Without a doubt, most data recovery jobs are expensive and users often seek to make insurance claims to offset the costs. Whilst a user may find reference to data loss in their policy documents it is a grey area that often does not result in a substantiated claim.

If you are in doubt, speak to your insurance agent. However most homeowner’s policies do not cover data recovery, unless specifically requested. Similarly, the user will be under obligation to have protected their data. If you leave your front door wide open, your policy won’t pay out for contents loss – and so it is with data recovery. If you are speaking to your insurance agent, be prepared for questions about how you protect your data.

Natural disasters that a user could not have foreseen, may well be covered. Be sure to gain a technical report from the data recovery company to substantiate your claim. Likewise, if you store business documents on your computer, your business’s insurance plan may well help with the costs of data recovery. Beware though, many business insurance policies exclude data. Data loss resulting in further consequential losses may be covered. Even if the actual data recovery services are not covered, the interruption of business claim may help you budget the expense.

Should I buy separate data recovery insurance? This is certainly an option but be careful of the caveats. We would avoid policies offered by hard drive manufacturers as there is likely to be a conflict of interests. However, electronic data loss insurance is worthwhile for businesses and is worth considering.