Mobile Phone Insurance - How to Protect Your Phone Against Theft, Loss & Damage
Posted: Monday, January 17, 2011
by Simon Christopher
Differing from most other types of insurance, the premiums for mobile phone cover are often unaffected by your personal circumstances or any other demographic factors. In the vast majority of cases it takes no account of whether you've made any previous claims for a lost or stolen mobile phone. This means that the only real factor influencing premiums is the type of handset you own.
Are You Already Covered By Your Home Insurance?
Many home contents policies can cover the loss or theft of, or damage to, a mobile phone. Depending on the policy, this can only cover incidents in your home, or may include incidents anywhere. It can be built in to your policy, or be available as an optional extra.
As with all insurance, if considering this option, you should check carefully on the terms and conditions such as whether you'll get a replacement phone or a cash payment, and what level of excess might apply to your policy.
What Does a Typical Mobile Phone Insurance Policy Cover?
Some policies, particularly those offered by a phone network, may cover the costs of any calls made after your phone is lost or stolen. Depending on your call package, this could be a significant amount.
If you have a contract mobile phone, you may want to look into cover which will pay some or all of the ongoing service costs for the rest of your contract. Of course, if you take out cover with your network, it may well provide a replacement phone for use throughout the rest of your contract period.
Another factor to consider is what happens to the information stored on your phone if it is lost or stolen? Some policies offer backup options although there may be cheaper dedicated options online for this.
Who Should I Buy From?
In most cases, there will be some advantages to taking cover from your network provider, particularly if you are on a contract. For example, they are more likely to offer you cover which includes the cost of any calls made with your phone after it is stolen.
However, you should certainly not go for your network's cover out of laziness. Take the time to check whether using another firm's policy offers better value, taking into account premium costs and what is covered.
This is particularly important as there are a growing number of specialist insurers and providers offering mobile phone cover as our love of gadgets creates an increased demand for dedicated insurance to protect them. Again, don't take any of these policies or providers, even the well known ones, for granted. Check customer reviews and that they abide with insurance regulations.
If you've made the decision to buy cover for your mobile then the biggest savings come from shopping around. You can compare mobile phone insurance online at UK Insurance Index plus benefit from the experience of other policyholders by reading their reviews of policies and providers.
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