Consider for a moment how much of your life is actually stored o electronic gadgets? Think about this for a moment or two. Telephone numbers and contact details on your mobile phone, email messages and addresses on your laptop and all your most recent family pictures on your digital camera.
You may also use a PDA (personal digital assistant) in which case you’re likely to have centralized all of your important personal and business contacts. What would be the impact on your life if you suddenly lost one or all of these devices?
If we just consider your mobile telephone there is a high probability that, sooner or later, your phone will become damaged, lost or stolen. Last year alone over 200,000 mobile telephones went through washing machines, over 55,000 were left in taxis and 600,000 were dropped down toilets. So have you backed up your sim card details recently. At the very least you should consider some cheap mobile phone insurance. While this will not compensate for not having your data backed up, at least you will get a replacement without any fuss or expense.
Cameras, like mobile phones, are small, lightweight and portable making them easy to carry but also easy to lose. Modern, small, lightweight cameras are particularly susceptible to loss and damage. They can be bumped around inside luggage, dropped and have heavy item placed on top of them. Like mobile phones there is no way that camera insurance can compensate for the loss of images stored on the camera, but it is an affordable way to get yourself a replacement if your camera is damaged or lost.
For me the significant gadget in my life is my laptop computer. Luckily for me I rarely need to take it outside of my home around 17% of laptop users routinely take their laptops when travelling, making them vulnerable to theft and damage. When was the last time that you backed up your important data from your laptop to some form of secure storage? I actually use my laptop as my backup storage for my telephone data and camera images so if I lost my laptop it would be a complete disaster.
As for other gadgets, some laptop insurance can’t ensure that your laptop will not be stolen or damaged but it can make it less financially painful to get a replacement.
I strongly recommend that you stop and consider the vital data that you have stored on various gadgets and take steps to back it all up. Make certain you get yourself some gadget insurance for your important devices as at least this will enable you to get a replacement quickly and with minimal cost to you.