Who replace Stolen Laptop

[Crank Boy]

Friend of mine is in sales, works for a small company and has a laptop that is company's property. He goes in to have a beer with a customer, leaves laptop in car, and laptop is vicitim of a smash and grab in the restaurant parking lot.

The company wants him to turn it in to his homeowner's insurance along with billable time to have IT guys set up the new laptop. The company offers to pay the deductible.

I have no real experience in this area. What do you guys think? COmpany pay for the new laptop or he is responsible for it?

 

[NoStrings]

Your buddy was an idiot to leave the thing in the car. Where was the trunk, maybe 4 feet away? It's his bad.

 

[Crank Boy]

right, kinda my thoughts. mine always goes in my trunk, no matter what.

his defense: SUV, no trunk, in briefcase on floorboard.

i think he would be willing to reach a settlement, the "billable time" thing for the IT guys really irks him though.

 

[stripclubjunkie]

I was the IT guy at one time that had to deal with this shit. Company property, company problem and should be covered by THEIR insurance. Billable time to set up - WTF, maybe in government contracting, but not at a small shop - that's horse shit. Sometimes auto ins will pick it up under the comprehensive but not that often and then it would go down to homeowners/renters, but more often than not, the company just eats it. What if the guy has no house or renters policy..?? He was on the company clock (unless he was a commissioned rep) so their problem. The employee time is a fuckload more valuable than the 2k for a top of the line laptop, especially if there was any depreciation time on it - it's basically worthless as a financial asset after about a year (cost-depreciation-actual street residual value) - just buy a new one, write off the loss and be done with it. If they are that cheap, time for your bud to find a new shop....

 

[U20guy2]

Find a new job or be ready to find a new one if they are worried about stolen laptop cost. But he shouldn't be fronting the money for it.

SUV -wagons etc do pose an issue with not having a good out of sight place to lock things.

 

[Dawg]

Company property, company problem and should be covered by THEIR insurance.

What he said!

They have this new LoJack for laptops. The company should get it.

 

[Crank Boy]

thanks guys!

i tend to be pretty concientious about my laptop so i could see the argument of "his fuckup" but he has been arguing wiht the company for two or three days about this.

it seems to me if it was my top performer (he is) and this is the first laptop that he has lost in 15 years, then just replace the damn thing for him and move on. why bust an employee's balls about this too much.

like i said, i don't typically find myself in situations like this, i have my work laptop but i don't necessarily work out of my car the way he does on a daily basis so didn't feel comfortable in making the call for him.

 

[boomer]

Company property...company insurance

 

[Bill E Goat]

We are told not to leave our laptops in the office at night, then they say we have to show diligence if we leave them in the car, but as above if you have no way to hide it, maybe need to keep a blanket in the car to cover it. Better still wet weather gear so it is on hand for a quick call up. But one guy went to see a customer, took laptop out of car and put it in the boot (trunk for you lot) and comes back and boots open and its flogged.

Bigger issue than the cost of this is the data on it. $2k laptop vs the cost when a customer claims that the rep sent him a quote giving $x price and all these extras and the only copy of it is on a stolen laptop, so you cant deny it. Not to mention how much time is wasted due to not having old quotes, documents and emails.

How many of your companies have a comprehensive backup policy for documents and email ?

 

[water ratz]

Since he doesn't own the laptop, his homeowners isn't responsible for paying to replace it. Company should have insurance that covers laptops and mobile communication devices. Why should his insurance potentially go up? I concur that if the company is so cheap to ask him to do this that hw should start looking for a new job.

 

[LostDaggerboard]

"billable time" ??

how long does that constitute?

and i agree with boomer

if the man has no trunk, he cant safely guard the laptop

its was probably inevitable

 

[WCB]

It should be company insurance. Otherwise his homeowner's premiums will go up and it will cost him more money. It's company property, it should be company insurance.

 

[crankcall]

Company is not likely insured for the loss, they probably have 5k deductible. His ins. should not be asked either and most likely have some quams about it. If he is a top performer he should go up the totem pole where he works and get it sorted, the mid managers dont want the paperwork to deal with.

My IT guy can set up a laptop in a couple hours but he does other stuff while programs load.

Sounds like a company that has other problems.

 

[Danno2411]

I figured I would chime in on this one as an insurance agent who has dealt with a similar situation.

The "company" laptop is in no way, shape or form covered (depending on which state you live in) by a Homeowners/Renters/Condo Unit Owners etc. policy. It can't be. The only personal property covered under these policies is property owned by the named insureds.

The example I was given goes something like this:

I go over to crankcall's house for a beer and ride my bike down. I leave my bike outside in his driveway and when I go to leave it's been stolen. Who's responsibility is it? Does crankcall's HO policy pay for it because the incident was at his house... No, it's my bike, I own it, it's my problem.

So the laptop even though it was being used by your buddy was still the responsibility of the company to maintain and insure. As someone said above though, I'm sure they have a steep deductible and will end up eating the cost.

DD

 

[graffiti]

I go over to crankcall's house for a beer and ride my bike down. I leave my bike outside in his driveway and when I go to leave it's been stolen. Who's responsibility is it? Does crankcall's HO policy pay for it because the incident was at his house...

But that's not actually the same thing here. In this case, crankcall would have been borrowing the bike and you wouldn't have been involved.

 

[Bugsy]

I had this happen a few years ago. I replaced the computer using my home insurance.

I quit my job about a year after this. The company asked for their computer back. I said "Nope. I paid for it with my insurance. It's mine".

I still have that notebook.