Mobile Phone Insurance - Do They have us over a barrel?

emma_829

It was in a bag because I didn't have anywhere to put it and I didn't want it sat on my lap because would that have been a stupid thing to do flashing an expensive phone around in an area I don't know to well. You could say I should have left it in the hotel room but the safe in the room didn't seem all too safe and the maids were coming one of which I had seen sneaking into the back door of a room by the pool and closing the curtains so that didn't seem safe either. Possibly I shouldn't have taken it on holiday but then I wanted a camera and to be honest I brought the phone to double up as one not purposely for holiday but just in general. I also needed it because I had to have a device which would let me check my emails reguarly due to me having to sort of my university course and find out my uni exam results plus an iphone 4 sim card doesn't fit in any other phone and I needed to have THAT number while I was away incase the uni tried to contact me. So taking into consideration all of that I would say I was fairly sensible.

If I for example had a coat on and the phone was in my pocket somebody could just as easily have come up behind me and taken it from the pocket and it would have taken me a good few hours possibly before I even noticed. Now say I was distracted in a public area what would be your suggestion then? Not take the phone out of the house? Or not by an expensive phone to start with?

I realise its a matter of opinion, I understand now perhaps I could have done more for instance possibily wrapped the bag handle around my wrist but I was on holiday for the first time without a parent, I thought I had done the correct thing and being naive expected the bag to be safe as it was directly next to me and I hadn't just gone in the sea and left it there which I knew would be stupid.

In my opinion we have insurance for that particular matter that somebody has taken a chance when you think your safe because otherwise the only way it would be taken is if we had it in a trouser pocket and were mugged for it but then to prove you were mugged you would probably need a witness or a bruise of some kind so that would be hard to prove too if you were unharmed and the insurance could probably use that as a get out clause. You say having an expensive item in a bag, in a public place isn't sensible every women I know carries a handbag and inside said handbag is a phone, an mp3 player maybe, a camera also, expensive make-up and even the bag itself the price can be exceptionally high .Are you saying that were all making a mistake? Or is it correct that an insurance company and yourself can say you should carry all that stuff around on your person even if you have no pockets and so its all in plain sight and therefore more appealing to a theif? Not to mention that had I had my phone in the hand and for instance dropped it of lost it as so easily happens which its on your persons because it falls out a pocket then surely that too would be silly?

Overall my point is yes your right yours is one way of looking at it but in everyday life everybody puts expensive stuff in a bag and we put the bag under the table while we go for lunch, or we put the phone on the table with our partners while we go to the toilet because we think we have done the right thing at the time. We put expensive stuff in a house and people can see it though the windows and can see when we go out so thats not really sensible is it? Its on show for anyone to see and anyone to take but thats why we have insurance because it happens and this insurance company could say anything to say no and thats pretty much what they are doing. They say the phone shouldn't have been left unnattended in a public place which is wasn't whether it was on me or in my bag it was within arms reach at all times. No i didn't sit their staring at the bag 24/7 true but then again neither do I think mr manager at protect your bubble does either, probably because hes banking all the rejected claim premiums and can afford to buy himself a new phone everytime it gets stolen.

keith1950

The point is that you have to take reasonable precautions to safeguard the phone.

You are right ,in that, you shouldn't have taken such an expensive item on holiday.

Your example of a thief being able to see your possessions through your window doesn't stand up......the house has to be locked to be able to put in a claim.

but in everyday life everybody puts expensive stuff in a bag and we put the bag under the table while we go for lunch, or we put the phone on the table with our partners

This is true, but it is a risk that you take, if it goes wrong don't expect an insurance company to pick up the pieces.

Insurance companies are not there to cover people's lack of forethought or risk's they take because anything else would be inconvienient.

It is an expensive mistake, a lesson in life, a mistake that you won't make again .....hopefully !

grumbler

keith1950 wrote: »

.....the house has to be locked to be able to put in a claim. ...

Really? Why this common clause about 'public space' then?

butlercott wrote: »

.. not entitled to claim because it was "left negligently in a public space, accessible by people other than immediate family"...

If the house has to be locked, then it should be 'any space', not 'public'.

What I want to say, it is far-far less clear that you are trying to present. Usually the T&C are made as vague as possible in order to avoid paying compensation in almost all cases.

Insurance companies are not there to cover people's lack of forethought or risk's they take because anything else would be inconvienient.

90% of mobile insurance companies are there to rob their naive customers.

robbies_gal

id lie beat them at their own game- oh i lost it then get your money back