Mobile Insurance article discussion/feedback thread

lonestarfan

I can see how easily it is to lose but its sad that the policy doesn't cover loss. I don't really know what loss is if it it isn't what you describe! My home insurance policy covers accidental loss so I assume that means the type of thing that happened to you. Your post is helpful to me and hopefully to others to warn us to ask what does loss mean. I'm just sorry I can't help you. Hope you find a way round it.

Quest73

O2 Insure problems

Previously in Insurance Forum but no replies - hope its ok to try this one.


Hi - a bit of advice please?

I have a Samsung Tocco Ultra - signed up to a £30 a month 24 month contract. Insured with O2 Insure at £6 per month. On holiday the phone was dropped and is broken. O2 Insure says they will honour the claim but that they are not sending out any more Tocco Ultras. They offered me a Nokia N97 Mini instead. This is the only offer. It is a completely different type of phone to the Samsung. If I don't want it - basically - tough. I am only 6 mths into the contract which is a higher monthly package and cost than I need but took it to get the Samsung. Now they cannot give me a Samsung what do I do? Has anyone any advice please?

Thanks

olly_costa

Is it possible for my insurer to change their costs half way through a contract?

Im with vodafone and my insurance, when I renewed my contract 3 months ago, was £3.50 a month with no excess.
This week I had a letter telling me that my insurance was now £6.00 a month and had a £25 excess on it.
I have looked through the T&C and can see nothing about price changing policy.
Where do I stand??

e111s_2

I took out a policy with CUSC Foneguard in September last year. I had my phone stolen out of my pocket in October whilst in a pub in the U.K. CUSC deemed that the phone was not taken by "Actual or threatened force" and so would not be covered.

After months of dispute and around 10 letters between myself, Amtrust International (The company behind CUSC) and the Financial Ombudsman I finally got a response today that Amtrust should settle my claim as it fitted the terms of their policy. Their ambiguous policy wording is deliberately placed to confuse customers and used to their benefit. I have seen several other failed claims on here that were dismissed on the same premise.

The benefit of insurance with your network is they have a reason to return you a phone and keep your custom paying monthly fees, CUSC just want to take your money and dodge as many claims as possible.

In my opinion with so many complaints around the Internet and on this forum about the company, Moneysavingexpert should not be recommending them.

Ellis

e111s_2

lonestarfan wrote: »

I read on the MSE Fact sheet that CUSC will only cover forcible theft of your Iphone so I e-mailed them to clarify and this is the reply which I think others will find useful.
'Thank you for your mobile phone insurance enquiry.
If your mobile is left unattended it must be made secure e.g.. if left at home ensure doors are locked this would then need a forceful entry to gain access to your mobile phone, the same applies in a car (locked boot or glovebox) or health club (place phone in locker) etc.
If the phone is forcibly pick-pocketed or snatched from you or verbally threatened then the claim is valid. If the phone just goes missing with no evidence as to the reason for its disappearance then your phone would not be covered.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if further information is required.
Kind regards
CUSC Ltd'

From reading this I undersatnd a bit more and I think that just losing your phone is classed as loss not theft and I'm not sure if they cover you just losing it. So after reading the fact sheet I think am looking for insurance cover for theft, accidental damage, loss, and fraudulent use of the handset. Hope this is of help to anyone as I have been grateful for others help on these boards.

Hi,

I had the exact pick-pocketing situation. It was taken out of my pocket in October last year. CUSC refused the claim on the basis that there was no evidence. What evidence was I supposed to have of this? I followed all their procedures, canceling the SIM, obtaining a crime reference immediately etc. They implied that the phone probably just fell out of my pocket.

Thankfully almost 12 months later the Financial Ombudsman has just recommended that the company settle my claim as it fits with their policy wording but I would never recommend insurance with CUSC when you read their policy wording it is obvious that in reality they have the ability to dodge almost any claim. Especially an expensive iPhone as mine was.

Ellis

[Deleted User]

olly_costa wrote: »

Is it possible for my insurer to change their costs half way through a contract?

Im with vodafone and my insurance, when I renewed my contract 3 months ago, was £3.50 a month with no excess.
This week I had a letter telling me that my insurance was now £6.00 a month and had a £25 excess on it.
I have looked through the T&C and can see nothing about price changing policy.
Where do I stand??

