This is something I found while browsing the Internet. Coverage against accidental damage, lost or stolen phones…the works. I live in Canada, but I imagine the result is similar for American dopers. Has anyone tried doing this for their cellphone?
Some choice reading this morning finally pushed me over the brink and into the Future Shop. bought a Samsung Galaxy S II LTE. Since I have no children or dependents or pets, this phone is bringing out some really paternalistic instincts I didn’t know I had…with its big, shiny, breakable screen…and I know from past experience that if I’m going to ruin my phone, it’s probably going to be from the rain, or other source of water. None of the cell providers plans cover water damage.
So yeah, has anyone heard of it? Heard good things? Bad things? Do you get it through a big box insurer, or is this some niche thing online? Found a few sites, but the litany of spelling mistakes and links to it created by BBS spambots made me weary of giving them my credit card number…
They usually offer it to you when you buy your phone through you wireless carrier (though I am not sure if this is true in Canada). I will offer you my experience anyways, even though it was i n the US. The one time I had insurance and busted my phone, I called the company and it took them two weeks to get me a “new” phone, which was actually a refurbished phone of a different, inferior type, that the insurance company considered “comparable” to my phone as they didn’t actually have any of my phone. I ended up sending back three phones which malfunctioned within a couple of days of having them before I just went out and bought a new phone, declining the insurance offered. Overall, considering I had paid I think $5.00 a month for a year and a half when my phone broke it was definitely not worth it. Other people’s experiences may differ from mine though.
To contrast, I have insurance in my Droid. I think it’s $2 a month. At some point, the volume rocker only worked to turn the ringer volume down, but not up. I went through my insurance and paid, I think, $30 for a replacement. Sure, it’s refurbished, but the same model. And it was shipped out the same day for overnight delivery.
I paid a one time $50. fee when I purchased my phone. A year later when it took a dive into a hot tub they sent a new phone at no charge. Totally worth it.
It was automatically added to my account when I got my Android phone, offered by my cell service provider. I could have opted out, but figured $5 a month was worth it to replace a device that would cost me around $400 to replace on my own. When the phone was a year old, and selling on eBay for $100, I dropped it.
I paid $5 a month (I think) when I had Sprint and there was a $50 copay for a new phone. This was included in my Sprint bill. Any sort of damage or loss, including water damage - not that I’m suggesting lying, but assuming the insurance covers losing your phone as well as damage but not water damage, then simply say you lost it.
My current provider (MetroPCS) offers insurance for a few bucks a month as well. Since I recently got a cheap $100 Android phone as a starter to try out this whole Android thing I haven’t bothered. If I upgrade to a pricier phone, I’ll probably get the insurance.
I think pretty much all cell providers in the U.S. offer similar plans, don’t they? Except perhaps some of the no-contract, pay-by-the-month plans?
A guy I work with has received 3 replacement phones in the last few years. Every incident was due to his own stupidity, but his insurer didn’t care.
I think it’s like when I made a claim on my home insurance for damage caused by a water leak. I assumed that because it was a small claim it would be closely inspected, because they would be the easiest to fake. Quite the opposite, they simply took my work for it and paid for the repairs.
Presumably they are making shitloads of money from the insurance so they don’t care how many claims they pay.
I’m not sure they don’t care, but they are definitely making a lot of money. A rule of thumb says that, collectively, those who buy this kind of insurance will receive coverage (replacement phones, etc.) worth well under 50% of what they have paid.
It thus makes sense to have this insurance only if you are considerably more likely than average to need it: If you make a habit of jumping in hot tubs fully clothed, or dropping your phone in the toilet, you should go for it. If not, take the money you’d have spent and put it into your own cellphone replacement fund - you’ll probably end up well ahead.
It’s largely a ripoff. There is often a deductible, anywhere from $50 to $200, and there’s often clauses that won’t cover damage that is your fault. I’m sure companies are better than others (as evidenced by positive reviews in this thread) but I found it to be totally useless both times I needed it. It would literally have cost me more to use than to buy a used phone on ebay, and that’s not even considering the $5 a month I’d paid for over a year. I don’t bother with insurance on phones anymore.
I know Verizon uses Assurion. My boss has it, it is, I believe $5 a month, and the copay/deductible for the phone is $50. Her son (total idiot) loses his phone, has it stolen, or runs over it at least once a year…I am responsible for filing his claims…
I think that when it comes to extended warranties, Consumer Reports advises against buying them on the theory that the expense is better covered out of pocket. I think the same advice applies to cellphone insurance, that you’re better off just replacing the phone yourself if necessary (unless, as suggested, you’re such a klutz that you fully expect to break the thing).
It’s rarely in your best interests to buy insurance or pseudo-insurance (service plans, loss damage waivers, etc.) on things you can afford to pay for. The margin on health insurance is around 10-30% depending on if the insurance company is for profit or not; on service plans it’s more like 50%. A person can’t safely self-insure for health but they can for trinkets and baubles; If you self insure and just pay for things as they break that means over time you keep the 50%.
Exceptions might be if you expect you need it (you have a habit of dropping your phone), or if the convenience outways the financial penalty.(I got AAA towing insurance after my car battery died on vacation in St. Louis and I spent all morning on the phone calling numbers in the yellow pages trying to get someone out to jump me.)