Are your music downloads insured?

According to new research from Sainsbury’s Home Insurance, an estimated £1.3 billion worth of digital downloads have been amassed by UK consumers, yet almost three quarters of home insurance policies not covering digital purchases.

The study reveals that 36% of the adult population owns downloaded music and the average online music shopper now values their music download collection at around £85, although nearly 1 million people (959,101) estimate that they have well over £250 worth of downloads. Now Sainsbury’s is warning that the most avid music lovers out there could find themselves seriously out of pocket as well as without their tunes.

Just 5% of people downloading digital music know for certain that their digital music is covered and nearly a quarter (23%) are either pretty certain or expect that they wouldn’t be covered in the event of loss. 55 per cent of people have no idea what the details of their insurance policy are for this.

Ben Tyte, Sainsbury’s Home Insurance Manager, said:

“Downloading music has taken off in recent years, but many home insurance policies are lagging behind in terms of covering people for their purchases.”

“There may be an assumption from consumers that once they’ve made a purchase any loss could be recovered from the retailer but most outlets only allow for a single download. The likes of Amazon and iTunes do offer receipts via online accounts so even if a computer was totally destroyed the customer would be able to retrieve these and claim for their loss on their home insurance policy. It’s also a good idea to back-up your collection onto another computer as a precautionary measure.”