Yes I've just had the same letter from Vodafone and am in the same postition. I've had a mobile broadband 'dongle' contract with them for some time, and from March this year I began a 24 month mobile phone contract with them. My monthly insurance bill with Vodafone is thus going to leap from £7 to £12!! I also am surprised they can do that mid contract with my phone!

Walter_Rooner

aires wrote: »

I can't believe that the both of you have said "well hidden in the T&C's" - why on earth would you not read the T&Cs of any insurance you have? It is far too late to discover in the event of a claim that there is something in the T&Cs you were unaware of. You should read through the T&Cs immediately once you receive your policy - no matter how boring.

Fair cop !
I didn't read my NatWest Advantage Private bank account FREE mobile insurance (through Homecare Insurance) T's & C's.
Mind you - I would still have put my iPhone on the roof of my car and driven off !
Yes - I know - stupid.
I made a claim after phoning the claims line and sheepishly asking if I would be covered. I was told yes - and that I was not the first one that day to do the same and make a claim!

My claim was subsequently refused as I didn't "show due care and attention" and this is in the T&C's if I'd looked. But I fear this would exclude any other accidental damage too - like dropping it on a concrete floor; bending down to lift the toilet seat and it pops out of your shirt pocket into the loo.
So I have to agree - don't assume accidental means - erh - accidental. Read those T's and C's !!

shilling

Quest73 wrote: »

O2 Insure problems

Previously in Insurance Forum but no replies - hope its ok to try this one.


Hi - a bit of advice please?

I have a Samsung Tocco Ultra - signed up to a £30 a month 24 month contract. Insured with O2 Insure at £6 per month. On holiday the phone was dropped and is broken. O2 Insure says they will honour the claim but that they are not sending out any more Tocco Ultras. They offered me a Nokia N97 Mini instead. This is the only offer. It is a completely different type of phone to the Samsung. If I don't want it - basically - tough. I am only 6 mths into the contract which is a higher monthly package and cost than I need but took it to get the Samsung. Now they cannot give me a Samsung what do I do? Has anyone any advice please?

Thanks

Maybe a bit late but here goes:

You should raise a complaint and also write into the Appeals address.

You may want to raise the differences in both insured and alternative phones, alluding to the fact that the condition of "like for like replacement" is not being honoured by the insurer, and therefore is a breach of the insurance agreement. :-)

Offer them desired outcomes that you would be happy with such as:

A samsung phone, if it's not possible to like for like, then newer version with you paying a slightly higher excess.


O2 Insure may not be able to offer you a phone of your choice, but you may get something out of ACE, the underwriter, so consider CCing your appeal to them.

Written address for appeals:
O2 Insure Appeals
Codestorm House
Walton Road
Farlington
PO6 1TR
(worth sending it "signed for")

ACE's address is found in the back pages of the policy document, which can be found on O2's website (click on terms n conditions at the bottom, then Insurance.)

goodier100

supercoverinsurance.com

total rubbish waited over an hour on the phone went from position 3 to position 9 in the que, hung up in the end tried each day over the next week same thing happened £5.85 pm for cover for blackberry 9700 bold, emailed them had one reply out of six emails then nothing, dont bother with this rubbish.

will pay for the repair myself and will take advice over the cover.:mad:

Vodafone

olly_costa wrote: »

Is it possible for my insurer to change their costs half way through a contract?

Im with vodafone and my insurance, when I renewed my contract 3 months ago, was £3.50 a month with no excess.
This week I had a letter telling me that my insurance was now £6.00 a month and had a £25 excess on it.
I have looked through the T&C and can see nothing about price changing policy.
Where do I stand??

Hi Olly,

Thanks for your post.

Our apologies for any inconvenience that the change in our insurance charges may have caused. The letter that we have sent you would be to inform you of the changes before they happened, so that you can get in touch to discuss the matter further if you wish.

If you would like any further help or info about these changes from our team, then please feel free to contact us via - Web relations Team - Vodafone UK (When contacting, please quote the code WRT135 in the subject line. In the main message body, please include a link to this thread and your user name)

We will be more than happy to discuss this further with you.

All the best,

Espi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK