PC and Laptop Damage Reports for Insurance Claims
When making an insurance claim for your damaged laptop, notebook or desktop computer – or other computer equipment and devices – your insurer will most likely ask you to obtain a computer insurance claim report to accompany your insurance claim. More often than not, the insurer (not you) pays the cost of the PC or laptop damage report.
At Affordable Computer Repairs and Service we charge a flat fee of $145 (remember your insurance provider should pay this fee, not you) to provide you with a first rate computer insurance claim report that provides all the necessary information that your insurer will need in order to be able to process your insurance claim.
To date, none of the many Windows or Apple computer or laptop insurance claim reports we have provided have been queried, disputed or rejected by any insurer.
The computer, Mac or laptop insurance claim report will also include cost for data recovery should you this be required.
A typical desktop computer or laptop damage report for an insurance claim is around 2 to 3 pages in length. An example of one of our recently completed insurance claim reports for a damaged Apple Mac is provided at the end of this page.
In order to provide you with a comprehensive report for your insurance claim we will require your computer for a period of 1-2 days to undertake a thorough test and assessment.
Contents of a Computer or Laptop Damage Report
We will diagnose the possible cause of the damage sustained and the related faults found on your computer. This may involve completely disassembling your laptop or desktop Mac or PC. Each hardware component in your computer will be tested and all damaged items will be identified.
We will provide you with a PC or laptop damage report that clearly states the likely cause of the damage sustained, be it a power surge, liquid spill, impact with a hard surface, etc, and resulting component failure, etc. Each component – whether it happens to be the motherboard, screen/ display panel, hard drive, etc – that has sustained damage (and identified as requiring replacement) will be itemised. The estimated cost of replacement of each component together with the estimated cost of labour required to complete this repair work will also be clearly itemised in the laptop damage insurance report.
The total estimated cost of repair, along with the availability of replacement parts and time for completion, will determine whether we recommend to your insurer that your computer is repaired or replaced.
We are confident of the quality of this service and the report that we provide to you.
Insurance Claims for Other Computer Equipment
Depending on the nature of the damage sustained, particularly in the case of a power surge/ lightning strike or water damage, you may have sustained damage to more than one device, not just your laptop, Mac or PC. It may be an additional computer, monitor, printer, NAS or external hard drive, or modem/ router that has also been damaged and that you may wish to include in your computer repair insurance claim. If this is the case, we will undertake a comprehensive testing process for these additional devices and provide you with a more detailed report. We will negotiate a fee proportional to the work required and provide you with an insurance claim report to include all items you are claiming for.
If you live in Brisbane and would like us to provide you with a computer insurance claim report for your laptop, Mac or desktop please call us on 3397 1215 or 0409 974 707.
Example Computer Insurance Claim Report
Affordable Computer Repairs and Service
Mac Service Claim Report
Customers Name XXXXX
Customers Address XXXXXX
Re: 1) Apple MacBook Pro 17” notebook computer
Model: A1297 (Late-2011); EMC 2564;
MacBook Pro 8.3
Configuration: (2.4 Ghz Core i7 – 2760QM; 4 Gb 1333 Mhz DDR3 RAM, Radeon HD 6770M 1024 Mb DDR 5 & Intel HD 3000 graphics controllers, 500 Gb 7,200 rpm 2.5” SATA HDD, DVD optical drive)
Serial No: XYz123ABC
Claim Number: XXXXXX
I have inspected the above-mentioned device and have determined that it has sustained damage as the result of a power surge / spike (most likely due to an electrical storm) seriously damaging its key internal electronic components, in particularly the logicboard (the name given to the motherboard or “main-board” in Apple Mac devices) which includes the graphics/ video sub-system), HDMI, Ethernet and USB ports – of a kind that will prevent this notebook computer from being started/ powered on and to function in the way it was designed and intended to be used. A serviceable motherboard is fundamental to the operation of any computer. This component cannot be ‘repaired’ and will require replacement.
Further testing of the system and individual components has highlighted additional damage to the device, most notably the 17.0 inch (1920 x 1200) LED TFT display panel (and video data cable), along with the display panel’s circuit board and ZIF connectors, and this component will require replacement as it cannot register a display signal or display images on screen – even under the most basic of test conditions – and is thus unserviceable. This component will need to be replaced. It cannot be started/ powered on) and thus, no image can be displayed on the screen.
