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

[Lane]

I went with Ensquared .

Accidental Damage + Lost & Stolen $58.99/yr or $99.99/2yr. This is either $4.91/month or $4.16/month depending on the length of the policy ($75 deductible).

I figure since I just got the Droid X in April and am stuck in a 2 yr contract w/ Verizon (although I've been a VZ customer for 11 years)

it made sense to get a 2 yr policy. Plus, a 2 yr policy breaks down to $49.99/yr versus a 1 yr policy costing $58.99. Accidental Damage is key, ie dropping in a puddle of water, etc.

This is just my $.02

Don't trust Asurion (sp?) they are awful & will "repair or replace with a similar or comparible product." Comparible is a tricky word & who knows what bottom of the line piece of crap they'll furnish you with for a replacement while, technically, still adhering to their "policy."

Be Careful in whatever decision you make....

 

[jroc]

^Ohh another insurance that covers lost or stolen. Thanks for the info.

 

[ArmageddonX]

I would really discourage anyone from going with the Best Buy insurance. I have been without my smartphone 39 days as of today because of Best Buy Insurance.

The Best Buy Smartphone Warranties are renown for being bad. Visit the Best Buy customer service forums sometime if you don't believe me. When it's time for Best Buy to pay up on their part of the deal; they don't want to. They lie to you to get you to pay for the warranty by promising things like "free in-store same-day replacement" or "you'll get a brand new phone" and then when it's time for them to fulfill their obligations you have to make all the concessions in order to get your device "fixed".

I've had to send my Smartphone in for "repair" 3 times now. It keeps coming back from "repair" broken. Always a different problem... Trust me, if you're a big smartphone user you do NOT want to be stuck on a phone like the Samsung Seek (Suck ) for 7+ weeks.

I've been stuck on this antiquated phone straight out of the 90s for almost 40 days now...

 

[Lane]

+1 to Armageddon's post. My statement here pertains to Best Buy's piss poor service & their total lack of integrity (BTW what a joke name. Best Buy? NOT). "Best place to buy if you never need any post sale support, service or repair" should be a disclaimer noted on EVERY source of advertising they use.

I bought a 96 Lexus ES300 3 yrs ago and took it there for them to install my Sony stereo/CD player I had in my other car. I have done dozens of car radios over the yrs but this Lexus w/ a factory CD changer was too intimidating to me so I sucked it up & brought it to, what I thought, was a professional.

Balance controls switched the audio from right front to left rear (no right rear audio at all in this mode) and the left front went to the right rear (no left rear audio at all). The fader didn't do anything. When I told them this before I left their parking lot they had the balls to tell me "Sir, there will be a $45 service charge to do this service." Are you kidding me? WTF find of joint is this? And I was the dope that gave the service guy a $20 bill and said "Thanks, this is in case you've left for the day when I come back at 7:00 to p/up my car.

DON'T PURCHASE ANYTHNG AT THIS SH*THOLE

 

[RDKamikaze]

I was going to post a thread asking the same question as OP but good thing I did a search first!

To bump this thread: What phone insurance do you guys use and what experience do you have with it? The two I'm on the fence for with my Thunderbolt are Ensquared and Safeware. Ensquared is cheaper a month but has a $75 deductible while Safeware is more per month but with a $50 deductible. It looks like they have the same or similar coverage, including loss/theft, as well.

I love this thread, let's keep it going! I also wonder if anyone knows a place that will insure an iPad 2 (wife's) and a Thunderbolt at maybe a cheaper rate haha!

Oh, and +1 to BestDie's insurance being the ultimate scam. That store is just terrible, why would anyone want to insure their nice device at such a poor service-quality store? I have had nothing but BAD experiences with BB period.

 

[Roze]

I was going to post a thread asking the same question as OP but good thing I did a search first!

To bump this thread: What phone insurance do you guys use and what experience do you have with it? The two I'm on the fence for with my Thunderbolt are Ensquared and Safeware. Ensquared is cheaper a month but has a $75 deductible while Safeware is more per month but with a $50 deductible. It looks like they have the same or similar coverage, including loss/theft, as well.

Some questions you want to ask yourself, do they offer refurbished or brand new phone? What is their policy if your phone was discontinued and they can't give you a Thunderbolt. See what a comparable phone would be if that was the case. How many times are you allowed to use the policy for lost phone? See how quick they handle the processing if you lose a phone and how long it would take you to get a replacement phone. If all of these are the same, go with the one that's the cheapest if you were to have one claim over the next year or two.

