Need mobile phone insurance. Best deals?

STBR

Hey,

I'm getting a new phone tomorrow and I want to insure it.

I'm switching from the o2 network to the 3 network so I can't use o2's insurance.

Who can I get insurance from?

implausible

IMHO, phone insurance is a waste of money, often costs as much as the phone. Only get it if it's an expensive blackberry or something. Carphone Warehouse have their own insurance, though I'd presume you'd have to have bought it from them. If you bank with Ulster Bank, they'll insure your phone as part of their Ufirst a/c.

Mod, would this be better in mobiles & PDAs?

STBR

deemark wrote: »

IMHO, phone insurance is a waste of money, often costs as much as the phone. Only get it if it's an expensive blackberry or something. Carphone Warehouse have their own insurance, though I'd presume you'd have to have bought it from them. If you bank with Ulster Bank, they'll insure your phone as part of their Ufirst a/c.

Mod, would this be better in mobiles & PDAs?

Well the phone is gonna cost me €450, so I don't wanna drop it or something without insurance.

And I know about the CW insurance, but I'm buying from a Three retailer and they don't have an insurance plan as of yet.

Although they say they're getting one soon.


P.s. Mod, feel free to move it - It might get more views.

XJR

I know nothing about phone insurance - however do you have house / contents cover, if you have all risks this is covered subject to an excess however.

ironclaw

Why buy a phone you can't afford to replace? I have a Nokia E70, N95 8GB, and an iPhone. None are insured. Its only a phone at the end of the day and the insurance is just a waste of money.

Just my two cents.

kaiser sauze

ironclaw wrote: »

Why buy a phone you can't afford to replace? I have a Nokia E70, N95 8GB, and an iPhone. None are insured. Its only a phone at the end of the day and the insurance is just a waste of money.

Just my two cents.

So you would take a thousand euro from your rainy day fund to replace uninsured handsets? Just like that?

I suppose you don't believe in contents insurance either, or life insurance?

Would you not insure you car if it was not a legal requirement?

Nody

kaiser sauze wrote: »

So you would take a thousand euro from your rainy day fund to replace uninsured handsets? Just like that?

I suppose you don't believe in contents insurance either, or life insurance?

Would you not insure you car if it was not a legal requirement?

How many phones have you broken * the amount you get out (remember the nice fine print etc.) vs. cost of new phone. Guess what, a phone insurance simply don't add up to enough return on investment for it to be worth it and a replacement phone is very easy to arrange.

ironclaw

Phone insurance is false economy in my eyes. €10 - 20 a month to ensure something you might own for two years. Thats circa €360. Thats more than half way to most phones on the market. Plus your credit / bill. I believe in insurance, I don't believe in wasting money.

Imagine buying a Ferrari and not being able to replace it off your own back if it was stolen. How stupid would you look? :rolleyes:

ironclaw

ironclaw wrote: »

Phone insurance is false economy in my eyes. €10 - 20 a month to ensure something you might own for two years. Thats circa €360. Thats more than half way to most phones on the market. Plus your credit / bill. I believe in insurance, I don't believe in wasting money.

Imagine buying a Ferrari and not being able to replace it off your own back if it was stolen. How stupid would you look? :rolleyes:

EDIT:

So you would take a thousand euro from your rainy day fund to replace uninsured handsets? Just like that?

Yes, because I ain't a poser and can afford whats in my pocket.

STBR

ironclaw wrote: »

Phone insurance is false economy in my eyes. €10 - 20 a month to ensure something you might own for two years. Thats circa €360. Thats more than half way to most phones on the market. Plus your credit / bill. I believe in insurance, I don't believe in wasting money.

Imagine buying a Ferrari and not being able to replace it off your own back if it was stolen. How stupid would you look? :rolleyes:

€10-20 a month?

Where did you see that?

The only one I could find was €5 a month.

samhail

i spent 300€+ on an N78. i have never insured a phone.
i know some people that have insured phones and actually used it and got a new phone out of it.

home contents would cover it.

BarryM

samhail wrote: »

i spent 300€+ on an N78. i have never insured a phone.
i know some people that have insured phones and actually used it and got a new phone out of it.

home contents would cover it.

Depends on home cover, some explicitly deny it....

