I broke my laptop, what should I tell my insurance company what happened to it to ensure I get some money back?

Adding just 1 more thing to what else has been posted. For rain to break the screen makes no sense, unless it was hail damage. When I left my cell phone outside on my deck and some rain got in the phone, it went dead. The 1st thing the phone technician did, was pull out the battery and they have these batteries that turn color when it gets wet, since many people will claim something else. Poster MSAD is right on her answer and suggest you take her suggestions.

You tell them your boyfriend broke it. If the insurance pays out, they'll turn around and sue your boyfriend for reimbursement. The standard homeowners policy only covers your contents for named perils. "oops it fell and the screen broke" isn't a named peril.

You should be honest with them. Most insurance plans that cover laptops covers accidental damage. If you lie to them you are committing a felony. Any yes, sometimes insurance companies investigate claims no matter how small to ensure they are accurate.

Tell them: While I was sitting on my stool, the GRAVITY took hold and my Laptop fell to the ground.

I suggest you submit a liability claim against your boyfriend for his negligence in knocking down the computer, and causing it to break. Then he can submit this claim to his home owner's or renter's liability insurance. Then you can recover ACV (actual cash value) without any deductible being applied. Honesty is the best policy. ----------------------------------- Edited Additional Thought: I think your boyfriend should step up to the plate and take responsibility, if he really was the one who caused the loss. And this applies regardless of whether he has personal liability coverage or not. But that doesn't mean he owes you "replacement cost." First you have to figure out what your computer was worth. Not only are we looking at wear and tear issues, but with computers, obsolescence is a huge factor as well. Ask yourself, realistically, if you had put a "for sale" tag on your computer the day before this loss occurred, how much could you have expected someone to pay for it? For example, if your computer cost $800 when it was brand new, and if it is already five years old, the value maybe closer to $100 or $175. If the battery is old, deduct for the cost of a replacement battery. Secondly, you need to assess liability. You did not mention what state you are from. Negligence laws vary from state to state. Pure comparative, modified comparative, contributory? Was your boyfriend 100% at fault? I doubt it. Perhaps leaving your laptop on a stool was a precarious location, and he wasn't expecting it to be there, or he did not know it was there, or his back was turned when he bumped it. It is your responsibility, as the owner, to protect your computer. If you failed to do so, your own comparative negligence must be factored in to the liability assessment, and your recovery is going to be reduced by the percentage of negligence that you contributed to the loss. (This is true unless you live in a contributory state, in which case even 1% negligence on your part would bar any recovery.) We do not have enough details to make this liability assessment for you. But, for the sake of discussion, if your laptop has an ACV (actual cash value) of $100, and if you were 50% at fault for leaving your computer in a precarious location when he inadvertently bumped it, then your boyfriend would owe you 50% of $100, which is $50.00. (Note: I never viewed this as a first party property claim because "contents" are covered under "named perils," and this occurrence is not included in that group of named perils. One of the other posters had pointed that out too. So we have to view this as a liability claim.)