 

[Andy in NY]

I have always gotten ins through verizon/assurion... and 6 months after getting my droid 2 I dropped it in water. It was 5pm, and 4pm the next day fed ex showed up with a new in box droid 2 global. Sure there was an $89deductible, but im glad I had it.

 

[Roze]

I have always gotten ins through verizon/assurion... and 6 months after getting my droid 2 I dropped it in water. It was 5pm, and 4pm the next day fed ex showed up with a new in box droid 2 global. Sure there was an $89deductible, but im glad I had it.

So you spent about $120 on your replacement phone if you add the monthly and deductable. Thats better than paying $500 for a new phone.

 

[SeekerOfTheWay]

I bought insurance with Asurian through VZW. I don't deal with eBay or Craigslist. I don't trust those sources enough to rely on them for replacement phones. Craigslist has too many scammers, and I'm too naive to deal with that. I got fed up with eBay fees, though I never bought from there, only sold. But with both, it just causes me anxiety to have to trust a faceless screen name.



Suze Orman is great. I just got one of her books from the library.

 

[ashykat]

I usually go with the Asurion coverage for a while then drop it after about 6-10 months. This way if the week after I bought my phone it drops I'm not out the full retail price to replace it. I've always been curious about squaretrade but never tried it.

 

[wafa510]

My Optimus S is covered by Asurion from Sprint. I have paid the $7 a month as long as I have been with Sprint (about 8 years so far) and twice they had to replace my phone. I think the deductible both times I paid was $35 (the last time I had to get a replacement phone was about 3 years ago) and both times I had a great experience replacing the phones. For me it is peace of mind that justifies the monthly cost.

I use Squaretrade for all of my high-end electronics in my home and for my camcorder. I love Squaretrade and would not use anyone else. They have the best coverage and the best prices out there in my opinion!

 

[MyNamesTooLong]

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.

Interesting...but really? The extra $5 in case an accident happens is foolish? How many threads pop up in here because someone lost/water logged/got thier phone stolen?

 

[Lane]

I use Squaretrade for all of my high-end electronics in my home and for my camcorder. I love Squaretrade and would not use anyone else. They have the best coverage and the best prices out there in my opinion!

Hey wafa510- Do you know if Squaretrade would cover a Dell Dimension desktop after Dell's warranty (1 year) and Dell's "extended warranty" (3 years) expire?

I just re-newed my policy with Dell 2 weeks ago (after the 3 yr extended warranyt expired), but they told me in 1 year when that is up I cannot re-new the policy any more.

Thanks

 

[Lane]

To bump this thread: What phone insurance do you guys use and what experience do you have with it? The two I'm on the fence for with my Thunderbolt are Ensquared and Safeware. Ensquared is cheaper a month but has a $75 deductible while Safeware is more per month but with a $50 deductible. It looks like they have the same or similar coverage, including loss/theft, as well.

Copied from Ensquared FAQ

1.23 How quickly can I expect a replacement phone if I comply with all requirements?
In three business days.
1.24 Do I get a new phone or a remanufactured phone when making a claim?
In most cases a new phone but it is our prerogative to replace your device with a refurbished phone.
1.28 Who pays to get damaged device to you and replacement phone back to me?
You pay costs to get damaged phone to our drop centre; we pay to get replacement phone to you.

You also want to consider the maximum amount of claims allowed. I only know about Ensquared (cause that's what I have) & they allow 2 claims on a 1 yr plan & 3 claims on a 2 yr plan with a $75 deductible per claim.

Personally I think if anyone needs to place more than one claim they need to pay better attention to how they treat/handle their smartphone.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Interesting...but really? The extra $5 in case an accident happens is foolish? How many threads pop up in here because someone lost/water logged/got thier phone stolen?

Yes $5 is foolish, unless you are extremely unlucky or clumsy with your phone.

$5 may not be a lot in the short term, but it adds up in the long run.

Mathematically it does not add up to pay for insurance. Why do you think the carriers are so eager to offer it? It's a huge money maker.

The reality is any sort of specific insurance, especially for depreciable assets like phones, is a sucker bet.

