For millions, music downloads and other intangible digital content are replacing CDs and other media. What happens if your iPod gets ripped off, though?

Most insurance companies will take claims on records or CDs, but, until recently, claims for lost music downloads, games, video downloads and ringtones fell on deaf ears.
Insurers are beginning to get with the times, though, offering coverage not just for our gadgets but the “intangible assets” held on them.

According to the Independent, “Nationwide has been the trail-blazer, including music and other entertainment downloads as standard in its home contents cover. The building society argues – and a lot of iPod users would agree – that these virtual music collections count as family valuables, just like CDs and old LPs. Other insurers are considering a similar addition to their home contents cover.”

Given the popularity of digital media, it’s likely that within the next year or so, most insurers will update their policies to include digital media content. Digital downloads have become the format of choice for singles, and it’s likely that the acceptance of digital downloads will increase as better devices are available, and as it becomes easier to use these downloads with TVs.
Given the growing sales of music downloads, it is likely that, in a year or so, most of the industry’s big players will have rewritten their policies to include the content of our portable music players, phones and laptops.