Think your car insurance covers your portable GPS navigation unit?

Think again.  That three, five or even seven hundred dollar GPS navigation unit that does everything but steer the wheel is essentially uninsured while in full view of anyone looking in your windshield.

Why do I say essentially? Ok, there is coverage actually, but it probably doesn’t come from your car insurance policy. Coverage may be provided by your homeowner’s or renter’s policy under your personal property coverage. BUT, and this is a big but (no pun intended), you need to exceed your homeowner’s policy deductible before you even have a claim.

So if you’re like most homeowners and jack up your deductible in order to bring down the cost, then you might have a $1,000 deductible or more. You’re $700 GPS unit isn’t going to meed your deductible alone. So if your GPS was stolen, you’d better hope they took your laptop as well so you can meet your deductible!

Back to your car insurance policy, you actually do have coverage for GPS navigation AS LONG AS the unit is permanently installed in your dash OR if you specifically endorsed coverage onto your policy for electronic equipment. This includes the factory GPS units that come with many higher-end vehicle models. The key here is the word “portable”. If you can take your GPS navigation unit with you when you leave the car, then it’s not going to be covered by your unendorsed car insurance policy. And that fancy suction cup bracket doesn’t qualify as “permanently installed” either.

The endorsement we’re referring to may not be available from your current car insurance company, but it might be worth looking into if you frequently carry high value electronic items in your car. You can ask your company or agent about the endorsement titled “Coverage for excess sound reproducing equipment, audio, visual and data electronic equipment, and tapes, records, discs and other media”. It allows you to list specific items you want coverage for along with an increased coverage amount.

So keep this in mind if you have portable GPS in your car. When you’re not using it, keep it out of sight. The same goes for CD’s, DVD’s, any other portable electronics such as DVD players, laptops, and video game units.  The rule of thumb is if it’s portable, it’s not covered by car insurance.