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While I plan to travel with a desktop computer in checked luggage, I am yet to find an insurance that covers much of significant value.

We have coverage that comes with credit cards with limits of $200 to $500 per item, depending on the card. Airlines also have a limit around that amount even for upgraded insurance and searching known travel insurance companies, I found similar coverage.

Does insurance exist for checked luggage between $5000 and $10000 CDN ($4000 - $8000 USD)? If so, who offers such coverage?

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  • What region are you flying in? Or do you want a general global insurance policy?
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Jun 21, 2016 at 9:02
  • If you need to transport expensive items consider shipping them as air freight.
    – Calchas
    Commented Jun 21, 2016 at 9:06
  • We will be shipping the other computer :) So I'd really prefer to have one closer to me and arrive at the same time. Hopefully it would be nice for global coverage but in this case it is North to South America.
    – Itai
    Commented Jun 21, 2016 at 14:10
  • The real worth of a computer is the data on it, not the hardware. So I hope you have a complete backup of everything, as there is no way any insurance can restore your data.
    – Peter M
    Commented Jun 21, 2016 at 20:58
  • Yes, absolutely! I have everything backed up in triple but it would be costly to replace the computer. The data is priceless!
    – Itai
    Commented Jun 21, 2016 at 22:57

3 Answers 3

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Just managed to do it yesterday with Delta. Could not find other airlines that offered it, at least not on the route I needed for this particular trip.

They have Excess Value insurance which can be bought at the check-in counter. There is a minimum coverage of $3500 USD. They enter the contents of the insured baggage in their system, along with its value and weight. It gets tagged with a special tag which says Excess Value Declared and is signed. The cost for $4500 USD coverage came to $56 CDN, since we departed from Canada.

Almost nobody does this since there is insurance from the airline and credit cards offer coverage too. So, usually, that is sufficient, so this is very rarely used. The first person at the checkin counter did not know it was offered, neither did a second but a third said he had done it about 19 years ago! They had to call in tech support to know how to issue the insurance with their system.

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    As of Jan 31st 2017 this option no longer exists.
    – Be Kind To New Users
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 2:10
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Normally an airline is responsible for your luggage and bound for compensation if it is damaged/lost by them. This compensation varies from airline to airline and only they can give you a better idea.

Most people like to opt for a private travel insurance plan. Some airlines have partners which turn out to be convenient while some people resort to 3rd party insurance firms.

from what i understand your requirement will be fulfilled by a 3rd party insurance firm you can have a look at TravelGuard or GadgetTravelInsurance.

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  • That is why I am looking for expensive item insurance, I found the airline has a very limited coverage, up to a few hundred dollars or sometimes a few dollars per pound or kilo. Nothing that would cover a computer or such. Air Canada for example even lets people pay for upgraded coverage and you still have a limit of $500 per item.
    – Itai
    Commented Jul 1, 2016 at 23:17
  • GadgetTravelInsurance seems to have close to the amounts I want to cover but they are not available outside of the UK, Isle of Man or Channel Islands. Good find though!
    – Itai
    Commented Jul 1, 2016 at 23:21
  • oh. maybe insurefor will be of use to you. also assuming you are from Canada maybe rbcinsurance or travellersinsurance.ca may also work. All of these offer baggage insurance in varying amounts upto $1000.
    – Newton
    Commented Jul 4, 2016 at 3:57
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Forget travel insurance or excess value for expensive items in luggage. Home contents insurance will cover items at a much lower cost. Many policies will allow you to declare a "high-value item" that is covered for pretty much anything, including lost in transit.

The cost is usually around 1% of the item's value per annum, for example I have something worth £2500 that costs me about £25 extra a year, so if you plan on flying a few times it's worth it. You also get the benefit that it's covered for pretty much anything as mentioned before, so if your house burns down or you crash your car with it in the boot, it's covered.

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  • Yes, this is true. Here they cover 1.5% to 2.5% which is still very good value. The details I left out of my original question was that we were selling our house to travel for a year, so home insurance would no longer apply.
    – Itai
    Commented Aug 21, 2016 at 0:19
  • Any exemple of an insurer that allows that In the uk ?
    – phdstudent
    Commented May 30, 2017 at 9:24
  • @phdstudent pretty much all of the home/contents insurers do it.
    – Crazymoomin
    Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 12:42
  • Before considering this option consider the increase in premium that would happen if you have a claim on your homeowner's insurance.
    – Be Kind To New Users
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 2:12

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