You are better off usually self-insuring for things like this.

Insurance, the big picture, is to insure you against things you usually can't afford, like medical reasons, car accidents, major household incidents.

If you pay insurance to insure against every little thing, surely and slowly the small amounts of insurance you're paying adds up over time, costing you more than if you self-insured against these small things.

There are quite a few people who don't really grasp this, and come in defending insurance. I say if you want to pay for it, go for it. But just be educated that in the long run this type of insurance usually is far more expensive than self-insuring.

This is not just my personal opinion. If you read the opinions of any well known financial gurus - Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, Jonathan Pond, etc etc... they all point to the foolhardy nature of buying insurance for things other than term life insurance (if you have spouse/kids), disability insurance, car insurance (mandatory), home insurance, and long term care insurance if you're at an older age.

 

[RDKamikaze]

@Lane - thanks, that's something to consider Also, does it only have an investment amount that your claims add up to (ex. up to $500 in claims) or is it up to $500 per claim? I know squaretrade works like the first so if you put in a claim 3 months into your 3-yr warranty and they value the replacement/refund to $500, then you're out the rest of the 2 years.

@AndroidSPCS - Don't forget, it's usually cheaper to buy an super buff $$40 case and make sure you never lose your Droid (there are free apps to help with that, too). The only down side is your phone isn't waterproof, and that depends also how you take care of it.

Personally, if I can deem it a good value for what I consider "peace of mind" then I'll take it. Right now I've got a $4 case and a screen protector and that's doing me plenty good. I did call SquareTrade and they said they will insure my phone up to 90 days after purchase, so I've still got a window to decide.

I highly appreciate the pros and cons discussion going on here as well as different providers, thanks!

 

[SeekerOfTheWay]

I'm going to drop insurance after my rafting trip. I plan on buying a cheap smartphone to have as a backup, like a Blackberry 8330 or cheap Android, for under $100. That will save me money in the long turn.

UM, does anyone have an old VZW Blackberry to give away?

 

[Lane]

.....

 

[Lane]

@Lane - thanks, that's something to consider Also, does it only have an investment amount that your claims add up to (ex. up to $500 in claims) or is it up to $500 per claim? I know squaretrade works like the first so if you put in a claim 3 months into your 3-yr warranty and they value the replacement/refund to $500, then you're out the rest of the 2 years.

Personally, if I can deem it a good value for what I consider "peace of mind" then I'll take it. Right now I've got a $4 case and a screen protector and that's doing me plenty good. I did call SquareTrade and they said they will insure my phone up to 90 days after purchase, so I've still got a window to decide. I highly appreciate the pros and cons discussion going on here as well as different providers, thanks!

@RDKamikaze - Glad I could help you Here's a brief list from their site:

Ensquared Motorola Droid X Insurance....... One year..........Two year

Accidental Damage + Lost & Stolen.......... Yes - $58.99.... Yes - $99.99
Premium in monthly terms...... ................... $4.91 .... ..........$4.16
(FYI they charge annually)
Maximum Claims Available.............................. 2..................... 3
Maximum $ Limit per Claim..........................$1000................$1000
Deductible maximum $75 per claim ...........Applicable.......... Applicable



They seem to offer insurance on most phones, but I have a Droid X so that's the only model I am really concerned with, and probably most in this forum

I hope this helps you

 

[shark974]

Yes $5 is foolish, unless you are extremely unlucky or clumsy with your phone.

$5 may not be a lot in the short term, but it adds up in the long run.

Mathematically it does not add up to pay for insurance. Why do you think the carriers are so eager to offer it? It's a huge money maker.

The reality is any sort of specific insurance, especially for depreciable assets like phones, is a sucker bet.

You are better off usually self-insuring for things like this.

Insurance, the big picture, is to insure you against things you usually can't afford, like medical reasons, car accidents, major household incidents.

If you pay insurance to insure against every little thing, surely and slowly the small amounts of insurance you're paying adds up over time, costing you more than if you self-insured against these small things.

There are quite a few people who don't really grasp this, and come in defending insurance. I say if you want to pay for it, go for it. But just be educated that in the long run this type of insurance usually is far more expensive than self-insuring.

This is not just my personal opinion. If you read the opinions of any well known financial gurus - Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, Jonathan Pond, etc etc... they all point to the foolhardy nature of buying insurance for things other than term life insurance (if you have spouse/kids), disability insurance, car insurance (mandatory), home insurance, and long term care insurance if you're at an older age.

