Allow me to give a little public service announcement.

Last weekend I dropped a filled duffel bag while attempting to load it into our car-top carrier for our holiday trip to Tampa. It fell from the top of our SUV, and in the bag were my Macbook and iPad.  The iPad was well-protected, but the Macbook was not; the screen shattered and one corner of the aluminum body crushed.

Don’t yell at me, I’ve been fussed at enough about this.

The computer is still working decently, although I can occasionally feel the cracking of some small shards of glass inside the keyboard.

We have USAA Property Insurance (being a military family and all), and we immediately called them about our options for getting the computer repaired or replaced.

We have special computer/electronics rider on our policy that allows you to more easily repair and replace computers and electronics at cost. In other words, damaging a 4-year-old iMac that isn’t made anymore can be replaced with a current model of comprable capability.

My Macbook is almost four years old, so the adjuster helped Dave browse through Apple.com to find a comprable Macbook for a cost similar to what I paid in early 2008.

The money for a new MacBook Pro was transfered to our bank account within 24 hours of the fall, and I’m free to get the replacement.

It was that simple!*

USAA offers personal computer coverage for around $10 per year for $1000 worth of coverage. You can purchase as much as you need (preferably the total of what it would cost to replace all of your computers, software, and peripherals). USAA defines the personal computer rider coverage as:

…providing additional computer coverage not automatically included in a homeowners or renters policy. Events like fire, lightning, windstorm, theft and vandalism are already covered by homeowners and renters policies. Additional Computer Coverage offers protection against drops and spills that cause damage to your computer.

Drops, indeed. It appears I have a habit of dropping my electronics. Darned gravity…

http://thevollmerfamily.com/MajorMom/2012/04/five-weeks.html

http://thevollmerfamily.com/MajorMom/2010/09/iphone-and-potties-dont-mix.html

Again, please don’t yell…I feel awful enough!

Does the personal computer rider cover smartphones? You would think it would, considering how much capability exists in smartphones these days. USAA is in the middle of changing that, my policy used to cover smartphones on the personal computer rider, but as of my last renewal in October that came off the policy. It’s now best to invest in the insurance that your cell phone company or smartphone manufacturer provides (such as AppleCare for iPhones).

*I just found out today that configuring a new MacBook is even more simple with “Migration Assistant“, which lets you directly connect your old Macbook to your new one and allow the files to transfer over properly (and by “properly” I mean “adhering to Mac’s very cryptic file system”.)

Are you aware of how your property insurance covers your computers? Take a moment to check your policy, and if need be, consider investing in a personal computer rider.  Trust me, it’s worth the piece of mind!