homeowner/renter/computer insurance in Colombia

la campiña says on Mar 19, 2008, 22:01:

I have to help you because I feel obliged but i realy dont want to because your post is sub human, and very disrespectful to colombians ( humans),... infact fuck you I hope you get robbed and , the best direct alarm system is www.bandidosbuggeringdumbcuntslikeyou.com

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Aaron21 says on Mar 19, 2008, 22:10:

Umm... whoa!

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la campiña says on Mar 19, 2008, 22:13:

get on board, soooooooooooooooo bored with idiots, LIVE HERE

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Buongone says on Mar 19, 2008, 22:18:

Aye me Buckle. Kind of harsh with the lad. He was just asking a question? Trying to see how things are. He's probably a bit Paranoid.

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tomtom33 says on Mar 20, 2008, 06:29:

I have an alarm system for my house in Medellín.

The OP, as it reads now anyway, seems innocuous enough. My Paisa novia was concerned enough about problems to want the alarm system. And we have homeowners insurance with contents coverage. And the windows are barred. And the metal front door has several locks.

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pariahdog says on Mar 20, 2008, 07:42:

Wow. la campina. jesus. what the hell are you talking about? I never even said that Colombia was dangerous. Lay off the drugs. Especially while posting to the internet. Most people have alarm systems and lock their doors here in Boston. Lots of Colombians have told me personally that in Bogota your house getting robbed isn't a matter of if but when. I assume they are exaggerating. But still. So talk to them about it if you have a problem with that.

tomtom33, what do you mean by the way it 'reads now'? Are you implying that my post was edited and that before I was insulting Colombians? Actually you came the closest to actually giving me an answer. Do you know the name of the insurance company? Is homeowner's insurance easy to find?

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tomtom33 says on Mar 20, 2008, 08:04:

Posts have been edited in the past. I have no way of knowing one way or another. Given the strong negative reaction to what I saw as harmless, there was reason to believe that maybe there had been an edit.

I was insured in the past by Mapfre(http://www.mapfre.com/seguros/es/index.shtml). I had no problems with them, and I know of one liability claim that was promptly paid by them. I don't know the name of the current company. But I can get it for you.

The insurance you want should be easy enough to find.

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darkangel305 says on Mar 20, 2008, 08:25:

i understand y some1 wants to protect there home.
my grandma in bucaramanga got her home broken to while she was in church :0(
i learned always hide your i.d really well
she hid them so good it even took her time find them herslef

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lampltr says on Mar 20, 2008, 09:16:

la campiña, a bit harsh bro...he does have a warranted question as I had asked my wife to look into same. Living in central CO, my family (yes they are Colombian...) had their house broken into. Once house was ransacked, 2nd was a kidnapping so say what you will. Tomtom is correct as we now have same with triple locks on our thick metal doors, but this will not deter in the long run. Just beware who is invited into the home as there may be other intensions. Believe added benefit would be 2 large Mastiff's or Rotties, but do not know the ramifications of the law if the dogs were to tackle the would be's, do not believe any though.
Kat, there's a business idea for you, marketing inexpensive home security systems....

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jack_jason says on Mar 20, 2008, 10:28:

La Campiña, what happens here is that pariahdog is a poor guy that cannot afford to loose a five thousand dollars computer. It will take him all his life to get the money back to buy a new one.

This is just spanglish, please do not correct me

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droble77 says on Mar 20, 2008, 13:03:

Do you really need such an expensive computer? Is there some kind of high-end graphics/publishing, financial, or scientific work that you do? Or do you just like to play the latest greatest video games?

Maybe you're looking at the problem from the wrong angle. I personally wouldn't invest in an expensive PC because that $4000 piece of equipment will be worth $400 in 4 years, maybe less! Again, if that PC is for high-end work, then it's a different story.

If you're so worried about theft, why don't you just fill your home with less expensive things?

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droble77 says on Mar 20, 2008, 13:07:

One last piece of advice. Your most critical asset is NOT the computer itself but the DATA that's in it!

Be sure to backup your data. You might want to consider having a 2nd backup hard drive (and hiding that very well). Also, there are online data backup services so you can keep an online copy of your files that are password-protected. The rental fee for the storage space might be worth it in your case if you're really that worried about this. . .

