Originally Posted by
optionstrader
(by the way it was not my laptop but my employer which is the government. No important files were lost fortunately.)
Holding my tongue on the common sense shown by our friends in the government's employ.
If it's not your machine, you're not out anything and not entitled to compensation for the computer itself.
Claim compensation for those things you lost that you actually owned, and report the missing computer to whomever gave it to you.