Anyone here Bought INSURANCE For Your Phone? If so from WHERE?

[mightymouse00]

I'm sure you have a love/hate relationship with your phone, a problem here and there, a fix for it here and there, and at many times you kinda just accept it for what it is at the end... either that or you simply love it, its your prized possession, literally, since you carry it with you everyday. Either or, that doesn't change the fact that your phone is worth hundreds of dollars if bought w/o contract and how much you'd have to pay if you didn't have insurance to cover for theft, lost, or damage.

What insurance are you currently using to protect your phone? From your Carrier or a 3rd party insurance company? If 3rd party, which one? Any reviews on it? I'm asking for those in the US.

I am joining Sprint soon, possibly getting a Nexus S 4G,and is contemplating whether or not I want to pay $8 a month (starting July 2011 is $8 instead of 7) which will cover damage and stolen/lost However if I bought from Wirefly.com, its either $7 a month, or $70 for 12 months -Insurance company they use is called MDPA , or Device Protection Plan. I don't mind paying via Sprint if its less hassle to deal with, I'd hate it if another company makes me go around in circles, or undervalues my phone and gives me some crappy replacement. But just want your opinions on insurance and which one do you currently use?

Thanks.

 

[sonofaresiii]

I said yes to the insurance from Verizon on my Droid X... but they never sent me any paperwork and I'm not getting billed for it, so I don't know if it hasn't kicked in yet or they failed to sign me up for it... I'm pretty iffy on whether or not it's worth it anyway, especially with a $100 deductible and only getting a refurb if it breaks... they're going for $250 used right now and by the time the 1 year manufacturer's warranty is up, I can only imagine they'll be cheaper...

 

[Deleted User]

Before you waste money on phone insurance check that it is not covered on your household cover. Here in the UK mine is and my insurance company tells me most cover in the UK includes phones and laptops etc at no extra cost if you just ask.

 

[Gravytrain]

Best buy
9.99 a month
No deductible
No limit on claims

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Insurance for depreciating and consumable electronics are foolish. If you cannot self insure for a phone then perhaps you should not own one.

Insurance is for catastrophic damage potential, things like house fires, car accidents. Insurance for phones are a rip off for the consumer.

Listen to Dave Ramsey sometimes to get his take. The man has good viewpoints on stuff like this.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Before you waste money on phone insurance check that it is not covered on your household cover. Here in the UK mine is and my insurance company tells me most cover in the UK includes phones and laptops etc at no extra cost if you just ask.

Even if it was covered by my household cover (unlikely here in the states), I would never use it.

A filing would result in a black mark against you in a CLUE database, and your future premiums will go up, and you'll pay more than you got back as a result.

People here need to get more financially educated. Listen to Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, etc.

 

[sonofaresiii]

Insurance for depreciating and consumable electronics are foolish. If you cannot self insure for a phone then perhaps you should not own one.

Insurance is for catastrophic damage potential, things like house fires, car accidents. Insurance for phones are a rip off for the consumer.

Listen to Dave Ramsey sometimes to get his take. The man has good viewpoints on stuff like this.

That's... an interesting viewpoint, but I disagree. Like I said, I think the Verizon insurance on my phone may not have been worth it, but there are many insurance plans for electronics that are very, very worth it.

 

[mightymouse00]

Insurance for depreciating and consumable electronics are foolish. If you cannot self insure for a phone then perhaps you should not own one.

Insurance is for catastrophic damage potential, things like house fires, car accidents. Insurance for phones are a rip off for the consumer.

Listen to Dave Ramsey sometimes to get his take. The man has good viewpoints on stuff like this.

Actually I take VERY good care of my phones and normally its the normal wear and tear that causes the phone to be unusable, however under some circumstances you cannot control what can happen.
My main concern would probably be THEFT. I don't normally just lose things, I have this terrible but i guess good habit of making sure I have everything on me....and STILL on me before leaving work, the bus, subway trains, making sure its still in my pocket, etc. I baby it, but lately been hearing a lot of horrible news on people getting robbed of their smart phones - as traumatic as it can be, not only did the person got robbed of their wallet + their phone AND get a beat down, now they'll have to fork over hundreds if they want to replace the same phone.