I have been paying €6 a month, and often thought it was a waste, until I lost my (recently upgraded, when they offered such a service) phone. I am a billpay user and of course lost the chip too, so I had to pay whatever the service supplier said they wanted to give me, in effect, a new chip. In addition I lost it abroad and got the new one sent abroad.

Only downside, I hadn't backed up the numbers.......

So, it may be a rip-off, but why do you ever buy insurance? to insure against the unpredicted!

Bye, Barry

Toots

Depending on your home contents cover, you may find that it will cover your phone if you lose it or if it's broken etc. I would have thought phone insurance is a waste of money, however I got 3 months insurance free when I upgraded my phone, and after the 3 months was up, I just never bothered canceling it (€5 per month) and boy was I glad cos I lost my phone about a month ago and the insurance paid for it. I had to pay the first €35 euro but the phone would have cost me €430 to replace. I had to make a report to the Gardai to say I'd lost the phone but that was straightforward, just called down to my local station and made the report, sent it in to O2 and collected my new phone the next day.

Yes, because I ain't a poser and can afford whats in my pocket.

That's a ridiculous statement. Obviously if someone goes out and buys a €500 phone, they can afford it at the time. I can't imagine anyone going out and thinking 'OK, I've got the €500 for my iPhone or whatever, but I better save up another €500 in case I lose it and have to buy another one!' WTF??? People's circumstances change, meaning that they may not be able to afford to spend the same amount on a phone as they did a few months ago. Luckily if I hadn't had insurance I could have bought the phone again, however I'd have been pretty sickened having to shell out for it two weeks before Christmas.

I'd say check out whether or not your home insurance covers it, if it does then you're all set. (Just be sure to check what your excess is on your home insurance, if it's high then you may be better off insuring your phone separately) if you insurance won't cover the phone, then enquire about the Carphone Warehouse cover, just make sure you read the fine print.

ironclaw

Toots85 wrote: »

That's a ridiculous statement. Obviously if someone goes out and buys a €500 phone, they can afford it at the time. I can't imagine anyone going out and thinking 'OK, I've got the €500 for my iPhone or whatever, but I better save up another €500 in case I lose it and have to buy another one!'

If you can't afford to replace something then why buy it in the first place? Its whats screwed this country in one way, people living on credit. Buying things that they could never afford to buy in the first place. For that reason alone, if you have a 105% mortgage and your in the courts because you can meet the repayments, I personally have no sympathy for you.

I'm not saying I save that extra €500 to replace it, but you shouldn't be living beyond you means. Its called being a poser. As I said above, if you bought a Ferrari but couldn't afford to replace it then you would be the stupidiest looking person in the world IMO.

Bobeagleburger

ironclaw wrote: »

If you can't afford to replace something then why buy it in the first place?

WTF ? If you buy with cash does'nt that mean you can afford it at that time?:rolleyes:

Back on-topic. I personally would'nt bother with phone insurance,complete rip-off imo

Hanley

ironclaw wrote: »

If you can't afford to replace something then why buy it in the first place? Its whats screwed this country in one way, people living on credit.

You HAVE to be a troll....

gurramok

Toots85 wrote: »

That's a ridiculous statement. Obviously if someone goes out and buys a €500 phone, they can afford it at the time. I can't imagine anyone going out and thinking 'OK, I've got the €500 for my iPhone or whatever, but I better save up another €500 in case I lose it and have to buy another one!' WTF??? People's circumstances change, meaning that they may not be able to afford to spend the same amount on a phone as they did a few months ago. Luckily if I hadn't had insurance I could have bought the phone again, however I'd have been pretty sickened having to shell out for it two weeks before Christmas.

Devaluation is the key. Phones devalue very fast as new and better models come on the market every day.
By the time the original 500quid phone is broke lets say after a year, it will probably only worth 100quid hence cheaper in long run not to insure it.

That said, insurance might be worthwhile if a problem occurs after only a few months.(short-term)

Toots

gurramok wrote: »

Devaluation is the key. Phones devalue very fast as new and better models come on the market every day.
By the time the original 500quid phone is broke lets say after a year, it will probably only worth 100quid hence cheaper in long run not to insure it.

