Protect your bubble abroad

cfcmills

Hi,

I am after some advice.

I was recently in Prague, I lost my phone about 3.30am walking back to my hotel, I remember someone bumping into me but thought nothing of it at the time, only after getting back to my hotel at 4am did I realise i did not have my phone on me.

Because of the time I did not contact the police (the language barrier being the main issue).

When I woke at 9am I contacted my network provider to inform them of the loss/theft, they barred the phone.

We then had to rush to catch our flight back to the UK.

After returning that afternoon I rang protect my bubble.

This is where the problem starts. They told me I needed proof of purchase from 02, i got that. They also said i needed a crime report number, i phoned Sussex police but they could only give me an incident number as the crime happened abroad.

I then telephoned protect my bubble to make my claim, the lady on the other end of the phone seemed quite pleased to tell me that because I did not have a Czech crime number from the Czech police my claim was declined. I said that this was nearby impossible to contact them at the time of the incident and I am doing all I can from the UK to sort it.

I have spent hours on the Internet trying to get phone numbers of the Prague police, I have tried 4 different numbers yesterday (within 24 hours) but could not speak to anyone English.

I went on the foreign office website who had a paragraph about reporting a crime and could do from the UK, I have today sent a letter to the address special delivery.

I also sent 5 emails to various Czech police email addresses that I found on there website, hoping I could be directed to the right department, one of them corresponds to the address i sent the letter to.

So far I am waiting for a response.

It seems as though protect your bubble will not pay my claim and even if I do manage to get a crime report number I imagine they will void my claim due to the 24 hour rule, which was out of my control although i have made contact to the czech police from the UK. Do you have any advice of how I can deal with them? As it is looking as though I will not receive a replacement iPhone 5 worth £500.

I have read various reviews and it seems as though this company will use any loophole to try and get out of a claim, I am just looking for some advice.

Many thanks for any advice!

marathonic

They don't use loopholes to get out of a claim - they use terms and conditions.

It'll clearly state in the policy terms and conditions that you would have been provided with what exactly is required for a successful claim for a lost or stolen phone. There's probably a section relevant to losing it in a foreign country.

Have a read of your policy to see what it says.

marathonic

On a side note for other people reading this thread, insurance should only be purchased for stuff that would cause significant hardship should loss occur - such as house insurance, life insurance, income protection insurance, etc.

Why line the insurance companies pockets with profits for things that are classed as a luxury as opposed to a necessity? iPhones are expensive enough without going to the extra expense to insure them.

If your finances are such that you cannot afford to replace an iPhone without insurance, then you really need to ask yourself whether you can afford the phone itself in the first place (and there's no point saying that it's a contract phone and was free because O2, Vodafone, etc. all make the sim-free cost (and more) back from you during the term of the contract).

dacouch

Almost any policy covering items abroad requires the item to be reported to the police. This is so the police can validate the theft / loss and importantly so that if the item turns up it can be reunited with you.