Anyone else got insurance?

 

[Deleted User]

Even if it was covered by my household cover (unlikely here in the states), I would never use it.

A filing would result in a black mark against you in a CLUE database, and your future premiums will go up, and you'll pay more than you got back as a result.

People here need to get more financially educated. Listen to Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, etc.

Thats terrible, I have claimed for three stolen pedle cycles and for some flooring damage following a damaged water tap. My policy as gone down in price over the years. When I called them to put put my laptop and phone on my policy and to ask how much extra I would need to pay I was told not to be silly it would just be included in the cover. I had heard from my motorcycle forum that I am on that US insurers can be difficult

 

[takeshi]

Insurance for depreciating and consumable electronics are foolish. If you cannot self insure for a phone then perhaps you should not own one.

It's a judgment call that each needs to make.

People here need to get more financially educated. Listen to Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, etc.

They have some good advice but I wouldn't blindly agree with any of them. Again. personal judgment call.

 

[ScorpDX]

I use Sprint's $7 a month insurance. It's worked fine for me for several years now. I've had many phones and broadband cards replaced. A lot of smaller issues the repair stores will fix on the spot for you. If it's a total loss then you just call up the 800 number and tell them what happened. Pay the deductible and your new(refurb) phone gets UPS overnighted.

If it's an old phone that's no longer sold they might have to swap you for something comparable though. I haven't had that issue as I generally upgrade yearly so my phone is still available all the time.

 

[srkmagnus]

I got insurance through Sprint as well. It's conveniently included in the monthly bill and we've had no hassles with dealing with Asurion when making a claim. There may be other options that are better, such as Best Buy, but I've had no reason to stop or switch.

 

[MASTER Brian]

I am on the fence as well on insurance for stuff like this and I too am debating over an Evo or the Nexus S. At times for me electronic insurance policies have paid off, others it hasn't. For what's it's worth, I currently have a Palm Pre, I carried insurance on it for about 6 months to a year, then dropped it. I've had the phone almost 2yrs and Sprint has replaced it 6 or 7 times, I've lost track. It has never been replaced under the insurance and I never had to send it to Palm/HP to get it replaced, Sprint just did it. Now, I'm not sure if it's because I'm a long time customer, good at negotiating or if it's just because the Pre's are crappy hardware....but I've never had an issue! I will admit, I've argued, nicely, with them that, that each phone is only lasting about 4months and that because of such I feel I've never gotten out of the 1yr warranty, they couldn't argue. Of course over the last 14 yrs as a Sprint customer, I've had issues like this on 2-3 different phones and never had an issue getting them replaced! The last guy told me they generally charge $39 if no insurance or warranty to replace it, but he'd waive that since I was being extremely nice, unlike most of the people he dealt with....

My sister, also a Sprint customer told me, if the phone just dies they'll replace it with another one....

With all of that said, I think if you abused the phone, either on purpose or by dropping it in water, etc, they probably wouldn't replace it, but if the phone just isn't holding up, they'd rather retain the customer if they are good customers!!

Again, not sure

 

[RiverOfIce]

Thats terrible, I have claimed for three stolen pedle cycles and for some flooring damage following a damaged water tap. My policy as gone down in price over the years. When I called them to put put my laptop and phone on my policy and to ask how much extra I would need to pay I was told not to be silly it would just be included in the cover. I had heard from my motorcycle forum that I am on that US insurers can be difficult

Each time you collect money from the insurance company, it is a black mark against your record. That record is used to set your credit rating and your future payments.

If you file a claim, your credit rating will go down and you will pay for it.

OP- Just get the sprint coverage. It now has the ability to track and erase your phone.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

That's... an interesting viewpoint, but I disagree. Like I said, I think the Verizon insurance on my phone may not have been worth it, but there are many insurance plans for electronics that are very, very worth it.

Mathematically, insurance for electronic devices simply do not make sense or compute.

You, as the consumer, in the long term, lose out. It's bad enough you have to pay $7 or more per month, but it's worse that you have to pay a "smartphone" deductible of $100 - $200 or more.

