Consumer group warns on insurance for music downloads
July 31, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Insurance
A consumer group has issued a warning relating to insurance cover for music downloads. Downloading music has become a hugely popular way for younger generations in their teens, twenties, and thirties to enjoy listening to their favourite music.
However, Which? has carried out a survey into insurance cover for music downloads and is urging consumers to be aware of exclusions relating to these policies.
According to the result of the survey carried out by Which? music downloads will not be covered by insurance if they are lost as a result of a computer virus – these music collections are often worth hundreds of pounds in total, and therefore can cause considerable financial loss to consumers. Many insurance firms also did not cover music downloads if they were lost as a result of hard drive failure.
As part of the survey 46 insurance firms were reviewed by the consumer group, and out of these only 22 actually offered insurance cover for music and digital downloads. The cover is offered when the downloads are lost as the result of fire, weather conditions, or theft. However, out of the insurance companies surveyed none of the policies offered provided protection against loss of music through virus or computer failure.
One spokesperson from Which? stated: ‘Downloading music online is widely accepted now as being the easiest and most convenient way to buy music. Music lovers know it, the music companies know it – but it seems insurance companies are determined to stay behind the times.” Consumers that do take out this type of cover for their music and digital downloads should ensure that they know what is excluded from the policy, and therefore consider whether the cover is actually worth the cost.
Tom Smith
31st July 2007
