What to do if your laptop is stolen from your car

Having your laptop stolen can present all sorts of problems. Your personal data could be put at risk and you will have to deal with the costs of buying a new laptop and setting it up all over again. However, with the right measures in place, you can wipe some of these worries away. Here’s some tips from our good friends at CGU insurance.

What can I do the day my laptop is stolen?

You can quickly minimise the fallout from the theft of your laptop by first calling the police and reporting the theft. Once this is done, make sure to take note of the report number. Then hop onto a different computer or mobile device to login to all of your accounts and change the passwords. If a thief is able to login to your laptop easily, then you’ll have a security issue. Change passwords for social websites, banks, and email accounts quickly.

When this is done it will be time to lodge your insurance claim. Have your police report on hand as well as your policy number and proof of your ownership of the laptop.

What can I do to prevent theft of my laptop?

If you’ve got a laptop you need to protect, ensure you have it engraved to make it harder for a thief to re-sell it. You should also keep the serial number handy, receipt, and any proof of purchase such as photos to make it easier down the track to recover your stolen laptop and prove it’s yours.

Remember that you should also never leave you laptop in your vehicle unattended. If you must leave it, hide it out of sight in the boot of the car and ensure no one sees you put it there.

Laptop insurance

To protect your back pocket in the case your laptop is stolen, make sure you have insurance in place. Depending on which home contents insurance policy you have, you may be able to claim all or part of the cost to replace your laptop.

Home contents insurance is important in order to cover your possessions. You can also add insurance for the full value of individual specified valuables on your policy for an extra cost. It’s also important to remember that if your laptop is used for work, you will need to have it covered under a business insurance policy instead.

A comprehensive car insurance policy may also help to cover your laptop theft, as well as other personal property stolen from the vehicle. This will help if items are damaged in an accident, or if they are taken from a locked vehicle. A car insurance policy can also help take care of items such as trailers and baby car seats too should they need replacing.

How you choose to insure your laptop is dependent on your needs and situation, however both vehicle and home contents insurance are important to consider and remember, your laptop theft can only be claimed on one policy.

If you’d like to find out more about either of these policies check them out here.

Please note this information is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances or objectives. You should consider this before acting on any of the information contained.

Insurance issued by Insurance Australia Limited ABN 11 000 016 722 trading as CGU Insurance. Any advice is general only. Consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) available from cgu.com.au to see if a product is right for you.