I have posted here previously how this really stacks insurance against you. In effect you're paying for a new phone every 2-3 years even if you DO NOT use the insurance. It's far better to self insure. Even if you do have in an incident and lose your phones every 2-3 years, you still come out ahead mathematically by paying for a replacement yourself, via eBay / Craigslist or other means.

Do the math, the insurance is there because it's a huge money maker for the insurers, not for you as a consumer.

 

[Roze]

Mathematically, insurance for electronic devices simply do not make sense or compute.

You, as the consumer, in the long term, lose out. It's bad enough you have to pay $7 or more per month, but it's worse that you have to pay a "smartphone" deductible of $100 - $200 or more.

I have posted here previously how this really stacks insurance against you. In effect you're paying for a new phone every 2-3 years even if you DO NOT use the insurance. It's far better to self insure. Even if you do have in an incident and lose your phones every 2-3 years, you still come out ahead mathematically by paying for a replacement yourself, via eBay / Craigslist or other means.

Do the math, the insurance is there because it's a huge money maker for the insurers, not for you as a consumer.

I think it depends on the person. People that get insurance wants the security of the knowledge that if something happens to their phone, it will be covered. They are in paying for the peace of mind.

Well it does make sense if you lose a phone after owning it for less than a year. I have had 5 phones in 7 years...I've lost 2 in the past 18 months. Last two were smart phones, lol. The Atrix costed $700+ unsubsidized, so I think it's in my best interest that I get it insured. I use a 3rd party insurer in Canada for a 2 years insurance for $100 and $100 deductable. I've gotten pretty paranoid now. I almost lost the phone within the first month of owning it too >_>;; This is my third phone and I'm still not out of my 3 years contract >_<;;;

Smartphones today aren't cheap and when you're on a 3 year contract. losing one means you have to pay for the next one of your pocket. I've spetn over $600 on my last two phones. Nexus One costed me $630.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

I think it depends on the person. People that get insurance wants the security of the knowledge that if something happens to their phone, it will be covered. They are in paying for the peace of mind.

Well it does make sense if you lose a phone after owning it for less than a year. I have had 5 phones in 7 years...I've lost 2 in the past 18 months. Last two were smart phones, lol. The Atrix costed $700+ unsubsidized, so I think it's in my best interest that I get it insured. I use a 3rd party insurer in Canada for a 2 years insurance for $100 and $100 deductable. I've gotten pretty paranoid now. I almost lost the phone within the first month of owning it too >_>;; This is my third phone and I'm still not out of my 3 years contract >_<;;;

Smartphones today aren't cheap and when you're on a 3 year contract. losing one means you have to pay for the next one of your pocket. I've spetn over $600 on my last two phones. Nexus One costed me $630.

Sorry to hear that. Yes in Canada with the 3 year contracts it really sucks, very anti-consumer. All scams to keep charging you more money (insurance, fees, etc) to gouge you even more.

Very unfortunate.

 

[AstronautROB]

I acutally work for ATS for Sprint and know their warrenty system very well. I think it all depends on how versed you are with your phone. I'll admit that I don't have Sprint service for the simple fact they don't get coverage in my area, but if I did I would def get the insurance they offer. Of course the insrance covers any physical damamge you do to the phone although you have to pay the co-pay which is usually $100-$150 dollars depending on the phone's model. And the replacement does come from a third party company called asurion. I have found that the phones they send out are generally good but are refurbished devices, although with that being said I have found them to send some people brand new devices. I don't know what constitues you getting a new device as opposed to a refurb. The TEP also gives you the added benifit of being able to take your phone into a store and have to TS for free. If you don't have the TEP they will charge you a fee of $35 dollars to have your phone serviced. Really Sprint will replace your phone for $35 fee also even if you don't have TEP but again this is a refurb device. The other advantage that TEP gives you is say you are a ASL customer (meaning you ahve bad credit and they put you on a account spending limit) and your phone is having problems and needs to be replaced but you don't have a auth service center anywhere near you. If you have TEP Sprint will send you out a replacement free of charge. If not they will tell you you have to pay the $35 dollars but because of the warrenty system they use if your ASL you can't bill that to your account. So basically your kind of out of luck. Sorry if I repeated anything anyone else said.

