Mobile phone insurance (iphone 4) - is it worth it ?

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My missus has just got a new iphone 4 on contract for 24 months which sort of means that she's locked in and would have to replace her phone should she lose it. Currently, Apple charge £510 for a new one.

I'm pretty sure it is covered on the house insurance but I remember having Orange phones years ago when they came with inclusive insurance and you never claimed on the house insurance. Also, with house insurance, you lose no claims bonus and your premiums get loaded. Over the years it takes you to get back to square one, I'm not even sure it is worth claiming on the house insurance at all really.

So that leaves specific mobile insurance and 1000 companies and 10,000 policies. Any of them any good, like Orange was ? or are they all rubbish, as I suspect ?

hcb42

you can add it to home insurance if you have personal possessions cover.

home insurance doesnt normally have an NCB, and is not normally loaded for one claim either, however phone should probably be a specified item (check the policy wording)

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hcb42 wrote: »

you can add it to home insurance if you have personal possessions cover.

home insurance doesnt normally have an NCB, and is not normally loaded for one claim either, however phone should probably be a specified item (check the policy wording)

As well as loadings and NCB (they are intrinsically the same) there is the spectre of becoming uninsurable (or not being able to move insurance company) by means of having perhaps only 2 or 3 claims in a 5 year period.

You raise a very valid point on specified items (my limit is £1000) but how you value something which is subsidised I do not know. We paid £69 for the phone and will pay an effective £240 over 24 months but a stand alone one is £510.

A quick look around seems to show policies around the £4.99-9.99 range. At the lower end of those, I would perhaps feel comfortable, if it was a comprehensive product from a company I knew, which I fear they are not.

hcb42

loadings and ncb are not the same, and most home insurance does not have an NCB type discount. But i do agree, from my insurance days, personal possession claims are not idea, not 2-3 in a row anyway.

You value it at the replacement value - i.e. £510

I dont have phone insurance myself however, I feel, like many types of insurance for electronics, it isnt worth it, (to me), that is. Touch wood, never been a problem with this.

dacouch

hcb42 wrote: »

loadings and ncb are not the same, and most home insurance does not have an NCB type discount. But i do agree, from my insurance days, personal possession claims are not idea, not 2-3 in a row anyway.

You value it at the replacement value - i.e. £510

I dont have phone insurance myself however, I feel, like many types of insurance for electronics, it isnt worth it, (to me), that is. Touch wood, never been a problem with this.

Most Home Insurance Policies do in fact include a No Claims Discount, this is typically a 20% discount. It is often only on the contents premium eg not on buildings.

There are a few companies that offer "Free" contents insurance if you also have their buildings cover, these companies often stop including the free contents if you make a claim

dacouch

Stand alone phone insurance often has onerous exclusions, these are typically that theft is only covered if violence or the threat of violence is used eg they exclude pick pocketing. They also normally only cover it whilst you have it on your person eg not covered if its stolen from a pub table and quite a few exclude losing the phone.

Some for and againsts for the OP.

Standalone mobile phone cover

For

Often very quick replacement
Often include missuse of phone eg the thieve making calls
Keeps claims off your home insurance

Against

Often restrictions in the cover
Your paying £5 to £10 a month for cover so over a year the cost is between £60 and £120 in premiums often more.

They are often stricter on claims by throwing claims out for the customer "Not acting reasonably" for instance they might not pay a claim if you left your phone in your trousers and they went through the washing machine.

Home Insurance

For

Wider cover eg normally covers pickpocketing, losing and having stolen when not on your person

It's often included already in your cover so your not paying the £60 to £120 in standalone cover per year (If it's not already covered the cost to include blanket cover for items away from home is typically £25 a year

Against

You pay an excess towards the claim

The replacement phone is not always delivered as quickly

A claim normally increases your premium due to losing no claims discount and possible loading

No misuse cover eg not covered for the thieve making calls although if you report the loss to the mobile company you are not responsible from the time of reporting.

Personally I would use my home insurance, use some of the saving in premiums to reduce my excess to a reasonable amount eg £50 to £100 and have cover away from home for my personal possessions including phone.

It might be worth running quotes through with your own insurer for a quote on status quo and then one with a mobile phone claim. This will give you an idea of how much one claim will make, it's not an exact science as most companies have new customer discounts but it will give you an idea of approximate loadings.

Bear in mind that if you end up with two claims (Or more)in a few years on your home insurance it can have a big effect on your premiums