Headphones & Audio Insurance Guide

If you're looking at getting headphones and/or audio insurance, then you obviously know your Beats from your Skullcandys and your iPods from your run of the mill MP3s. You probably know the difference between Bone Conduction (rest on your cheekbones outside your ears) and Biometric (measure your heartrate through your ears – oh yes, they do), and have paid a fair whack to own some beautifully crafted kit.

There's no 'one size fits all' when it comes to digital audio equipment or headphones either. They're specially designed for a range of activities - sports and fitness, home entertainment, DJ/live sound, gaming, travel, work, and fashion. Some of us have even invested in several different audio pods or headphones types to ensure we have music whatever we're doing. Because you'd look a bit weird doing a half marathon in your noise cancelling over the ear work headphones right?

If your music buddies get left on a train or you accidentally drop them running a 10k and turn around to see them being crushed under a size 10 Nike, the right insurance policy will ensure you get them replaced quickly without you having to pay out a sizeable sum of money you hadn't budgeted for.

If you are a bit accident prone and have a tendency to drop everything small and expensive, then getting decent gadget insurance might be the right option for you.

Things to consider before taking out headphones or audio insurance

• Are your headphones and audio equipment covered by your home contents insurance? Many home insurance policies cover gadgets, but we don't know that we have that extra cover.
• Would you also be protected if you lost your headphones or iPod away from home? If you have travel insurance - would that cover your audio equipment? If it will, is the full value covered or is there a set limit? What is the excess on that policy?
• You may also be covered with inclusive insurance with a packaged bank account or certain credit cards - again, check this out before taking out stand-alone camera insurance, as doubling up on insurance can lead to lots of complications should you need to make a claim. Doubling up on insurance doesn't mean double the pay-out, it can mean double the administrative headache.

What does headphones and audio insurance cover?

Key policy features for a standard policy should include:

• Accidental damage
• Theft
• Mechanical breakdown
• Overseas use

If you need a more comprehensive policy, Protect My Gadget can help find you one with extra cover such as:

• Loss
• Liquid damage

What they typically won't cover you for

Most headphones and audio insurance policies won't protect you from:

• Loss or theft due to carelessness
• Manufacturer defects or product recalls

Our top tip is always check the policy terms to see what's included in the policy. The last thing you want is to find out you're not covered for loss or theft when you try to make a claim.

Things to look out for when buying a policy

Excesses
An excess is the contribution you are asked to make towards a claim. There may be different excesses for different types of claim, so check the policy summary to see what they are (we make this information really clear on our policy details pages).

14-day exclusion period
While some policies provide instant cover, others stipulate that you can't make a claim for the first 14 days after your policy starts. Again, this is something we highlight on the quote page and policy details pages.

Purchased in the UK
Some insurers will only insure UK purchased devices, so if you got a bargain on your business trip to the States, you may find you can't get cover for it.

Purchased from auction sites
Gadget insurers stipulate that the device must have been purchased either as new from a manufacturer, network provider or retail outlet (high street or online) OR refurbished and directly from a manufacturer or network provider. If you do make a claim you will almost certainly be asked for details.

Wear and tear
Policies won't pay out for normal wear and tear, or cosmetic damage like scratches.

It's not all about insurance...

For most people the most valuable thing about their device is not the physical device itself but the data that's on it.

Protecting this needn't cost you any money at all.

Ensure that you frequently back up your music, files, photos, videos, contacts and other data. Consider cloud storage options for your data as well as physical backups such as home computers or hard disk drives.