Does Car Insurance Cover My Laptop Being Robbed From Car?

Caeva O'Callaghan | December 8th, 2023

It’s never a good day when you come back and find your laptop stolen from your car. But will your car insurance policy cover it?

It depends on whether your laptop belongs to you or your employer. In most cases, you will have cover as long as it’s declared on the policy.

If the items have separate insurance – for example, if thieves steal your coat as well as your work’s laptop – these will fall under those separate policies.

In this article, we’ll cover the following questions:

• Is my employer responsible for equipment I use to work from home?
• Is my work laptop covered by my own insurance?
• Do I need to make a claim if someone steals my work laptop?

If your employer gives you a laptop, they need to have insurance for it. Similarly, if the laptop is yours you should make sure it has protection for all possible risk.

If your laptop belongs to your employer

Any work equipment provided by an employer and given to you for the explicit purpose of enabling you to work from home belongs to your employer. This means it’s not your responsibility to insure the item: in other words, you have no insurable interest in the laptop.

If someone steals the laptop from your home or your car and your employer has no insurance, it’s their fault. They’ve lost money, and unless you were negligent with the laptop they probably can’t make you pay for it. Negligence means you failed to act in a way any reasonable person should to ensure the equipment stayed in good condition.

If someone steals the laptop, you need to inform your employer as soon as possible. They will need to claim on their insurance, which is probably on the office policy under an extension for all risks. There is no need to add the laptop or any other of your employer’s items to your own insurance policy.

If it’s your own laptop

A lot of people own a personal laptop and a work laptop. They use their work laptop only for purposes relating to their employment, and may keep it in a home office. Their personal laptop is the one they use for gaming, video calling, relaxing and watching media.

Even if you use your laptop specifically for work purposes, it’s not your employer’s property if they did not pay for it. This means that if you lose the laptop or someone steals it, that will fall under your own insurance policy.

If you work for yourself from home, your laptop will normally fall under your normal home insurance contents policy.

You always need to be upfront and honest with your insurance provider about what equipment you have, and where you use it. Your belongings will automatically have insurance inside your home. However, if you often use your laptop to work outside, you will need all risks cover to ensure its safety.

What if other items are stolen?

It might be that a combination of your own and your employer’s property has been stolen from your car. In this case, these items will fall under their individual policies.

For example, if the thieves steal your smartphone and your work laptop, you will need to contact your employer about the laptop. You would also need to make a claim on your own insurance for the smartphone.

When you purchase your car insurance policies, you can pay a little extra for more comprehensive personal belongings extension. However, most insurance policies allow a small sum to cover theft of personal belongings. The limit is normally around €300 per claim. But there’s good news too: a claim under this section will not affect your no-claims bonus.

If you have any queries on what is covered on your car insurance, call and talk to our experts today.

If you have any questions about what level of cover you have on your car insurance policy and what is and what is not covered, pick up the phone and talk to our trained car insurance experts. We can go through all the possible cover options that are available from different insurance providers in the Irish market. You can call us directly Mon-Fri between 8.30am and 5.30pm on 0818 224433 or 042 9359051.

If you would like a car insurance quote, our quote engine will process your details and compares quotes from 13 providers. We look forward to helping you with your car insurance today!