 

[sonofaresiii]

I think it depends on the person. People that get insurance wants the security of the knowledge that if something happens to their phone, it will be covered. They are in paying for the peace of mind.

Well it does make sense if you lose a phone after owning it for less than a year. I have had 5 phones in 7 years...I've lost 2 in the past 18 months. Last two were smart phones, lol. The Atrix costed $700+ unsubsidized, so I think it's in my best interest that I get it insured. I use a 3rd party insurer in Canada for a 2 years insurance for $100 and $100 deductable. I've gotten pretty paranoid now. I almost lost the phone within the first month of owning it too >_>;; This is my third phone and I'm still not out of my 3 years contract >_<;;;

Smartphones today aren't cheap and when you're on a 3 year contract. losing one means you have to pay for the next one of your pocket. I've spetn over $600 on my last two phones. Nexus One costed me $630.

The feeling of security is a big deal. I don't want to freak out anytime I'm using my phone near subway tracks. Whenever my friends pick up my phone, I don't want to yell at them to be careful!--that's a $650 phone you're holding!

Like I said, I'm still iffy about whether or not the Verizon insurance was worth it-- for a $100 deductible, probably not (and I think they forgot to sign me up for it anyway, so for me, the point is moot)-- though that extra feeling of security certainly is nice. Plus the fact is, I'm under contract for two years-- if I break my phone and it's out of warranty, I'm screwed. I don't want to buy a phone off craigslist for two or three hundred dollars that I might find out doesn't even work, and even if it does, it's used.

Plus, hey, when you just need that dramatic punctuation when someone pisses you off, it's nice to know I can just throw my phone through the window on the seventh floor of the building.

 

[Roze]

Like I said, I'm still iffy about whether or not the Verizon insurance was worth it-- for a $100 deductible, probably not (and I think they forgot to sign me up for it anyway, so for me, the point is moot

When did you buy your phone? I know that the carrier/insurance company has a number of days that you have to sign up by. You might still be within that date. If not, call CS and argue till they give it to you.

 

[AstronautROB]

When did you buy your phone? I know that the carrier/insurance company has a number of days that you have to sign up by. You might still be within that date. If not, call CS and argue till they give it to you.

Most companys (I know Sprint for sure) only gives you the first 30 days to put the insurance on.

Oh and please don't call and just argue, its very annoying...in all honesty it prob wont get you anywhere either.

 

[jroc]

I get Asurion thru Verizon.

Found out the hard way when my E815 charging port broke within 6-8 months after getting it. Verizon did offer to fix it for me if I had the piece that broke off. I didnt but they let me get a new phone at a 2 year discount price. One reason I'm still with Verizon is customer service has been great for me.

It came in very handy one year when I lost my phone twice and it was stolen once all within a year. Although Asurion only covered 2 claims in a year and I couldnt get a replacement thru them, Verizon let me get another new phone at 2 year plan discount.

I like Asurion cuz they cover lost and stolen phones with very little hassle. I think most other insurances that are cheaper or have better incentives dont cover lost and stolen. I dont know their procedure for stolen phones cuz that woulda been the 3rd claim.

 

[sonofaresiii]

When did you buy your phone? I know that the carrier/insurance company has a number of days that you have to sign up by. You might still be within that date. If not, call CS and argue till they give it to you.

I got it maybe a month ago. I have no idea how the insurance works, so I wasn't sure if it just hadn't kicked in yet, or even if I do have it and just don't realize it. But I don't think I have it.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm just enough on the fence about it that I decided to let the fates decide whether I keep it or not-- if I do have it, I'll keep it, if Verizon screwed up and didn't sign me up for it, I'll leave it.
(it seems the rep wasn't entirely forthcoming about the insurance plan when she signed me up for it... my own fault, i know, for not reading the details, but someone tells you you get total insurance, covers everything, for seven bucks a month, you kind of assume that's what the deal is)

 

[Steven58]

Assurion through VZW. The only, to my knowledge, that covers loss/theft.

 

[Deleted User]

Specific phone insurance in Ireland is really expensive with a high excess and loads of conditions so mine is on my house contents insurance which covers non specific gadgets up to a value of &#8364;1000 in the home and away from it (theft, loss and accidental damage).