School Device Coverage is protecting student’s electronics from all kinds of risks, saving parents a lot of money in case of a damage

School Device Coverage is owned and operated by one of the largest and best established parcel insurance providers in the country, U-PIC Insurance Services, that is based in Southern California and has been providing coverage to both individuals and companies for over 30 years. School Device Coverage protects the students with expensive electronic devices like laptops, iPads, and Chromebooks from the risks typically associated with deploying costly technology devices in 1:1 programs. What makes them stand apart is the company’s vast experience in the field of insurance and that repairs can be done locally, by mail-in, or in-house by the district’s own technology professionals.

Most parents get a bit worried when giving expensive educational technology devices to their children for scholarly purposes, and this is why School Device Coverage is helping them have peace of mind, with their comprehensive policies dedicated to protecting the interests of parents, the students…and the districts.

Matt Morelli, the Director of Business Development for U-PIC Insurance Services, tells us more about the company and how its services can help these parents save a lot of money in the event of loss or damage to the device.

Interviewer: Give us a brief overview of your background.

Matt Morelli: Sure thing! I worked in business development in the financial and beauty industries for nearly 20 years before coming to U-PIC Insurance Services. I came here in 2018 because I was floored by the burgeoning opportunity that was presented by the growth of technology in education. Technology devices like iPads, Chromebooks, and laptops are quickly replacing pens, paper, and books in the classroom setting and at home. I think that this is a great thing! However, along with this comes the fact that we’re putting expensive devices into the hands of children, and no matter how careful they try to be, and no matter how rugged a case these devices may have — they’re going to break. We exist to place a barrier between the risk of damage or loss, and the financial burden this places on families who are ultimately responsible for the well-being of these devices.

Outside of business, I’ve also served as a reserve military police officer since 2007.

Interviewer: Tell us something about U-PIC Insurance Services?

Matt Morelli: U-PIC Insurance Services opened its doors in 1989. Since that time, the U-PIC Shipping Insurance side has insured well north of one billion packages in transit between businesses and their clients. U-PIC has partnered with industry titans like the United States Postal Service, Amazon, DHL, and more. U-PIC is the most trusted shipping insurance company in the nation.

Interviewer: What inspired U-PIC to start School Device Coverage?

Matt Morelli: In 2014, one of our employees was at a dinner party where she met the superintendent of a local school district. He asked her if we also insured technology devices, because his district was about to roll out their new 1:1 program and they were unhappy with the device manufacturer’s extended warranty. It did not cover loss or theft, nor did it cover accidental damage without having deductibles levied. At the time, we did not, but she took note of it, came into the office the following week, and sat down with the President of the company, Bliss Landon, and some other colleagues. After a lengthy discussion and idea sharing session, the foundation was laid for what would become School Device Coverage.

Since that time, School Device Coverage has grown hand over fist. In fact, we’ve doubled in size just between the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 school years.

Interviewer: What are the services provided by School Device Coverage?

Matt Morelli: Following the construct of U-PIC Shipping Insurance, we engineered School Device Coverage to be nimble and flexible in our offering. What that means is, we insure devices in any manner our district clients need.

Some districts want to be 100% hands on. They want to purchase insurance coverage on each device that they deploy. Others want to offer the coverage as an option to parents. In those cases, we work very closely with the district to ensure that parents are educated on the insurance offering, and are able to make informed decisions as to whether or not they want coverage.

For covered devices, we offer indemnity against the risks typically associated with deploying these devices to young children and teenagers. Loss, theft, accidental damage, screen breaks, fire, flood, and so much more. When damage takes place, we offer districts multiple options for repair. If the district has on-site technicians, they can fix the devices and invoice us for costs. If they do not, we will partner up with a local repair facility to fix devices. Many times, these facilities will pick up and drop devices off for the district. If there are no on-site technicians or local repair facilities, we do also have depot repair facilities where broken devices can be mailed. The claims process is very easy and fast.

Interviewer: Who is it suitable for?

Matt Morelli: Anyone really. At the district level, this is suitable when some form of warranty is required. The difference between the manufacturer’s extended warranty or accidental damage plans, and our real insurance solution is huge. From the perspective of bang for you buck, insurance is the clear winner. For districts that aren’t as interested in providing blanket coverage and would instead prefer to put the onus on parents, we offer that same solution as an optional purchase. No matter how the needs are laid out, we can engineer a solution to fit.