Whether you have a paperless office or are surrounded by stacks of filing, most business are reliant on some kind of information technology. That is why you need to consider business computer insurance, to protect the value of your investment and hard work and give you peace of mind.

What does business computer usually cover?

• The equipment itself
  The policy should relate to the equipment itself, but is likely to exclude damage due to poor maintenance and accidental damage. Insurers are more likely to pay out for the theft of a computer than for damage caused by your negligence in not maintaining it or dropping it!
• The information stored in the computer
  Often, it is not the equipment itself but the information that is stored inside it that is valuable to you as a business owner. Check whether your policy includes this, and also whether it requires you to have a certain level of back up in place, in order to minimise the risk of losing valuable data.
• NOT viruses or malicious actions of third parties
  Hackers and virus writers are unpredictable by their very nature, so most commercial insurers are reluctant to cover loss suffered as a result of their actions. Most people have internet security programmes and firewalls, but even these can be penetrated by the most sophisticated of hackers.

Cover could relate to one office, or to a chain of offices across multiple sites. Check with your provider to see what is available.

Portable equipment
Laptops are taken to many different locations. But make sure that your business computer insurance policy covers the laptop when it is outside the office. Given that laptops are such easy targets for thieves, make sure that you and your employees comply with any security requirements the insurer sets, for example, placing the laptop in a secure area at night.

Are my computers already covered anyway?
Some business owners might overlook the requirement for separate business computer insurance, assuming that their information technology and telecommunications equipment is already covered under their contents policy. However, it is worth getting out the schedule and drawing up an inventory against what you actually have. Does the value of the computers exceed the single item exceptions (where the insurer refuses to include single items above a certain value on the policy)? Are computers excluded anyway because they are so easy for thieves to steal? Check these points before you need to make a claim.

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