Member Article

What is the Real Value of Your Tech?

Next time you are packing your suitcase to go on your travels, why not stop and take a moment to contemplate just exactly what you are packing and how it differs from what you used to pack as little as five years ago? The point is that the value of what you are taking away with you has most likely increased by several hundred per cent over what you were travelling with just a few years ago.

In recent years, with the emergence of the mobile technology lifestyle many of us have adopted, there has been a tangible increase in the amount of gadgetry that has crept into our lives. As a result, the net worth of the contents of the suitcases and travel bags we take away with us has gone up considerably, and alongside that, so has the chance of losing or damaging them.

So let’s take a look at this in more detail and see just exactly what we are taking away with us when we travel.

Smartphone / Mobile Phone

The rise of the smartphone as an internet-connected mobile communication device has been nothing short of monumental. They are amazingly versatile devices and almost everyone seems to have one. But one thing they are not is cheap! In fact, if you are that way inclined you could be looking at close on £1700 for the RIM BlackBerry P’9981, styled by Porsche design. But let’s assume that you are not consumed by a desire to show off your social status with one of the most expensive smartphones in the world, and instead plump for a reasonably priced smartphone at a mere £200 and pop that one in your travel bag.

Tablet

Smartphones are great, but being a pocket sized mobile device, the screen is a bit small for things like reading documents, watching movies and playing games. For many people, the tablet has become the travelling alternative to packing the somewhat bulky laptop. With a screen of about 10 inches, the tablet is small, light and extremely convenient for travel. The biggest selling tablet of all time has been the iPad and, with growing competition, prices have come down recently but you are still looking at a £400 gadget tucked away in your travel bag.

E-Reader

Most of us like to enjoy a few books while we are lying on the beach and more and more of us are saving space in our baggage and swapping the bulky paperback in favour of an electronic reader, such as Amazon’s Kindle. On a device that measures 6 inches and weighs 213 grams, it is possible to store more than 3500 books but the Kindle range can cost anything from £100 to £170 for the higher versions.

So you are getting the idea. Within your travel bag, and taking up the equivalent space of a hardback novel, you have already tucked away technology valued at over £1,000. The point has been made without even mentioning items like digital cameras, iPods and many other things that could bump up the net value of your baggage even more.

Of course this technology has come to have much more than just monetary value. Many of us have much of our lives filed away on these devices. To lose them or have them stolen goes into the realm of intense personal loss and extreme inconvenience. But while the information contained on these gadgets is sometimes irreplaceable, the gadgets themselves are not. In fact, you should ensure that, should the worst happen and they are lost, damaged or stolen, they are covered under either your travel insurance or your home contents policy.

This is something you need to look into very carefully because you may find that the policies you have in place either do not provide adequate cover for these higher-value items , or that the cost of providing cover for them has bumped your basic premiums up considerably. Most worryingly, standard travel insurance policies only cover between £200 and £300 of “valuables” and, just by taking two of the items mentioned above, you’re already exceeding this limit. If you find you do need to cover them overseas, consider a specialist gadget insurance or look for a gadget top-up to a travel insurance policy such as from Columbus Direct. This type of cover is often the most cost-effective if you are looking to only buy cover for the two weeks you are away. If you need cover at home, there are many gadget insurance companies that offer a monthly payment per gadget.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David .