MSE Article discussion: Mobile Phone Insurance

InsureGuru

SimonGee said:

I have just carefully looked through my policy and it states that they don't pay out on the following claim:

1. Claims for any mobile phone used in connection with your profession or trade.

Everyone takes work calls on their phone so is this a total con to wriggle out of paying isn't it?. I am self employed so this is ridiculous isn't it? What do I do?

Simon 

Simon, this may depend on how this was sold. Clearly it doesn't meet you needs and any insurer / broker must reasonably ensure they have assessed the needs of a customer.  Therefore if they did highlight this clause and it was excepted then that is all they can do. However I would expect this clause to be highlighted because it is a considerable exclusion.  Follow the complaints process making it clear you will go as far as the financial ombudsmen if it is not satisfactory resolved.

papasmurf2005

had a really bad experience with AFFINION/HELPYOUCOVER. insurance company. recommended by MSE at that time I might add. after paying £16 for over 3yrs, I made a claim for my brand new phone I registered about 8days ago, which I misplaced, completely out of character as I have not claimed in the last 5yrs , and was told I have no cover till after 2weeks of registration. On a policy of 3years plus. Now is this fair? please everyone avoid the said company, it has made me lose faith in gadget cover. Do you plan that your phone will get lost, how can you start cover 2weeks after registration, please help me anyone is this right? 

sandersdavid81

I feel completely scammed by Insurance2Go. With a technicality that could affect lots of other people.
Beware if you buy a phone online. They have a technicality to not pay out. I have just had my claim refused, despite having paid my premium for a couple of years. A technicality in the terms of policy means that they can refuse lots of claims. If you purchase the phone from any company based abroad. Not if you bought the phone abroad. I had two phones that I bought online, one from OnePlus.com (based in China) they operate here but I would have been refused. The second from Wonda Mobile, based in Hong Kong, they refused because of this.
This should be a question when you sign up as thousands of people have phones bought online which aren't based in the UK. I was going to replace with a Google phone, from Google.com but they're as American, this technicality can affect people buying phones direct from loads of companies, Samsung.com, Nokia.com, Apple.com etc none of these are technically based in the UK. 

Mowgleigh

Hi gang!
Does a phone always need to be sent to the insurer to be fixed? I'm currently abroad and have had to had my phone fixed asap as it was unusable and thought I could then make a claim to cover the cost of fixing but this doesn't seem to be the case. This isn't mentioned anywhere in the t&cs; do I have a case to make a complaint or is this standard practice?