MSE Article discussion: Mobile Phone Insurance

Saska22

My experience with protect my bubble was definitely less than satisfactory. September of 2011 I took out the insurance. In December of that year I made a claim on my iPod touch. I was informed I would need to pay an additional £25 excess on top of the £10 a month I was already paying. Once I had made the claim, filled in the forms, paid the excess and then waited to hear off them to arranged postage for my iPod. 4 months passed and I had not heard a thing off them. I rang them countless amounts of times costing me over £30. In the mean time I had my iPod repaired via apple for just £25 and instead of repairing the iPod they handed me a brand new one. When I managed to get in contact with protect my bubble they said they tried to ring me ONCE and since there was no answer they did not try again. They didn't email, post or phone again. I filed a complaint to hopefully be rebated the £105 I had given to them with no service. 4 months later I received a rather deceiving letter basically saying that my complaint had been declined. There was no apology and no follow up. Needless to say I am livid with the company and I believe after rereading the terms and conditions they did not fulfil their requirements as an insurer, my advice would be to stay clear of this company and use other companies who do not charge as much and offer a good service

Barnsley_Paul

I have alluded to this event on another of the forums on here but it seems that this is the place to vent my utter horror at Insure and Go. I genuinely hope Martin takes up cases like these as I believe they are totally and blatently mis-selling insurance policies.

I recently accidentially dropped my mobile phone down the toilet at my home as I was turning around and flushing the loo. The incident occured on a sunday morning whilst stone cold sober at around 10am. The phone was flushed totally down the toilet with the waste. I tried to recover the phone (iPhone 5 32GB) via the manhole in my back garden but there was no sign of it. The phone would not ring as presumably the water and waste had damaged the phone. I had taken out Platinum Insure and Go Gadget Insurance to specifically cover this mobile phone for Accidental Damage and Loss via Insure and Go and underwritten by Citymain. The insureandgo.com website clearly stated (and still does state) that Platinum cover does indeed cover the LOSS of the phone. After the incident I immediately checked the policy and was appauled at the exclusions imposed in a LOSS situation. From what I can gather, the policy does not cover LOSS at all unless the phone is taken from the individual via the threat of force. This to my mind is not loss at all, rather aggrevated theft, and further checking of the terms reveals no scenerio in a public place whereby a claim would indemnify in a LOSS situation, nothwithstanding the above outlined forced theft scenario. Fortunately I understood that I was covered as, principally, I had lost my phone in a non-public place, i.e. at home. I submitted my claim as per the terms and timescales and notified the appropriate authorities as instructed.

On Saturday 29th Dec 2012 I received a letter from CITYMAIN, underwriters, informing me of the following:
1. They would not be able to help in replacing my phone for Accident Damage as I was not in possession of the phone to submit for repair (I accept this)
2. They would not be able to help me with regards to the LOSS of the phone as I “know where the handset is situated”. (I absolutely DO NOT accept this)

On the contrary, I have no idea where the phone is and have searched all reasonable locations to find it. The phone remains off (and presumably totally damaged) and I could not trace the device using my iPad’s “find my iPhone” application for the same reason. Furthermore the phone is totally blocked via the IMEI number and by the network, which was a condition of THEIR Ts and Cs for a claim to be made, so any further attempts to locate the phone are beyond me (say for example the phone ended up in a dry part of the sewer somewhere and began to work, I would have been able to trace it- however this is now totally impossible).

As far as I can see I have fulfilled all obligations with regards to the Ts and Cs of my policy and I have a valid claim for LOSS. Also any hope of at least locating the phone have been terminated via the Terms and Conditions imposed by INSURE AND GO and CITYMAIN.

So, basically, their mobile phone insurance is totally worthless unless you are robbed in the street through violence. How can they be allowed to advertise that their policy covers loss when it so blatently doesn't? This is no better or worse than the PPI mis-selling in my book.

Paul

NX1977

Has anyone reported any of these companies to BBC watchdog, the insurance ombudsman and trading standards? Maybe also office of fair trading as well?

It'll be like most things as until one of the above start sniffing around, they'll carry on.

Yohan

This company is promoted on MSE as their no 1 mobile phone insurer.
BEWARE!!!!
They are not regulated by the FSA!
So they can do as they please when/if you need to make a claim.

antrobus

Yohan wrote: »

This company is promoted on MSE as their no 1 mobile phone insurer.
BEWARE!!!!
They are not regulated by the FSA!
So they can do as they please when/if you need to make a claim.

