MSE Article discussion: Mobile Phone Insurance

Former_MSE_Sally
Former_MSE_Sally Posts: 74 Forumite
edited 13 March 2012 at 9:15PM in Insurance & life assurance
Hi folks, we've just fully revamped and rewritten the

We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences, particularly on how you have found dealing with companies, and if we've missed any of the goodies

Thank you,

MSE Sally
«13456724

Comments

  • many thanks im off for a good read of that, its only peoples bad experiences you seem to read about on here so hard to find anyone who vouches for certain companies ie we know what ones are bad but not what ones are good or the best.
  • petermcuk
    petermcuk Posts: 13 Forumite
    edited 14 March 2012 at 7:41AM
    This is a very depressing thread (the thread I refer to has moved to here I recommend reading it. Here's the link-http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=950155).

    This whole business seems to be a con and really needs looking into.

    My daughter lost a 3 month old iPhone but Protect My Bubble used EVERY excuse not to pay - they didn't! Add them to the 'don't touch with a bargepole' list!




    The key escape routes seem to be:
    • The time taken to report the loss/theft - sometimes very restrictive and of course you haven't got a phone to call them.
    • Robbery without violence. Should I resist handing my phone over until I get assaulted?
    • Lack of a crime number (how enthusiastic do you think the police are to increase their workload by issuing these for lost mobiles?)
    These companies must be making a fortune out of this - and remember, we are generally only hearing from people who actually claim. There must be thousands who just pay up.

    HELP!
  • I had previously reported my poor experience with Supercover. I had 2 phones insured both were stolen in 2 weeks of each other, both were new upgrades. Nothing ever happened before, no previous claims so had been paying for a long time with no claims.
    Eventually after using the complaints and appeals procedure one phone was replaced after 9 weeks and this when their advertising says within 24 hours!
    The second phone - the saga continued - and I was piggy in the middle - O2 producing evidence the phone was blocked, the insurers saying it was not blocked on national data base. So stalemate. more than 4 months have gone by. In the end I submitted a complaint to O2 and they responded with excellent customer service - a repalcement phone, £50 credit for my inconvenience as a good will gesture as I have been a long standing cusotmer of O2. But they had blocked the phone! So many thanks to O2 otherwise I was in despair. Next would have been IFA. But given I was paying for this insurance appalling cusotmer treatment.
  • You recommend Insure & Go in your mobile phone insurance guide but then later in the guide mention this horror story "One shocking example we've heard is an insurer refusing to pay out for theft as a phone was taken out of someone's pocket while at a busy gig - saying that this didn't count as robbery as no force was used..."

    However under the Insure & Go terms and conditions, as has been mentioned previously, it states " Please note that theft from any property, place or premises is not covered unless there is evidence of forced and violent entry or exit. Theft from the person is not covered unless force or threat of violence is used. Theft whilst in any form of public transport or public place is not covered unless force or threatened force is used. You are required to take all reasonable precautions to protect the product against theft, loss or damage."

    How can any sort of pickpocketing claim (surely the most common form of theft) ever not be excluded by the insurers if they are requiring "force or threatened force" to be part of the theft?

    This is exclusion seems to me to make the insurnance policy worthless.

    They are pretty much saying a phone stolen from anywhere at all can only be stolen if there was violence involved - how often does this really happen?
  • MrRightSA
    MrRightSA Posts: 76
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    edited 15 March 2012 at 8:22PM
    While I agree that pickpocketing is the most common form of theft, how can they prove that it wasn't simply lost? They probably had to exclude that because people abused it. My friend was one of them who left her phone on a caf! table then just filed a police report saying it was stolen and got a brand new phone that wouldn't have been covered otherwise.

    Either way, I've sent an email over to Insure and Go for clarification and I'll post the response. Since it is pretty poor if theft isn't always theft according to them.
  • MrRightSA
    MrRightSA Posts: 76
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    Thank you for contacting Insureandgo Insurance Services Ltd. Our
    Platinum Gadget policy covers loss. We class loss and theft as the same
    thing. A claim will considered for loss (theft) provided you can
    remember the last time and place you had the item.

    So what they are saying is that theft isn't theft. That's reassuring!!
  • jcwilson
    jcwilson Posts: 12
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    is there anyone who will ensure a phone if you are living abroad? One phone already pick-pocketed - would prefer to insure its replacement but cannot seem to find an insurance policy
  • Any recommendations for a phone that costs £700? The insure-and-go upto £1k value is much more expensive than the £500 limit one. I've got a 64GB iPhone (and I'm afraid to say that I have been careless in the past, so really want to insure it).
  • A friend bought me a new iphone from apple in the States and I need to find insurance but all the insurance companies I have found require the phone to be purchased in the UK.

    I can't be the first person to have tried to do this - has anyone managed to find an insurer in this situation?
  • lucky_me_2
    lucky_me_2 Posts: 195 Forumite
    It's been mentioned in the article but it's worth checking with your bank to see if it's included with your bank account if you pay a monthly fee.

    It might even be worth upgrading your bank account to take advantage of offers such as breakdown cover and gadget insurance as to be honest i've found it works out cheaper than taking out a separate insurance policy.

    I pay £6.50 a month for my current account which includes gadget insurance, mobile insurance, an extended warranty on new household purchases such as TV's and kitchen equipment + an interest free overdraft up to a certain amount.

    You may find that you actually save yourself some money this way too :-)
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