   (comp hit by lightning) ATTN: Liberty Mutual home insurance policie holders
  Our property was recently hit by lightning and, at the time the computer was on and immediately after the lightning striked, my computer went off and did not want to start anymore. I took it in for repair at Computer Resources and they told me the motherboard got damaged. I was thinking about having it repaired by the computer technician but it's just too much ($300) and I cannot afford to pay that much right now. But I decided against it, not only because of the heavy repair price, but also because I read a thread on another forum (a dell one) that your homeowners insurance policy usually covers these kinds of problems.Therefore, before I contact our homeowners insurance to file a claim, does anyone with the same insurance provider know if they really do cover computers under a homeowners insurance policy? Or, maybe you've heard of this actually happen to a friend before ..? or worst, maybe it's happend to you, too?Here's what our insurance policy says:COVERAGE AND LIMITS UNDER YOUR LIBERTYGUARD HOMEOWNERS POLICYSECTION I:COVERAGE A - YOUR DWELLING WITH REPLACEMENT COST$151,400COVERAGE B - OTHER STRUCTURES OR RESIDENCE COST $15,140COVERAGE C - PERSONAL PROPERTY WITH REPLACEMENT COST $113,550COVERAGE D - LOSS OF USE OF YOUR RESIDENCE PREMISES  ACTUAL LOST SUSTAINEDSECTION II:COVERAGE E - PERSONAL LIABILITY (EACH OCCURRENCE)   $100,000COVERAGE F - MEDICAL PAYMENTS TO OTHERS (EACH PERSON) $1,000DEDUCTIBLE: LOSSES COVERED UNDER SECTION I ARE SUBJECT TO A DEDUCTIBLE OF $1,000deductible question: If my computer is covered under COVERAGE C, does that mean I have to first pay $1,000 to get a replacement cost? because if that's the case, then I guess it's not worth it at all.Guys, Please give me some advice if you have any.Thanks in advance- xeddiex   
  Basically, it means they will cover what they cover, minus $1,000. So, if you had an object that they valued at $1500 with a deductable of $1000, then they would only pay out $500. Or they will replace the item with something that they "value" to be near your replacement costs, just beware that such replacements are typically significantly less. In general, I would take the cash (especially in todays market where you can build a damn fine machine for $700).   ;  Damn, that kinda sucks then. I paid $2,000 for my dell 3 years ago and, I guess at todays current market price and, it being used and all, it would be worth about half the price I paid. So they would probably value it at $1,000 and with the deductible applied, I will only get $0 back [depressed]. This is all assumption, of course. I still have my reciept, hopefully, that might come in handy when filling the claim.Thanks a lot, Washu.- xeddiex   ;  First, make sure that your insurance policy even covers lightening strikes.  Next, if you are only going to be making a claim for the $300 motherboard, it is not even worth involving the insurance company because they won't pay (you will be under the $1,000 deductible) and if they do pay your insurance rates might go up.Talk to your insurance agent and ask all of your questions before you make any claims.   ;  I'm not sure about you guys in the U.S but in Australia, I believe the concept is called an excess.  However, an excess only comes into the equation if the value of the item being replaced is over a predetermined amount.  So if a $2000 PC is being replaced, you may not have to pay the excess, but a $5000 PC may incur part or all of the excess.It may work differently over there though.   ;Quote:Original post by monkeygrrl18First, make sure that your insurance policy even covers lightening strikes.  Next, if you are only going to be making a claim for the $300 motherboard, it is not even worth involving the insurance company because they won't pay (you will be under the $1,000 deductible) and if they do pay your insurance rates might go up.Talk to your insurance agent and ask all of your questions before you make any claims.Thanks for the sound advice. What also saddens me is the prospect of my video card (256MB x800 PRO ATI Radeon) being fried also. I bought it a year ago and I shelled out $400 for it. *cries*- xeddiex   ;  Another thing to be aware of, I don't know if this is an issue with a lot of people's insurance policy, but I know it's a bit of a catch with mine; is that by making a claim you lose a claims free status which means that your premiums are (sometimes considerably) reduced. I don't think, for myself, it would be worth making a claim less than about four grand.   ;Quote:Original post by xeddiexTherefore, before I contact our homeowners insurance to file a claim, does anyone with the same insurance provider know if they really do cover computers under a homeowners insurance policy? Or, maybe you've heard of this actually happen to a friend before ..? or worst, maybe it's happend to you, too?An insurance policy is generally designed to protect against catastrophic damage, the sort of events that, if you had to pay for the damage yourself, would irredeemably harm your financial situation. Your insurance premium is a trade-off with your deductible: the lower your deductible, the more routine the events that your policy protects against, and so the higher the premium will be. Conversely, if you only want to protect against the most destructive or totally unforeseen and damaging events (total devastation of your property by a hurricane, your basement is taken over by extra-dimensional necromancers intent on raising Cthulu, etc.), your premiums will be much lower.That said, it's pretty clear that a deductible of $1,000 is not designed to protect against the loss of a computer (unless it's a very big or expensive one). As a rule of thumb, you should make a claim if the deductible is 25% of the item's value or less. Otherwise, you'll wind up paying more in possibly increased premiums than you will if you just eat it yourself.A much better solution for this sort of thing is to buy a surge protector that comes with a guaranteed protection plan (typically advertised on the front cover). If the surge protector fails to save your computer, you can file a claim with the company and they'll pay the full cost if it's determined that the surge protector failed to work. For instance, here's APC's policy, in which they promise to refund the "fair market value" of your damaged equipment as well as replacing whichever APC product was responsible for the damage. Be aware that most surge protectors typically offer only one-time protection: once it's shielded your equipment from a lightning strike, it's no longer fully effective.   ;  I guess you're right, KSquared. It makes more sense now.To avoid the chances of my premium going up, I'll unfortunately look for an alternative solution.Thanks,- xeddiex   ;Quote:Original post by xeddiexI guess you're right, KSquared. It makes more sense now.To avoid the chances of my premium going up, I'll unfortunately look for an alternative solution.Thanks,- xeddiexwell, i could just point you to a new motherboard and talk you through installing it..... but your pc is an dell, who use thier cheap and crappy proprietary hardware, meaning that not just any motherboard will work. and i would sy your pc is probably worth 1/4 or less of the original price you paid for it. as far as the insurance goes, yeah it is not best to make a claim unless you truly have too unless you want your premiums to go up for no reason, and $300 i don't consider that large of a cost to make a claim.