Phone Insurance - Why Bother?

When you first buy your mobile phone (cell phone) you probably got pushed to buy the add-on insurance - or maybe you got given a few months free insurance together with the phone.

This free add-on is a clever and very profitable technique which phone dealers use to get you inadvertently into subscribing to the (cell phone) mobile phone insurance iteself. When you get the phone and the free phone insurance you are automatically set up to pay by Direct Debit for the insurance at the end of the free period.

But the question is this:

Are you so very sure you need phone insurance?

To answer that you need to answer 2 specific questions - the answer to which varies from person to person.

1. Do you want to cover the cost of replacing your phone?
2. Are you worried about being without your phone for an extended period of time?

If your phone is Pay As You Go then you will be acutely aware of how much a decent phone costs because that is what you paid when you bought it.

In fact, pay as you go phones are not actually the real cost of the phones because mobile phone operators slightly subsidise the cost of the handset. This is because these phones are usually locked to only work on their network, so they make up for the loss on the cost of the phone calls.

But they are not discounted by much (relative to the discount given to Pay Monthly contract customers) because they can be unlocked to use on other networks. However, most people do not do this - so the network knows they will get that customer's calling minutes and business.

If you are a Pay Monthly contract customer, chances are that you did not pay anywhere near the real cost of the phone - they get heavily discounted. You are promising to be with the netwok for at least 12 months so they know they will get your money - so they can afford to disocunt your phone.

You're right your phone was free when you signed the contract - but it wont be free to replace.

If you need to get a new phone, the quickest way to replace it is to get a pay as you go one. So that is your replacement cost.

As a contract customer this wil be considerably more than you thought it would be. For example the Apple iPhone is around £300 or US$400 to replace. That will hurt your wallet if you have lost it, or damaged it or some idiot has stolen it - for that you wowuld most likely want specialist iPhone insurance.

So how are you going to pay for it?

That is what mobile phone insurance is for. But is it worth it?

Unfortunately there have been many insurance operators who have fleeced the customer and charged high prices for an insurance policy that just did not make economic sense. EG you'll most likely be paying out £7 to £10 every month after the free period - which is much more than it should be.

Now if your phone is top of the range and expensive to replace, this might make sense, but not if you have a basic 'I just want to make and receive calls' type mobile phone.

So the insurance needs to be tailored to what phone handset you have.

If you have a cheaper phone, then it will be cheaper to replace, therefore the phone insurance should be cheaper. A more expensive phone should have a more expensive mobile phone insurance policy.

So that is a key decider in who you choose to insure your phone; can they tailor or offer a policy for your specific phone handset?

While you are looking at the financial side of covering the cost of replacement, you also want to consider whether the phone insurance company insist on a long term contract; many do, some do not.

If you must sign a 12 month contract (standard with many) then the cost of the insurance is a straight forward calculation of 12 months multiplied by the monthly cost. If this amount is bigger than the cost of replacing the phone yourself (by purchasing a Pay As You Go handset) then the insurance is not worth buying.

If there is not a 12 month contract then you are free to do as you choose.

If you are a Pay Monthly contract customer then there is another consideration. So after the time period has expired for your phone contract then you can get a new free mobile phone on another network or as an upgrade phone.

So towards the end of your phone contract the mobile phone insurance has less and less value and worth to you as a customer because you are at less risk of having to pay out a big bill to replace the phone.

N.B. - After you sign a new phone contract you are going to be exposed to the whole cost of replacing your phone. You would have to pay the full price to replace your mobile phone if it was lost, stolen or damaged, so you are more likely to want to have mobile phone insurance.

Often, people say they can get their phone insurance via their home and contents insurance - but if you make a claim for a (relatively small) phone cost, what is going to happen to your no-claims bonus and your home insurance premium cost next year?

So getting mobile phone insurance is about sensibly minimising the risk of having a big replacement bill, without spending hugely on the monthly insurance policy.

The best way to achieve this is to use an insurance provider who does not have a 12 month contract and who has the right price insurance policy for your phone (not a 'one price fits all' policy)

Read part 2 of this article answering the "Are you worried about being without your phone for an extended period of time?" part here - coming soon…