That said, insurance might be worthwhile if a problem occurs after only a few months.(short-term)

Totally agree. In my case my phone was only a couple of months old when I lost it. When my phone gets all old and out of date, I'll most likely cancel it. However I think if you're going to invest in an expensive phone, it's worthwhile to insure it while it's new and expensive.

3DataModem

I just called up my house insurer.

They offered to insure my €525 iphone for 2.98 on top of my normal premium. As that is less than 3.00 they waive it!

Woo-hoo free iphone insurance!

Geodermo

Carphone warehouse charge €13-14 per mth. Its hard to get deals in this area as there hardly 3 companies that do it.

tHE vAGGABOND

In my experience these days its next to impossible to claim of these insurances?

When they came out first folks [including me!] really took the piss, and you just reported your phone stolen with cops and you got a new phone.

Now you have to satisfy exact criteria [written with a lot of wiggle room] or you get nothing.

matt70iu

As others have stated, phone insurance is worth it in certain circumstances.

I had my iphone for 2 months, got water damaged at electric picnic cuse of my ****ty tent. Had a new phone within a week for 50 quid. Over 600e for a new one at the time.

Other end of the scale, someone with a bog basic phone they got for free on their upgrade, never changes their phone and has it insured for years. Waste of money.

It's down to all of us to decide if insurance on your handset is viable or not. But to make a statement that mobile phone insurance is a rip off is a masive generlisation.

BarryM

matt70iu wrote: »

As others have stated, phone insurance is worth it in certain circumstances.

+1, I lost mine, in France, and they sent another one there!! I have the €6 a month insurance on O2. Ok, I know if you do the math the monthly charge adds up to a new phone every x months, but if you lose it then you don't have to find the readies.....

OTOH, I wish the roaming charges weren't such a ripoff!!

B

Geodermo

This is my view, if your on a decent bill with your chosen network, depending on uograde costs, having insurance is nearly a waste of time. It's also to if its' a cheap model as the other guy said. But I personally think it mad money to spend more than €100. A phone is still only a comunication device after all. I was very luckly, got galaxy S for 45euro when my wave hand software crashes, and cpwh did try & fix 3 times but I bargined and out right refused to pay their inital asking of €120. And that was down from 185euro also.smart Phone prices are mad & off the scale iphone the biggest waste of money ever as always have faults and only recenlty were found bresking international privacy rule. Apple have gr8 computers but wouldn't take their phone if I got it for nothing. :rolleyes:

btkm8unsl0w5r4

just wanted to share my recent experience with Car Phone Warehouse and their Lifeline insurance. I Bought a HTC phone off them and was sold insurance from Lifeline. I was told this was superior to O2 insurance etc as they get you a replacement phone really quickly and without fuss. Happy days 13 euro a month and off I go.

So recently my house was broken into, my wallet, phone and car taken. After dealing with the guards that day I went to the carphone warehouse to get a new phone. They gave me a old phone as a temporary measure and the form to fill in and a new sim.

A few days later I was filling in the form and noticed I should have told my network provider the phone was taken...whops I rang them straight away. The guards had asked me to not block the phone incase it popped up as I had the tracking set up on it (sim changed in the CPW that day). I explained the circumstances that I was pretty busy the day the phone was lost, to Lifeline as asked they consider replacement of my phone.

So basically they are now refusing to pay out due to the fact I should have informed o2 within 24 hours. I had been in to the CPW within 24hours and informed the insurance company. What this has to do with them I don't know, my claim is valid which they admit this in a letter however they refuse to pay on this technical point, which I feel is a land-mine placed in the contract to avoid paying. God knows how many others there are in the contract.

So when you need them Lifeline will not cover you and will find any way not to pay. Don't bother with their insurance its not worth it. Sorry to rant but really this is not on.

matt70iu

Carphone warehouse insurance is the biggest rip off in the industry. They cover you for all these extras that are so unlikely to happen that it's not worth being covered for.

You're better off with o2's own insurance under written by Zurich.

Having said that, most mobile phone policies do have a clause where you have to report to the network within a given timeframe. I would appeal the decline with them stating your reasons. Failing that, go to the ombudsman and ask them to plead your case.

They do tend to air more on the side of the policy holder, so perhaps you'll have more luck there. Hope you manage to get sorted!