Warranties Vs. Home Insurance for Personal Tech Protection

If you already have homeowners insurance, do you need to buy an extended warranty to protect such personal possessions as mobile phones, TV sets, and home appliances?

It's true that home policies provide some coverage for personal possessions. Still, warranties and homeowners insurance policies focus on offering very different kinds of protection. It's essential to understand how these plans differ in order to make a good choice.

A homeowners policy will cover personal possessions against covered hazards. For instance, if somebody breaks into your home and steals your TV set, your policy will probably cover that theft. Even if your laptop gets stolen while you're away from home, it's still probably insured by your home policy.

Typical homeowners insurance policies cover damages from such events as fire, theft, hail, and so on. Naturally, you should read your own policy or call your agent to find out what's covered and what's excluded. Keep in mind that most homeowner’s policies include a hefty deductible.

Also, according to the Insurance Information Institute, most policies have personal policy limits set from 50 to 70 percent of the insured value of a house. For a home valued at $200,000 by the insurer, that's $100,000 to $140,000 in personal property insurance. As a note, some policies may limit this coverage for certain types of items, like equipment for a home business or expensive artwork. Most of the time, that amount should provide adequate insurance for typical possessions, like appliances and electronics.

Still, people generally cannot rely upon their home policy to provide the same kind of protection as a warranty. Some reasons include:

Quote Wizard, an insurance quoting website, says that people generally choose deductibles between $500 and $1,500 for their homeowners insurance. The deductible refers to the amount that homeowners policies pay out of pocket before the insurance helps pay for damages.

Choosing higher deductibles can help reduce insurance premiums, but a $1,500 deductible won't help pay for a cracked screen that costs $300 to repair. For comparison, an Upsie warranty for a TV has zero deductible and a laptop warranty only includes a $25 deductible.

Insurance and warranties are not the same. Insurance policies may cover some accidental damage, and so do some warranties; however, your home policy won't cover replacements or repairs because of malfunctioning buttons, internal shorts, or manufacturing defects.

It's most important to remember that even if the costs to repair or replace the item exceed the deductible, they must be caused by covered incidents in order to get the insurance company to honor the claim.

Most extended warranties won't cover theft, but homeowners insurance probably will.

Before buying just any extended warranty, you should take a little time to learn about Upsie. This company truly bridges the protection gap. In fact, Upsie was founded to provide a more affordable and convenient way to cover all kinds of products.

Just a few examples of the warranties Upsie offers include computers, fitness equipment, appliances, and TV sets. In other words, if you've purchased electronics use in or around your home, Upsie probably covers them.

In fact, if you've just purchased a new item and bought another warranty, you can probably get a refund on that warranty and buy an Upsie warranty instead. For laptops, as one example, you have up to 60 days to get Upsie protection. For large appliances, TVs, and fitness equipment, Upsie gives you up to 11 months to enroll.

To go further into the first example, Upsie offers an affordable choice of laptop warranties:

A single claim with SquareTrade costs over $55 more!

In addition, your Upsie extended laptop warranty will give you the choice between prepaid mail-in and local service at certified shops. This is true for all portable devices. You can even call in your claim 24-7 and speak with a live representative. Even better, Upsie offers transparent, no hassle protection against accidents, including drops or spills, connection failures, battery problems, screen malfunctions, and all sorts of common issues.

You probably spent lots of time comparing home insurance policies before choosing the right company to help protect your valuable house. Take just a few minutes to learn more about Upsie, so you can give your personal possessions the same level of protection.