[teamonkey]

At least in the UK, AppleCare exceeds the service requirements of the warranty. If a component fails through normal use, the warranty has you covered. If your case is cracked because you dropped your laptop, warranty might not cover it but AppleCare will.

[tehwalrus]

Or your house insurance will cover accidental damage (as well as theft of your bag on a train/in a cafe, etc).

I was delighted when my house insurance bill went down considerably, because my newer Macbook was worth just less than £1000, where the previous one had been just over - meaning it became covered by the policy without a separate declaration, and an additional fee.

[sbuk]

I suppose 1 benefit AppleCare provides is no excess fees; the whole cost of repair is covered.