Mobile phone insurance for under 18's

rorysdad

Back in February of this year my step daughter and I went to Carphone Warehouse. At the time she was 15 years of age. I am 52.

She bought a tablet PC and paid on her debit card. At the same time we took insurance and paid a one-off premium of £20. Both the receipt for the tablet and the insurance document are in her name.

I signed the insurance document.

The tablet was damaged and we called Carphone Warehouse's 'Geek Squad' to put in a claim on the insurance. They said they could not discuss the claim as the date of birth of the purchaser was different to the date of birth I was giving them.

We went next day to the Carphone Warehouse store and they said the date of birth on their system was '1921' - making the buyer 92 years of age. No idea where they got that from!

After an hour in the store we were told that step daughter being under 18 could not be insured and as the policy was in her name they could not send the tablet for repair. They gave us a new tablet but no refund on the insurance.

Now we have a new tablet - but are £20 down and no insurance.

They have nothing in the store about having to be 18 to buy insurance and they were quick to take the money from a 15 year old...

Anyone know the position on this please?

Rorys Dad

scheming_gypsy

She got a new tablet for £20. Not a bad result.

rorysdad

That is not the point. She should have been entitled to a new one under the insurance policy and the store accepted that and said that it would be replaced once it had been sent away as it was irrepairable.

Should the new machine break etc it will not be insured as a result of their actions. They should have told us that although a 15 year old can buy a tablet they cannot buy the corresponding insurance surely?

I believe that the insurance was mis-sold.

Aretnap

If the tablet's irreparable and gets replaced, the policy ends as the tablet which it was insuring no longer exists. The cover doesn't roll over to the replacement tablet. This is fairly standard. See here page 8-9 (assuming this is the policy you're talking about).

In other words, it sounds like they've honoured the terms of the policy, in spite of the confusion over whether she should have been allowed to take it out, which is what they should have done.

rorysdad

What about the fact that the policy which we thought we had was cover until February next year?

In other words, had they honoured the policy the replacement we now have would be covered for further claims until Feb 2014?

Although we have a new tablet it is not insured if it breaks between now and next Feb...

RD

flashg67

I agree it appears to have been mis-sold in that she could never claim on it. (Don't understand why you signed the insurance though, if it was in her name?)

You could push CPW or their underwriters on this. However, I think you should consider that they did swap the damaged tablet, which considering you didn't have valid insurance for, they didn't have to do. I don't think you'll get what you appear to want - the benefit of the cover, but then a refund of the premium because you weren't in fact covered?

Not a great service from CPW, but also, you did sign something, in someone else's name, and apparently without reading what/who was covered, so you do share some responsibility IMHO .

rorysdad

I signed the policy as the staff member told me it had to be signed by someone over 18 - but did not point out that as the tablet had been bought and paid for by someone under 18, that in fact I was signing something that could never be effective.

They are quick to get your money - not so quick to tell you what your money actually gets you...in the case of the insurance, nothing!

The staff member when we went to the store on Saturday even stated that he would not sell a mobile to anyone he thought was under 18 - yeah right...

RD

Aretnap

The reason the replacement tablet isn't covered is not that they didn't honour the policy, but because the policy doesn't cover the replacement. The terms and conditions say

Upon replacement of your product, or payment to you instead of replacement, your cover will end and you will not be entitled to any refund of your premium.

You might think this is unfair given that the policy was sold as lasting a year, and this potentially significant fact isn't mentioned until page 8 of the booklet, but it's a fairly standard term in this type of policy, and whether the terms are fair is a different question to whether they were honoured. Viewed from one angle it's not very fair, but viewed from another your daughter did get a replacement tablet for her £20 - so it's not true that her money got her nothing.

rorysdad

So, the policy although for a 12 month period, only covers one claim?

Aretnap

Pretty much, yes - as many repairs as necessary in a year, but only one replacement. Often it doesn't work out as economic to repair anything more than minor damage, especially if it's a fairly cheap tablet (I was once quoted £95 to replace a battery cover on a digital camera which cost barely more than £100 new) so for most practical purposes it may well mean one claim.

*Scarlett

You might have cover on your home insurance already. Some policies will cover for accidental damage as standard.

You may have cover for items lost or damaged away from home as well.

Bear in mind there will normally be an excess fee if you were to claim and the claim would have to be declared for the next 3 - 5 years.

Home insurance will not normally cover any breakdown or wear and tear issues but it's worth bearing in mind that you may have some cover.

Hopefully your daughter will be careful with the tablet,