ExSimGuy
It isn't actually so to say that an insurance company will not cover expensive items which are stored in the hold.
When I travel everything which I own, whether it's carried on my person or on in the hold is covered by an insurance policy taken out by my employer. This insurance covers theft, loss or injury from the moment my trip starts to the moment it ends. I've only used it once when BA lost my bag , permanently. BA paid out about €600 and the insurance company made up the claim to €3000 which was the true value of the items lost, some of the items were of a reasonably high value, like a €700 digital camera. That said my IT items are not covered by the policy because they are owned by my employer but if they were mine they'd be covered, apparently.
Our insurance company is Chubb, who are based in London I believe. I've no idea how expensive that kind of policy actually is, it also covers our repatriation and risk insurance so I suppose it's expensive and has probably been written for us.
Laptops do get lost or stolen, I've 'lost' 3 in the last 5 years All of my data is backed up and I can always borrow one from our local office when I reach my destination, plus it's not mine so it's no big deal. I've also lost countless mobile phones, the most inconvenient thing being the loss of my contact list, which I also backup nowadays.