Not sure I agree or not. I see SOOOOOO many people with smartphones with badly cracked screens. It's just a very simple thing to drop one face down, and so frequent, plus I work on concrete all day...

$5 a month works out to $120 every two years. There's a $125 deductible too. However for example my Captivate, to buy a new one from ATT (off contract of course as I'm not upgrade eligible) is 449 I believe. Many phones it's more than that. There's the possibility of getting the screen repaired, but I'm really not sure I'd want to go that road and it's expensive and I have no idea if the replacement would be up to original quality. Obviously if I break my phone within two years, I will most likely save money with the warranty. I also really like that it protects against loss and theft as well. It's just peace of mind to know if my phone breaks, a simple 125 bucks and I'm good, versus trying some $100+ shady screen replacement off a website (and be without a decent phone for two weeks+?), or a $450 new phone, or maybe trying to score some ebay deal (and for whatever reason, personally I hate buying used products so that's kind of out).


I'm not sure if any cases can really protect from dropping face down on concrete without interfering with the phone operation as well. I had a nice rubber case for my captivate but again I'm not sure it would have done any good in a face down drop. Also it kind of interferes with the capacitive buttons on the captivate (it encroaches on them just enough I guess, and the back button is kind of unresponsive to begin with) which were already a pet peeve of mine as the back button is sluggish to begin with, so I ended up nixing the case. The case also adds a lot of bulk to these phones if thats a concern.

Well as I say perhaps I'm unique in that I work on a concrete floor warehouse. Perhaps if I didn't I would consider the risk much less.

I agree in general, the type of warranty crap Best Buy and the like try to push on you is just a profit center for them, and basically useless. But I'm not so sure the phone insurance is.

Once I get a phone where the capacitive buttons arent so finicky though and are in a better position, I probably will just get a beefy case and drop the insurance.

 

[Lane]

@shark974 - whenever you are thinking of dropping insurance, wait 1 week before doing so. So often is the case that the day after the insurance is canceled that's the day something gets broken.

Just my $.02...

 

[wafa510]

Hey wafa510- Do you know if Squaretrade would cover a Dell Dimension desktop after Dell's warranty (1 year) and Dell's "extended warranty" (3 years) expire?

I just re-newed my policy with Dell 2 weeks ago (after the 3 yr extended warranyt expired), but they told me in 1 year when that is up I cannot re-new the policy any more.

Thanks

I honestly do not think they do that, but please note that as soon as I buy something electronic, I buy a policy with them. I am pretty sure it kicks in after the manufacturers warranty expires which usually is one year depending on the manufacturer. However, I would definitely go to their website where it explains how it all works since I am not 100% sure.

 

[Lane]

I honestly do not think they do that, but please note that as soon as I buy something electronic, I buy a policy with them. I am pretty sure it kicks in after the manufacturers warranty expires which usually is one year depending on the manufacturer. However, I would definitely go to their website where it explains how it all works since I am not 100% sure.

I'll check out their web site for some details. Thanks for the advice.

 

[wafa510]

I'll check out their web site for some details. Thanks for the advice.

You may even want to call them to explain your situation, from my experience they have great customer service!

 

[Lane]

You may even want to call them to explain your situation, from my experience they have great customer service!

It's actually not a "situation" at all. I just know that when my 3 yr extended warrany (3 yrs after the Dell 1 yr warranty) expired in May this year Dell told me I will not be able to renew it again next year It's a Dell Latitude I built on Dell.com (my way) to get many, many yrs out of it. Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 @ 2.13GHz, Windows XP Pro, RAM 2.0GB DDR2, Seagate Hard Drive 244GB (that cost me $1400) and at this point 50 months later I have this: 230GB capacity (29.7GB = only 13% used), with 200GB free. Why would I ever want to replace it?

I had problems in Feb 2011 and it turned out the Motherboard was shot. One phone call & 24 hours later a tech came & put in a new one (btw - during a 8-10" snowstorm). He said "Good thing you have a warranty. The Motherboard is about $300-$350 & the service call & labor would've cost you another $150-$200." So I saw this thread and am investigating what, if any, choices I have in May 2012.

I guess it's worth a call, as you said. Thanks for the advice