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darkangel305 says on Mar 20, 2008, 17:46:

droble thanks 4 da tip!!

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pariahdog says on Mar 20, 2008, 23:14:

Thanks guys. Especially tomtom33. That's exactly the kind of detailed answer i was hoping for. I really appreciate it. And yes I would love to get the name of the current company as well. You could pm it to me if you would prefer. Are these companies in the yellow pages? If so, would they be under 'seguridad'? Thanks again for taking the time to help me out. I do wish you didn't feel the need to assume the worst about people before knowing the facts however. Wouldn't it say "last edited by pariahdog on [date]" at the bottom if I had edited it? Maybe it doesn't work that way here. I never really saw the point of that system of informing people about edits until now. It's a reminder to check everything twice for grammar and spelling mistakes before posting anything on the internet so you don't have to edit it and thus cannot be accused of making changes.

I have only lived in Colombia for 3 months, but that was long enough to leave me with the impression that Colombians are the friendliest people on the planet. I am going there mostly because of this. So I wouldn't be saying anything bad about them. I have a very high opinion of them in pretty much every respect. I tend to dislike most people and want to avoid them. I really prefer to be alone most of the time. Colombians are some of the few that I don't feel this way about. And I have traveled widely and lived abroad in a few other countries. So I do know the difference.

at droble77: I don't need the PC for work per se, but the kind of (unpaid) 'work' I do at home (game programming) does greatly benefit from a bleeding edge system. I just do it for fun but it is by far the most important thing in my life. I spend 90% of my time in front of a computer and I woudn't have it any other way. And I don't see it as an 'investment' at all. I do realize that computers, especially bleeding edge computers hugely drop in value within months.

As someone guessed the reason I am so worried is that I have never had a computer even remotely as valuable as this new one. To give you some idea of my income bracket, my last job was bagging groceries at a supermarket until I was fired. The one before that was washing dishes at a fast food restaurant. I was just recently turned down applying for a job bagging groceries at another supermarket. I seem to be nearly unemployable. Jeje. So no. My use is definitely not professional. In my dreams maybe. I don't even have a high school diploma, let alone a university degree.

I am typing this on a 1.13 Ghz Pentium 3 with 512 MB (PC100). I haven't (fully) upgraded in a very long time. Maybe 8 years or something. And I have had to save quite a while for my new system, and I still had to pay for some of it on credit. And it is so small (uATX) that it would be easy to walk off with. There are so many expensive components packed into a super small package. It is the only valuable thing I will have however. No TV, stereo, or even much furniture (just a bed, a desk, a small table and a couple of chairs). The computer is actually small enough to fit in a book bag (mochila) I think. I could take it with me everywhere I went, but I think that would actually be less safe and of course a major PITA.

So far (in 3 months) I was pickpocketed once, but I was a little bit drunk and tired and walking home alone late at night (very stupid). And while I have never been mugged in my home town of Boston, I have been robbed a number of times while traveling in Europe (mostly Romania and Holland). This is not to say that Colombia is 'safe', but it certainly didn't seem very dangerous to me. Although I do tend to avoid going out at night, especially alone. Colombians actually seem comparatively honest to me. Much more so than Cubans for instance who I tend not to trust at all after many bad experiences.

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tomtom33 says on Mar 21, 2008, 03:46:

I don't feel the need to assume anything. That is why I mentioned that I did not know about editing. And, no, edits are not so noted on this site. There has been so much crap on this site lately.

You are welcome. I am not inclined to provide any more information for you.

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webmanco says on Mar 21, 2008, 07:51:

Pariahdog it is your pc so you need to worry, but unless you give papaya, nobody is going to run away with your computer, even if you by mistake you give papaya, "forget to close the door where you live" someone might close it for you or let you know.

Now if you are so worry about security, get yourself a system alarm that will ring your mobile phone number plus 3 more you chose. Further more you can always get an IP security camera with recording capabilities. Besides de door and windows you might as well put one sensor on your computer so if it is moved that alarm will go off. But nothing of the above is necesary, if you don´t give papaya.

(I really hate it when women get their panties all bunched up their butt, they can get so cranky!) Poor butt happy

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mranderson says on Mar 21, 2008, 10:08:

If you're nearly unemployable then how do you afford to travel and live in other countries?

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