View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2012/01/17/231361.htm
Underwriting Agency, i-Digital Insurance and specialist Lloyd’s insurer Jubilee have joined forces to develop and distribute a new product providing coverage for downloaded content held on computers, smart phones, mobile devices and any other form of electronic equipment.
“i-Digital’s own research has revealed that over 60 percent of home contents policies do not provide any protection for downloaded material,” the bulletin explained. “Of those that did, cover was invariably restricted to losses resulting from the theft of equipment in the home and excluded mobiles, travel and breakdown. The research also found that mobile phone and gadget insurance policies were also left wanting with an almost universal exclusion for downloads.”
The new Download Insurance policy provides protection against the “irretrievable loss of digital downloads resulting from fire, theft, accidental damage and breakdown of the electronic equipment on which the media is stored.” It will be sold either as an ‘add on’ to a home contents’ policy, mobile or gadget coverage, or on a standalone basis.
Researchers have estimated that UK consumers “have spent £1.3 billion [$2 billion] on downloads. i-Digital’s research concluded that 50 percent of consumers questioned have data libraries worth between £100 and £500 [$153 and $766]. Consequently, replacing lost downloads could prove to be very expensive. For many people “the value of this content can exceed the value of the equipment on which it is stored.”
The offering will “address the gap in cover and the concerns of consumer groups who want to see more action from insurers to provide protection against lost downloads.” iDigital’s Chief Executive James Houlder explained: “Consumer champions, such as Which? and Defaqto, have been challenging the insurance industry to respond to this rapidly expanding exposure. Consumers face an ever moving landscape when it comes to downloads with rapidly changing terms and conditions and uncertainty around whether lost content can be re-downloaded without cost.
“The insurance sector has a clear role to play in providing protection and consumers are keen to see cover available, a fact supported by own survey. We believe this cover responds robustly to the need and calls for action.”
Distribution will be facilitated by i-Digital on behalf of Jubilee. Digital Download Insurance is being offered to Underwriting Agents and Brokers to incorporate the cover into their existing suite of retail products. i-Digital has also launched an online sales initiative via its website i-digitalinsurance.com.
Source: Jubilee Managing Agency