MSE Article discussion: Mobile Phone Insurance

chuchwig

If you need a replacement phone in a hurry BEWARE

I have to warn you all,
A few weeks ago I had to make a claim to the above mentioned company.
I have held full cover IE Accidental and water damage insurance with this company for two years and never had to make a claim.
One morning after my alarm had gone off i jumped up, went to the bathroom, came back and got changed. Looked for my phone and noticed my girlfriend had stripped the bed linen and was already in the wash.
I was a little cheesed off but hey accidents happen?
Phoned insurance within an hour told them exactly what had happened.
I phoned the next day to find out what was happening? to be told that a letter was in the post that stating that " we regret that we cannot authorise your claim"you deliberately damaging or neglecting your gadget."
When i phoned them i was not allowed to speak to anyone in the claims dept. but had to Email or write to the relevant dept.

I was not happy at all, after days of waiting and Emailing to their appeals dept.
I ended up sending them the following "
I have to make you aware that copies have been made and are ready to be sent to FSA and the Office of Fair Trading if you stand by your original decision".
They gave in eventually, my replacement phone is in transit apparently but This will be four weeks now without a phone.


Bad customer service
Slow delivery

Insurance_review

I thought I would write an honest review of Better Buy Insurance and what happens when you make a claim. My phone was pick pocketed in Spain and I had the insurance on the iPhone for two years. The rules for a successful claim are quite clear in the policy, but I had a look as soon as it was nicked so I would hopefully make a successful claim. I reported the theft to my phone company, blocked the phone and sent a wipe request from iCloud. In the morning, I went to the police station to get a crime reference number which was fine. You have 48 hours to report the theft when you return to the UK if it's nicked overseas.

I called to request a claim form. Here you need to tell the circumstances in which the phone was lost/stolen etc. After explaining the situation (they do match your call with your claim form), I waited about four days for the claim form to come through (simple PDF). Filled it in and included original proof of purchase, the police report, proof I had sent a request to wipe it and proof of travel.

At this point I had no idea what sort of company this was so I waited for some sign that I would have the claim honoured. Around 5 - 6 days later I saw they had taken out the excess (£75) from my bank so it was a good sign it would be. Three days later a refurbished phone arrived, which was fine. It came in an orginal box minus the power cord. The screen and back plate had been polished and it was only on closer inspection I saw it was refurbished. No problem at all though as my contract will be up soon anyway.

So I would recommend them, but make sure you have all your paperwork ready to send off, follow the insurance policy when making a claim and be prepared to wait a while (around two weeks from requesting claim for to having the phone operational). In the end, I got a phone back so I was pleased with them. They appear quite strict in dealing with fake claims so they seem to honour ones where they are legit. :T

silvercar

cfcgaza wrote: »

Hi all,

Does anybody out there have any good advice about " multi phone" insurance..in a house hold with 3 smartphones, ipad and 2 laptops..was wondering if anyone could recommend one.

Thanks

I have a Natwest black account that includes insurance for up to 4 mobile phones. It costs £24 a month.

mystic_trev

silvercar wrote: »

I have a Natwest black account that includes insurance for up to 4 mobile phones. It costs £24 a month.

The problem is silvercar, is if you have a claim. I went thorough the process several years ago. It wasn't an expensive phone, but the insurers will uses every trick in the book to deny your claim. After a few calls / letters I could see it was going nowhere so I cancelled my Premier Banking subscription and told NatWest where they could shove it. Next thing was NatWest were offering to settle the claim if
I continued with the Account!

You might like to Google NatWest Advantage Gold, which is the more common account, yours is posher but uses the same Insurers (CPP I believe) It brings up some interesting results. Even if you get your claim settled it'll be a refurbished phone.Beware!

GillianBC

I just read Insure and Go policy documents - Platinum which is £62.50 including loss and the £39.50 which does not include loss. The wording regarding theft or loss looks exactly the same to me: "whilst in any form of public transport or public place other than when the Product is taken from You by actual or threatened force;" so what is the actual extra "loss" coverage that you're getting for the extra £23 premium?

scottyqt

I've been looking around and studying the wordings of insureandgo and insurance2go regarding the whole public place/public transport debacle and have found a different/better wording on mygadgetbuddy.com.

If you look at the keyfacts you will note the following:

"6.Theft of the gadget left unattended in a public place or a place to which the public has regular access.
7.Theft of the gadget from the person unless force, pickpocket or threat of violence is used"


As you see, theft here is covered unless you have left it out, on the side or been negligent and also you are covered for pickpocket.

I don't have any experience of this so I can't comment on what they are like but I just wanted to pass on what I have found.

They do seem to have a good rating on feefo aswell.

Mr_Crunch

I cannot understand why MSE recommends those Insure and Go Policies. Absolute rip-off even at £62 if they don't cover non-violent theft, or loss on transport or in a public place.

I've just got £500 cover as a Specified Personal Possessions add-on to my contents policy with a £500 excess for about an extra £19 per year. All Risks including any sort of theft, damage or loss except water damage or if left out in a car. Brilliant. It might be because I'm an old duffer who rarely claims on insurance, but I would recommend talking with your normal contents' insurer before going to any of these rip-off merchants. OK, there's an unautorised calls risk in the case of theft but that's manageable.

(Even the Unspecified Personal Possessions section provided £250 of cover per claim with a £50 excess.)

rs65

Mr_Crunch wrote: »

I cannot understand why MSE recommends those Insure and Go Policies. Absolute rip-off even at £62 if they don't cover non-violent theft, or loss on transport or in a public place.

I've just got £500 cover as a Specified Personal Possessions add-on to my contents policy with a £500 excess for about an extra £19 per year. All Risks including any sort of theft, damage or loss except water damage or if left out in a car. Brilliant. It might be because I'm an old duffer who rarely claims on insurance, but I would recommend talking with your normal contents' insurer before going to any of these rip-off merchants. OK, there's an unautorised calls risk in the case of theft but that's manageable.

£500 excess ?

Erod92

I had a bad experience with Protect Your Bubble!! My phone was stolen from my handbag and the next day I reported it to the police and blocked the phone with Vodafone then rang the Protect Your Bubble to start off with the phone call lasted 40 minutes at 20p a minute and I was on hold for 25 of them minutes! After I had finished explaining my story to them they told me I could not claim as I had been sent a replacement phone by Vodafone on warranty as mine was faulty and this was before I even took out the insurance!! So i have been paying the insurance to protect my phone for them to tell me I cannot claim due to my phone being replaced before I even took out the insurance with them!! Furious!

ThisCantBeChanged

can anyone recommend any good insurance, all i am seeing is bad reviews, also cant get mobile insurance with my bank as they dont offer it