Claiming laptop on house contents but want to keep the hardrive

[Craigbadger]

Hi, had a rather silly accident including a Macbook and a cup of coffee, luckily it's covered on house contents and the say they will pay up. The laptop did boot and the drive is fine but it's now completely dead.

Issue is that there is masses of personal data, work, account, software, music etc on there which I can't risk sending both for privacy but more for the fact I stupidly don't have it backed up.

What's my position here?, if I send with either no drive or a blank drive will there be an issue made of it?

Thanks.

[Dotty50]

If the insurance company have agreed to replace the laptop, just ask if you can keep the salvage (for a small fee). I would have thought that this situation is not unusual.

 

I had a coal from my gas fire fall on a carpet the day after it had been fitted, it was replaced without question but we were also allowed to retain the original carpet which we could use in a smaller room, we paid only a small amount but I think it just saves the insurance company the trouble of getting rid of it.

[Craigbadger]

I guess but the laptop still has to be sent for inspection. I imagine carpet is replaced out right where something like this may be repairable.

Problem is I have saved logins and bank details on here and have seen horror stories where people have sent things for repair only to have there personal data avccessed and stolen and to be honest it's not something I'd want to risk.

Thanks for reply.

[Dotty50]

Ok, I see what you mean, if it is possible to repair it, then yes it is a worry if the data is not secure. But this must be an issue that the insurance company will have had to address before.

 

Have you asked them the question?

[Craigbadger]

Asked the lad on the phone and he said to ask the inspectors when they ring. Something I did think was if I could get a like for like drive and install like that. Fact is I think they will just replace as it seems rather dead now so might just swap the drives and tell them ive done so, well infect it is already connected to another machine.

[unclebulgaria67]

Do not tamper with the laptop before sending for inspection.

 

Speak to the inspection company first.

[Craigbadger]

Problem here is the overwhelming advice on the net is to strip the machine so hopefully it dries and limit the spill spreading, well remove the battery and hard drive etc and leave upside down so I have already removed the hard drive and battery and the machine is in a few parts on the side. Hard drive was a user serviceable part though and has been open a few times before.

To be honest I didn't even think of insurance to start, just wiped up the mess and tried cleaning as best I could, then realized it wasn't going to work and gave up and called them up.

[unclebulgaria67]

You will have to provide all the parts for inspection, so they can evidence all of the damage.

[Dotty50]

I would print off details of the advice you used from the net (if you still can without your laptop), then you can produce this to them to explain your actions, if needed.

 

You were trying to limit the damage, so I don't see how they could question this. I would have thought they will be more interested in ensuring the claim is genuine and this will be something they have dealt with many times.

[dx100uk]

cant see an issue

as you say you've got the drive connected to another machine anyhow now?

copy off the stuff you want

then remove it from the hdd and put it back in the machine

 

as for trying to minimise the damage

 

any thing you spill stuff on

pop it battery out

[that s allthat need to come out]

 

and leave it in a warm place for a week with air flow

HOT WATER tank is great area

 

sometimes we flush it out with 50/50 iso and distilled

but most times as long as you leave it alone for aclear week the lappy's work ok.

 

dx

[blondie1980]

I used to work in insurance fraud.

 

If your insurers have asked to have a company inspect your laptop, they have not agreed to pay your claim. Do not tamper with the hard drive or put a different hard drive in. The company who inspect it will be able to tell (they are computer technicians and experts) and then your insurers will be asking you why you did that and in all likely hood refuse to pay your claim until you provide the original hard drive for them to inspect. The insurer is within their rights to validate all claims and that means they can request to inspect damaged items, so if you don't supply all the parts they can refuse your claim.

 

The inspection is not designed to obtain any of your personal information. All they are looking for is evidence that the damage matches what you have reported happened, the last used date (in cases of recent policy inceptions), virus's etc etc.

 

The insurer will return the hard drive to you at your request after the inspection. Although I do know that most electrical inspection companies put a hole through hard drives before they bin them.

 

Out of interest, what's the name of the company that's inspecting your laptop?

[Craigbadger]

Interesting. Had a look over on mse and there are several people who have removed the drive and the insurance paid out, they just say to put a note in informing them that you wont be sending the hard drive anywhere due to personal data on it and the risk.

Imagine if someone asked you to post your chequebook to them, you'd laugh and tell them where to go.

The amount of horror stories where insurance hard drives have found there way onto ebay with nothing more than a quick wipe. Infact there was a program on a couple of years back where they were recovering data off scrapped hard drives.

At the end of the day the data on there is worth far more than any claim I may be successful with.

Either that or they charge £30 to give it you back.

 

It's maintenance direct in Hayes that are collecting. Finally got in touch after about 6 calls to the insurance.

 

 

Sorry should say thanks for everyones views on this. I know If it goes wrong then that's my loss and i can't say I wasn't warned. I didn't even realize we had relevant cover so if it pays out it's a bonus.

Edited November 10, 2010 by Craigbadger

[Craigbadger]

Well they paid out no problem and they can't get the laptop back so I guess I did the right thing in removing the HD.

Got a log in for an online site and a load of credit to spend on what I please, can even withdraw the cash price but get more if I buy something. Can't believe it £764 settlement when the receipt given was for £520. Happy days.

[Dotty50]

Well we all learn by our experiences Craigbadger.

 

Glad you got a good result.

[Craigbadger]

That's it, I'd certainly of kicked off though had they refused because of the disk removal.

For future reference I put a note in saying that I've removed the hard drive for privacy reasons but I would be happy to provide a replacement if need be. I think the fact that it was not an old machine and still worth a fair bit used + the fact it was boxed with all other contents went on my side.

[dx100uk]

yep good result

 

dx

[mattyprice4004]

Which company was the insurance cover with?

[Craigbadger]

Cornhill, slack on call backs and forgetting things but 3 weeks start to finish wasn't bad.

[grumpy101]

Too late now I expect but rather than drying the coffee remove the battery then RINSE the spill with cold water. Drying with a dehumidifier is ideal but it will take a long time. As to hard drives they are usually fairly robust so the easiest thing to do would be to buy an identical laptop and fit the old hard drive.

[pershing]

Buy a broken hard drive of ebay. 1 or 2 screws to replace, job done the hard drive failed when the computer broke. I doubt they are gonna spend thousands of pound to have it inspected for data recovery.

[Household Claims Handler]

Buy a broken hard drive of ebay. 1 or 2 screws to replace, job done the hard drive failed when the computer broke. I doubt they are gonna spend thousands of pound to have it inspected for data recovery.

 

So you agree with insurance fraud then?

 

I would certainly not advise doing this as your insurance company can and will spend what they need to investigate a claim. Once you are proven fraudulent, they will then appoint one of there legal associates to recover the money spent investigating your claim from you.