Insure against the cost of data recovery

Stephen Withers
Monday, 27 June 2011 12:55

Your IT - Home IT

Data recovery can be a pricey business. So one provider has hooked up with an insurance company to offer a three-year policy to pay for recovery following accidental damage or electronic breakdown.

For $50, electronic equipment insurance specialist Covertec will sell you a three-year policy to cover the cost of recovering data from failed storage devices.

Underwritten by Chubb Insurance, the policy provides for up to $1000 worth of recovery within the three-year term. No excess is payable, but cover ends once that limit is reached and an additional policy is required for continuing coverage.

Recovery services under the policy are provided by Kroll Ontrack. "Kroll Ontrack is already a trusted partner to public and private sector organisations as well as consumers," said Adrian Briscoe, general manager Asia Pacific, Kroll Ontrack. "We look forward to working with Covertec to drive a streamlined process for recovering data stored in key digital assets, resulting in a fast and positive policy experience."

The policy does not apply if less than 1% of the data is recoverable.

"In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in requests for data recovery insurance," said Julian Day, managing director, Covertec. "Loss of data can be a traumatic experience for consumers, be it last year's tax return, accounts, letters, document scans, wedding photos or music.  At the same time, we believe that many small to medium-size businesses that need to insure a fleet of laptop, tablet and mobile phone devices will consider this insurance program as part of their business continuity strategy."

As with all insurance, you'd need to check that the policy provides the cover you need and expect. For example, if your notebook was stolen, maliciously damaged and then recovered, would the insurer pay for data recovery? What happens if a drive fails mechanically rather than electronically? What's the situation if your first claim under the policy will cost more than $1000? Like the ads say, "read the PDS to decide if the product is appropriate for your needs".