

Ask HN: Has anyone bought Laptop Insurance for their Startups? - e1ven

Having a laptop smash or be stolen is an expensive problem, but can be much worse for a tiny startup- That $2000 to replace might be the difference between making it another month and launching.<p>IIRC, Homeowners insurance won't cover Business-owned devices, not to mention that quite a few startuppers are renting.<p>Does anyone have experience with Laptop Insurance for your business?<p>What company did you use, and how did it work out?
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lsc
Insurance is for things you can't afford to replace. To me, it's a sign that I
need to sit and think "If I can't replace this thing in the unlikely event
that I destroy it... can I really afford this thing in the first place? would
it be better to buy an older, cheaper model?"

I have a general rule that I don't carry a laptop I can't replace, just like I
don't drive a car I can't replace. I don't insure the laptop, (and I have
liability only on the car)

I mean, it's possible that you're compiling on the things, or doing something
else CPU heavy where spending the money for a more modern laptop will pay for
itself quickly in developer time... for me, all the heavy lifting is done
remotely, and on Linux, so long as you have enough ram, a cpu that was pretty
good 10 years ago can move the user interface along as fast as it needs to go.

For my workload, it makes sense to use an older/cheaper less powerful laptop
and spend more of the money on an external monitor and keyboard (or a full on
desktop for use in the office) A $150 monitor is a huge win for me.

For you this may be different. I guess saying "perhaps you should reconsider
your assumptions" is not really answering your question.

When I was in high school, my grand parents gave me a laptop (oh man, it was
awesome. a ThinkPad 365xd My parents didn't have the financial wherewithal to
get me one, and me, I was carrying a tandy model-100 around. it was quite the
upgrade. Actually, discounting crappy netbooks, this was probably the only
brand new laptop I've ever owned myself.) anyhow, it was insured through
"fireman's insurance group" or something like that. I never had cause to use
the insurance (in part because the IBM warranty was so excellent. it covered
damage that was pretty obviously my fault, too.)