Power surges or spikes are highly dangerous for electronic components and devices in general. This primarily results in the failure of the motherboard (which includes the CPU, RAM, GPU/ graphics/ video sub-system) of a kind that will prevent the notebook computer to power-on and function (and perform) correctly to a standard it was designed for. Even if the initial testing results had proved the failure to be less severe, the motherboard and/ or its key sub-components are likely to fail in the immediate future. The result will be a system that cannot be started / powered on and could also result in data loss.
Repair of this computer is only possible by replacing the existing logicboard. This is the most expensive individual component to replace and the most difficult to source. Such a replacement component will most likely be a refurbished item and cannot always be guaranteed to be fully functional. As a used or reconditioned component, its remaining serviceable life may be only a matter of weeks or months. Nor can such a part be guaranteed to be easily available. Often, these parts have to be sourced from North America or Europe adding to both time and expense involved.
The two 2 Gb RAM DIMMs or memory modules which are installed via slots on the logicboard, were also found to be faulty and will also require replacement.
The 500 Gb 2.5 inch hard disk drive was also tested and this was found to be functional and the data on the hard drive to be readable. This device contains the operating system, applications and system recovery files. Although serviceable, this cannot be guaranteed even in the short-term. Whilst it remains functional, it would be highly advisable to replace this item, as contact with water or any liquid will lead to eventual failure. For this reason, all user data should be recovered from this hard drive and copied to an external storage device. This is a critical component and in my view must be replaced.
Testing has revealed that the polymer Li-ion battery is also unserviceable as it will no longer allow recharging or hold charge which is its principal function. Again, this is the result of electro-magnetic damage.
The 802.11 b/g/n wireless network card was also tested and whilst this component appears to be serviceable, testing showed their level of performance & stability to be intermittent & below specification. Again, it is strongly recommended that this item be replaced as its reliability – even in the short-term – cannot be guaranteed and should not be retro-fitted and reused in any type of repair.
Neither the keyboard (which is part of the upper body assembly) nor trackpad could be tested as these require the connection to a serviceable logicboard to assess their serviceability. Each contains a printed circuit board which may have sustained some damage and if this is the case, these also would need to be replaced. At this stage, this cannot be determined without a serviceable logicboard.*
At this stage, no other items were found to be faulty but this cannot be determined until both the logicboard and keyboard are replaced and this computer returned to a functional status.
This MacBook Pro notebook computer is a superseded design. It is the last of the 17 inch models for which all manufacturing has now ceased. No replacement stock of this 17 inch model is likely to remain in any inventory. The internal layout of this model differs from newer models in some key areas of the product’s design.
The latest version of this particular model’s “replacement” in the Apple Mac range is the 15 inch MacBook Pro model. This model has comparable specifications – and is currently available (new) from the Apple on-line store for around $3,500. This cost is very similar to the purchase price of this 17 inch MacBook Pro in 2011.
It is my view that any repairs undertaken may not be cost-effective, nor may this be a practical course of action given the scarcity of replacement motherboards/ logicboards. Even if available, mostly likely as a used or reconditioned item, its reliability and on-going service cannot be guaranteed. If parts are available, the estimated cost of repairs is as follows:
| Logic board/ motherboard | $ xx.xx | Used/ refurbished |
| 2 x DDR 3 RAM modules | $ xx.xx | New |
| 17.0” 1920 x 1200 TFT Display panel & LVDS display cable | $ xx.xx | New/ refurbished |
| Wireless network card | $ xx.xx | New / refurbished |
| Li-ion Battery | $ xx.xx | New/ refurbished |
| 500 Gb SATA HDD | $ xx.xx | New |
| Freight (Priority Air) | $ xx.xx | Parts delivery from the United States/ Europe |
| Labour | $ xx.xx | Installation & Testing (4 hours @$150 per hr) |
| Total | $ xxxx.xx | |
| ** Optional (if required), but strongly recommended | ||
| Trackpad | $ xx.xx | New/ refurbished |
| Upper Case assembly with backlit keyboard | $ xx.xx | New/ refurbished |
Given the cost of labour and placement parts, and the likely time involved to source most of these components from overseas – along with the fact that virtually the all principal components of this computer have to be replaced – it is my recommendation that this notebook not be repaired as it would be uneconomic and impractical to do so.
I strongly recommend that the computer not be “repaired” and should be replaced.
MARK KOTORAC
IT Consultant
FYI Other Computer Insurance Claim Information
If you are not certain about whether or not you are covered by insurance for your laptop or desktop you are best calling your insurer direct. There is however some general information about insurance that is probably worth looking at first so you are clear as to the questions that you need to ask.
