Friday, September 23, 2005

All Praise to Royal and Sun Alliance

Some regular readers will remember that I was quite upset when the screen of my amost new Sony Vaio T2XP laptop broke on the flight from London to San Francisco in July. Although the laptop was under warranty, Sony refused to repair it under warranty, stating that the screen had suffered "physical damage", and that was not covered under my warranty. (Thus I had to pay £310 for the repair). I stowed the laptop halfway throught the flight, and the screen was broken when I got it out a couple of hours later, so it is entirely possible that it suffered some mishap I didn't see when I got up to go to the toilet or when I was sleeping or something, but if it did I didn't see it happen.

As it happens I do have an annual travel insurance policy, which I bought principally because I wish to have proper medical cover wherever I go. And although it was not my principal reason for buying it, the policy does cover "physical damage" to "valuables". So, I thought I would make a claim and see what happened, with the general expectation that the insurer would point to some fine print in the policy and not pay. It was a perfectly legitimate claim, but travel insurance has a reputation for paying on the important things (ie medical) but not for the less important things (ie personal possessions).

But I was much too cynical. I received a cheque for £250 in the mail yesterday, which is the maximum amount the policy will pay for one damaged item. No complaint from me. The damaged laptop caused me a lot of anguish, but it has ultimately not cost me very much money.

Monday, September 19, 2005

I don't know, Natalie

Possibly people you have redirected?

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