Insurance and Extended Warranty
Theft and accidental damage insurance is a recommended option for all DSA (Disabled Students’ Allowance) systems; computers, software and peripherals. The length of insurance term can be the same as the computer warranty and the choice available for these can be for as long as 5 years where applicable, thereby providing the DSA student with full equipment cover for the length of their course.
The main reason for insuring all systems is to offer quicker and easier support, and to save time deciding responsibility, assessing damage, getting quotes and organising payment.
Also if students do not take out insurance and equipment is stolen, any replacement of the equipment would be at the students’ expense. At present, insurance and warranty premiums can be paid for by their DSA.
What does buying insurance from us mean for the student?
- Peace of mind - if any of the kit we supply does not work for practically any reason, it is covered and we can fix it at no extra cost to the student.
- Quicker turn around - because payment is covered by either the warranty or the insurance we can speed up the repair or replacement process.
- The computer doesn’t get caught in the middle whilst the insurance company argues that it is a warranty issue (”so go to the manufacturer”) and the manufacturer argues it is accidental damage (”so go to the insurer”).
- Guaranteed cover - we arrange the cover at the time of purchase so there are no forms to lose and no complex process of getting quotes and renewals every year. Also, there will be no risk of not renewing the insurance and ending up with no equipment.
Advice to students: There are still some inevitable exclusions; such as leaving a computer visible in a car (even if locked).
Read:
Please note that the insurance covers sudden and unforeseen causes, not things that happen gradually as a result of rough handling. The manufacturer may claim that these are more than fair wear and tear so not covered by the warranty. So:
What does buying insurance from us mean for the Funding Body?
- Better value – because we are buying in bulk we can purchase insurance far cheaper than any individual and we are passing that saving on to the customer. It can cost up to £100 per year to insure a laptop individually and this does not cover the other equipment such as voice recorders and PDAs; we now cover everything for half of that price.
- Less paperwork – bundling all-risk insurance with all DSA systems means less paperwork for all concerned. Awards officers can be confident that the student is covered from day one until the end of their course.
- Simple pricing – we offer easy-to-understand pricing across the board.
- Good cover – we believe that the cover we now offer is as comprehensive as we have seen (based partly on our insurer’s good history with our customers).
- Excellent service – unlike many DSA suppliers our insurance company will allow the student to make more than one claim if necessary, making sure that they are always covered.
There’s less chance of hassle
We only charge the insurance company for replacement equipment at our cost - there’s no profit. So:
- The insurance company trusts our judgement - they know we’re not gaining directly from it;
- Both registration and claims take much less hassle and paperwork as they are all a routine part of our normal workflow;
- The premiums are lower because there is no profit element in any eventual repairs or replacement;
- We can usually reinstall the software we originally supplied, without having to buy new;
- Both we and the customer benefit since we get the problem solved as efficiently as possible, saving the student’s time, and also freeing up our support team to help with other queries.
Don’t assume a home insurance policy will provide sufficient cover; for example:
- Consider the terms and exclusions of a normal home insurance policy; it is highly unlikely to cover the risk better than ours. Review our cover (PDF).
- Can you be sure a home insurance policy will be renewed; our cover can last the length of the student’s course?
- What equipment will be provided in the event of a claim? Will it be whatever the insurance company’s tied supplier thinks equivalent? Or will it be another system fully matching the original DSA specification?
- Will another insurance company be keen to find any excuse not to pay up? Our insurance company values our bulk business and so has an interest in keeping us happy by trusting our judgment.
- It is unlikely that an Assessor, DO (Disability Officer) or a Funding Body can know the answer to these questions in advance. We feel that a student should never have to risk having to ask these questions. We strongly believe our automatic insurance represents your Best Value in supporting disabled students.
We try hard to offer “better than expected” support to DSA students and our insurance and warranty provision makes this possible. At the end of the day, any obstructions add to the costs and hassle of all DSA stakeholders - DO, Assessor, Funding Body Suppliers and - most importantly- the student. We believe our insurance policy is key for all provisions.
Extended Warranties
We provide warranty extension schemes for our computers and most hardware products we sell which enables extended cover for up to 5 years after the purchase. Available extended warranties and costs are shown on the product pages under the individual items and can be easily added to the quote.
Our warranty scheme can provide new for old replacements where appropriate. If you have problems with equipment under our warranty you should report it to our technical support team who will deal with the issue directly or contact the manufacturer on your behalf. We always do our best to make sure you have a working machine as soon as possible, but unfortunately we cannot make any guarantees about the time it will take to get your hardware repaired. However we endeavour to work within the guidelines laid down by the DSA-QAG Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) (PDF).
Our warranties are insured and cover parts, labour and replacement if necessary. We will register warranties and insurance on behalf of the student for DSA orders. It is important that the student keeps all paperwork safe for the duration of its term.
