Phone Insurance... Ulsterbank

100gSoma

My new Ufirst account comes with free phone insurance.
I was filling out the form today, and I noticed where the IMEI number box is, it says

note: We do not cover phones that use Windows Mobile, or Palm, or Symbian OS. Also note we do not cover PDA style devices such as Blackberry or iPhone.

eh???? what phones do they cover then? :mad: My phone is an android phone which is not mentioned by name there, but I'm doubtful now. Will apply and follow up with phone call to see.
In about 6 months ALL phones will be "PDA type" phones. i.e. touch screen smart phones.

Random

did you ask them why this was? what did they say?

unclebill98

100gSoma wrote: »

My new Ufirst account comes with free phone insurance.
I was filling out the form today, and I noticed where the IMEI number box is, it says

note: We do not cover phones that use Windows Mobile, or Palm, or Symbian OS. Also note we do not cover PDA style devices such as Blackberry or iPhone.

eh???? what phones do they cover then? :mad: My phone is an android phone which is not mentioned by name there, but I'm doubtful now. Will apply and follow up with phone call to see.
In about 6 months ALL phones will be "PDA type" phones. i.e. touch screen smart phones.

I was annoyed about this too. Upon asking the policy is changing to reflect that fact that most phones are a bit more advanced now a days... :rolleyes:

I'd say its to do with the cost of replacing these expensive phones.

100gSoma

I didn't contact them yet, I just sent of the forms last week. I suppose I better ring them up and see...

Random

If it's because of the cost then it's not really much of an offer in my opinion. Depends how it's marketed i guess but i'd be well annoyed if the t&c was the only place which limited the phones to such a small range.

unclebill98

Well they have clearly had bad feedback to it.

They where not sure when its going to change.

100gSoma

I rang up yesterday. They had still not received my written application I sent 10 days ago... hmmm.. the guy said that they were changing over (departments?) or something and it might be in the system somewhere. He offered to take my details there and then. I gave my address, bank details, phone make and model (HTC Desire) and my IMEI. He never said anything about restrictions etc, then he read off some spiel from a page "I have now confirmed and setup your phone cover. this phone cover will not become active for 21 days, you will shortly receive confirmation in the post blah blah blah" etc. So I guess if I get a policy number in the post etc its all good. Perhaps the HTC Desire is not on any watchlist for them as its a new model. Unlike the iPhone etc. I don't think the restriction should be cost based, because the policy will cover up to 450euro of a phone. The Desire is about 480euro but 450euro would obviously go a long way to replacing it (minus the excess of course).

The insurance was a big selling point of the uFirst account for me. Mainly because O2 linked insurance is 6euro a month for a standard phone and 9euro for a PDA style phone. Quite expensive. and when I required it (a claim payment for broken phone) last year they would not cover me as my Nokia N82 is not a handset sold by O2. Nobody ever told me this was a condition when I enabled phone insurance and told them the make model and IMEI number. Then they reneged on it. I argued for 2 days with the insurers who blamed O2 and vice versa. I eventually told O2 I was going to leave them after 6 years over this fiasco. They said "ok, go ahead". I was stunned and annoyed. I wrote a letter to them recounting the whole situation and advised I would be informing certain elements of the media as to my shoddy treatment. In the end they refunded the last 12 months of Insurance payments (72euro) because I argued I was paying for a service I was not getting. still... the replacement phone cost 330euro so the 72euro was really just a token gesture. I've not been insured with them since as I normally have a "non-o2" handset (i.e. sim free latest technology).
anyway, sorry for the waffle.

gunnerfitzy

I'm opening a current account with UB next week. I was very interested in the ufirst account until I read that the iphone and other such devices were not covered by the insurance.

If the restriction is to keep costs down then surely the way to keep everyone happy is not to put a restriction on the type of phone but to put a cap of €450 on any claim (which I think is already the case).

I don't suppose anyone got any firm committment on the policy being changed in the near future?

I'll be sure to ask when I'm in branch next week.

gunnerfitzy

Good news all.

I went in to UB today and asked about the mobile phone insurance.

They have moved providers over the past 2 weeks. The new company is Homecare Insurance and they over ALL phones. No problem registering iPhones, Blackberries etc.

Other conditions remain generally the same. Max amount per claim is €450 subject to an excess of €50 in the case of your first claim or €75 in the case of a second claim with 12 months.

At last, some company in Ireland that listens to its customers!!