after reading Lynn Terry’s painful experience – the iPad slipped and dropped, shattering the glass – I’m thinking this is one I’d definitely want to insure. There are other tablets out there but to date, I think there is a uniqueness to the iPad that would make it worth while.
Poking around I found there are already companies offering insurance for it but not having heard of many of them, it makes me question whether they will be around when I want to make a claim. I did find two.
- SquareTrade – $95.99 for two years, or $135.99 for 3 years, applies to all iPad models, this is a discounted introductory price.
- Safeware – I haven’t heard of them before either though the domain has been around for 16 years – doesn’t mean they have been in business that long but might be worth looking into. Different models have different premiums. for the 64GB + Wifi with International coverage the premium came up to $83.60 a year, may be different based on where you are located.
I would like to thank Lynn for blogging about the experience though. It is a great reminder how fragile some of these slick technology can be.
Photo courtesy of Lynn TerryDo You Want A Hands-Free Business?
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Don't forget to check with your home insurance company and ask if it can be insured separately as an endorsement (often called a “rider” by some). Or, check to see if it's insured as just a part of your personal property insurance as a home owner. Depending on the deductible, it might be more cost-effective to have it insured under the umbrella of your home insurance rather than pay extra for separate insurance and then pay an additional deductible on top of that. Not to mention, most home insurance companies will be around for years and years to come and you won't be left having possibly paid a premium to a company who may not be around later to pay on a claim.
Just to clarify (because I was typing fast and neglected to add this) coverage under your home insurance would be for the named perils in the policy (usually just fire and theft) so under those circumstances something like an iPad would be insured by default. However, unfortunately for the whole dropping it thing….yeah, then you'd have to get insurance that SPECIFICALLY spells out that the dropping it is covered. No matter which company you look into, make sure accidental breakage is covered because by default it's not under home insurance policies. Make sure device-specific companies spell this out too, what the limitations are, the source of proof you need to show a loss, and what the deductible would be to make sure it's feasible.
Source of all of this info: father is a 30-yr property and casualty insurance professional. 😉 He'd kill me if he saw only my first comment without mention of “named perils”! Yikes!
Don't forget to check with your home insurance company and ask if it can be insured separately as an endorsement (often called a “rider” by some). Or, check to see if it's insured as just a part of your personal property insurance as a home owner. Depending on the deductible, it might be more cost-effective to have it insured under the umbrella of your home insurance rather than pay extra for separate insurance and then pay an additional deductible on top of that. Not to mention, most home insurance companies will be around for years and years to come and you won't be left having possibly paid a premium to a company who may not be around later to pay on a claim.
Just to clarify (because I was typing fast and neglected to add this) coverage under your home insurance would be for the named perils in the policy (usually just fire and theft) so under those circumstances something like an iPad would be insured by default. However, unfortunately for the whole dropping it thing….yeah, then you'd have to get insurance that SPECIFICALLY spells out that the dropping it is covered. No matter which company you look into, make sure accidental breakage is covered because by default it's not under home insurance policies. Make sure device-specific companies spell this out too, what the limitations are, the source of proof you need to show a loss, and what the deductible would be to make sure it's feasible.
Source of all of this info: father is a 30-yr property and casualty insurance professional. 😉 He'd kill me if he saw only my first comment without mention of “named perils”! Yikes!
Thanks Jen! One of my first reactions was to think, I wonder if home
insurance covers that. I know we do have a business rider mostly to
help protect our equipment – a lot of money sitting in the home
office. And I totally forgot you and your father are in the insurance
business. I'm sure many would find this information helpful.
Lynette
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Texas has a seriously flawed and troubled property insurance environment,” says Lehrer. “A lot of the problems stem from an inadequate or simply incorrect understanding of the way insurance works. We’re hoping to correct that through a broad, objective overview of the insurance environment.