I think you mean 'Insurance 2 Go'. And they are regulated by the FSA.

Insurance 2 Go is a trading name of Loyal Insurance Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority under ref 430316.

kdmbudd

I am looking at buying some insurance for my Galaxy s3 phone for myself and my wife has the same. I have already dropped my phhone and it has a single crack across the screen but at the moment it isn't really bothering me. However worried that I might drop it again and cause more significant damage to the screen. I've been looking at insure and go terms and conditions and it says that they won't repair 'cracks' - just wondered if anyone had done more serious damage to their screen and been able to make a claim before I take the plunge and get mobile cover for the first time.

Or of course if anyone can suggest other insurance that would cover this - I have been looking around and damaging Galaxy s3 phone screens seems to be a common problem.
Thanks

Barnsley_Paul

kdmbudd wrote: »

I am looking at buying some insurance for my Galaxy s3 phone for myself and my wife has the same. I have already dropped my phhone and it has a single crack across the screen but at the moment it isn't really bothering me. However worried that I might drop it again and cause more significant damage to the screen. I've been looking at insure and go terms and conditions and it says that they won't repair 'cracks' - just wondered if anyone had done more serious damage to their screen and been able to make a claim before I take the plunge and get mobile cover for the first time.

Or of course if anyone can suggest other insurance that would cover this - I have been looking around and damaging Galaxy s3 phone screens seems to be a common problem.
Thanks

Of course, if it were to get worse, they would then surely fix it. But if you're not already insured it'd be somewhat fraudulent.

In my experience, the best insurance is always the one from your mobile provider but I know that mine (o2) won't insure unless its taken out within 28 days of purchase.

Insurance is essential these days though as I have found out to my cost. Do take some form out, although read all Ts and Cs before taking out to ensure you're comfortable with them. Also check your contents insurance at home as that is often the most cost effective.

kdmbudd

It is not that i intend to claim for a single crack that I cannot see when using the phone. But having searched and seen the many experiences of people dropping their phones and having significant damage I would not want to end up in the position of no insurance or insurance that won't pay out if I drop my phone again and this time cause significant damage.

I am also wanting to guarantee that my wife would have decent cover if she were to drop and damage her phone. The Galaxy S3 seems to have very few problems other than screen damage which is why I am concerned to make sure that she also has decent cover.

I have read the t&c's as of course i would be a fool not to check exactly what each form of insurance. As for cover from provider (orange) they are so costly it would probably make more sense to pay for repairs myself and household insurance is a difficult game to play. If you need it for a significant claim it makes sense - but for a small amount of money it can lead to increased premiums and if you end up with 3 claims you can find your premium can double and some insurance companies will no longer insure which is obviously a bit of a gamble.

If anyone has claimed for a damaged screen with any mobile insurance I would be interested if who they were covered with.

Thanks

nix22

I bank with Halifax Ultimate reward account & noticed in your bank lists u say you do not have to register mobiles with this bank to get insurance. You DO have to register them then wait 14 days for cover to be activated. I am sorry if u already have this info but as i read it on yr site today i didn't want anyone to be disappointed. Hope this helps someone.

WoodN

The Insure and Go website allowed me to enter my laptop details online and pay for a policy, which didn’t cover laptops.

I was burgled subsequently and claimed against the policy and two weeks later, CityMain, who handles their insurance, informed me that it had been declined because the policy was for gadgets and didn’t cover laptops.

It is a disgrace I was allowed to enter the details (Make, model and serial number) of my laptop online under a policy that doesn’t insure laptops, and that they took my money and would have kept it had I not submitted a claim. They also confirmed the insurance and paperwork and issued a policy number making me believe I was fully covered.

I am unfamiliar with technical terms, and paying a premium, which was not rejected implicitly, created the expectation of being covered under that policy.

Had they rejected it on the basis that it was not covered, I would have immediately sought to reinsure elsewhere or under another policy to protect myself. As an insurer, they have a duty to check my details and reject the application if it does not fall within the policy, which they failed to do.

This is a moral issue, that had I never claimed, I would never have received my premium back so that is a fault in their system.

Beware Insure and Go and CityMain. They have no checks in place to prevent this sort of thing happening and they will hold onto your money until you need to claim. Go elsewhere even if they are the cheapest. Afterall you get what you pay for in terms of competence and service, which Insure and Go and CityMain are both lacking.