MSE Article discussion: Mobile Phone Insurance

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  • nickles5
    nickles5 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I lost my week old Samsung Galaxy S3 2 weeks ago on a night out. Silly me. But I thought, no, it's ok I now have free mobile insurance, I will just make a claim, bite the bullet, pay the excess and make a claim... simple.

    What I have experienced and have continued to experience has been nightmareish!

    Firstly, if you are not a fan of the song Footloose, never, ever ring Virgin Mobile Insurance! As you are guaranteed to have to listen to it for a minimum of 10 minutes whilst you wait to speak with someone. I originally wanted to make a claim online, but due to poor communication between Virgin Mobile and Virgin Mobile Insurance my details were not available! Anyway, after many, many calls and many wasted days I got to the point of making a claim.

    I didn't want to call and just say "I had too much to drink on a night out and foolishly lost my phone" (i wish i did that!), so like an idiot I allowed the operative to lead me to describe a potential scenario which may have lead to losing my phone. Naive I know! In truth I have no idea how I lost it, I wish I did, but I cannot not remember, all I know it is lost, well untruly! I have tried everything to get it back but to no avail. So, after describing what may of happened, it turned out that I had been lead down a path with no return. I felt I had been set up, to the point she almost instantly said no, your claim has been denied due to negligence!!

    Negligence!!! Ha. In what world is losing your phone not attributed to an element of negligence?! Regardless of how you lose your phone, a lost phone is a lost phone and negligence will always play a role in person losing or damaging their phone!

    I urge anyone who is with Virgin Mobile to not take out Virgin Mobile Insurance, even if it is offered as free and a part of your contract. Cancel it! Their affiliation with Virgin Mobile has certainly tarnished their reputation, as I normally do not have any issues with Virgin Mobile.

    Any advice is welcomed. You have been warned.

    Cheers

    Nick
  • SEL
    SEL Posts: 3 Newbie
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    This thread is really helpful, but quite depressing!

    I'm now veering towards using TESCO (after reading some of the problems with Insurance2go). Has anyone had any positive experiences with TESCO? although it's expensive I want someone reliable.
  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637 Forumite
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    Why don't you use your home insurance
  • SEL
    SEL Posts: 3 Newbie
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    I was put off by the high excess and potential effect on my no claims....
  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,637 Forumite
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    Why don't you use some of the circa £100 you will spend per year on mobile phone insurance to reduce your excess which will cost you a lot less than you expect. I would not be surprised if it only cost you £15 a year to delete a voluntary contents excess of £100 so you only have the compulsory excess.

    You can then save the balance towards any potential increase in your premium if you claim.

    Home Insurance has wider cover for theft or loss of phones than stand alone mobile phone insurance although it won't cover calls made by the thief
  • SEL
    SEL Posts: 3 Newbie
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    dacouch wrote: »
    Why don't you use some of the circa £100 you will spend per year on mobile phone insurance to reduce your excess which will cost you a lot less than you expect. I would not be surprised if it only cost you £15 a year to delete a voluntary contents excess of £100 so you only have the compulsory excess.

    You can then save the balance towards any potential increase in your premium if you claim.

    Home Insurance has wider cover for theft or loss of phones than stand alone mobile phone insurance although it won't cover calls made by the thief

    Thanks, that sounds like an idea - I'll defintely check it out :)

    Would still be interested to hear from anyone with experience of Tesco mobile insurance...
  • dorrie_2
    dorrie_2 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Thorntj wrote: »
    I have read through the guide and can find little reference to insurance for children. Considering the amount of under 16s who have expensive mobiles this is a big omission. Can anyone help , we are planning on getting our son an iPhone 5 on his 15th birthday , however I cannot find any company that will insure children under 16!! If anyone has any suggestions they would be appreciated.
    Hi, if you buy the phone and insurance in your name from Carphone Warehouse. The user of the phone can be anyone at all, of any age, that you give permission to.
    :)
  • Peanutheed
    Peanutheed Posts: 3 Newbie
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    Hi everyone.
    Just thought I would add a bit on some of the mobile insurance nightmares from a police point of view. Well more about watching out for the small print. I can only talk for Scotland here but it appears this may well cover other areas.

    I see that Insure & Go seem to only allow you to progress a THEFT claim if there has been bodily violence or threats of violent.

    For your information, in Scotland, theft is described Theft is committed by any person who feloniously takes and appropriates the property of another without the owners consent or any other lawful authority.

    What that means is theft is anything where the item is stolen, pick pocket, from your car, from your person. At no time would there be associated violence or threats of violence.

    So, it appears that these companies do not cover for THEFT at all.

    In Scotland, what they are describing is Robbery, this is an entirely different crime and does require there to be an element of violence.

    Hope this helps, it seems there is a definite problem with the description they have an probably illegal.

    Let me know what your thoughts are.
  • NX1977
    NX1977 Posts: 84 Forumite
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    Has anyone taken these insurers refusing claims to the OFT, insurance ombudsman, trading standards and/or BBC Watchdog?
  • o_shinybutton_o
    o_shinybutton_o Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I'm looking into getting phone insurance as I lost my phone last month.

    I've read through the policies and I'm a little confused... they say that they cover for 'loss', but the T&Cs give a different definition to 'lost' than I would!

    Am I right in thinking that a phone doesn't count as lost unless your home/car is visibly burgled, or it's taken as part of a violent crime (i.e. you're mugged with the ubiquitous 'threat of violence').

    What if you genuinely just lose your phone?! It happens!!
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