Last year I gave in and allowed my eldest daughter to have a mobile phone, with a list of rules as long as your arm ..... including DO NOT DROP it! At the time I told her that I wouldn't replace it if she broke or lost it but I didn't tell her that I took out insurance on the phone, just in case.

We all know that insurance products generally take the pinch out of paying up for loss, theft or damage of valuables. Mobile insurance is no different, provided the premiums are fully paid and conditions for making a claim are met. Reports have revealed that some mobile insurance policies may not actually offer coverage as promised in the adverts, which makes it very important for you to carefully read the fine print before signing up for mobile phone insurance, and before making a claim as well. One of the common conditions that tend to skip the eye/mind is that theft could be covered only when forced or, for that matter, theft or loss must be reported within a specific time.

Even if you do manage to meet all conditions and file a claim, just how many times will a mobile insurance cover your losses? A question worth pondering if you have butter fingers or a tendency to lose/misplace valuables. 

Mobile Insurance Claims – Premium and Excess

The number of mobile insurance claims that one can make are likely to vary based on the insurance product/provider, the value of the mobile phone, and the paid-up premium. In fact, if you’ve opted to pay up the insurance premium on a monthly basis, you may be required to pay the full amount upfront before making your first claim. The more expensive the mobile phone, the higher the risk and, hence, the higher the premium and excess.

An excess is a sum of money that you are required to shell out from your pocket when you make a claim. Excess amounts can get more punishing with each claim that you make – in some cases, time limitations may apply. 

For instance, a £25 excess is payable on claims on ordinary mobile phones, while excess on iPhones tend to be double the amount when a claim is filed for the first time. You could land up paying twice the excess amount on the second claim on the iPhone. Insurance claims for two different phones within the same year can also spike the excess by 100 percent. 

The excess amount charged per claim varies from one insurance provider to another and is definitely higher if the mobile phone is an expensive one such as the iPhone. 

Mobile Insurance Claims – Maximum Limit?

The number of mobile insurance claims you can file during a 12-month period differs from one insurance provider to another. There are insurance firms that offer instant cover with unlimited claims with an excess of £25, but for brand new mobile phones. Yet, others limit the claims to just two per mobile phone in a given year. Do remember and watch out for exclusions, conditions, limitations and excesses, which are an integral part of mobile insurance products.

However, similar to home/vehicle insurance, mobile insurance costs may increase or decrease based on the number of claims made. Do note that switching mobile insurance providers may get difficult as most of them offer policies applicable to gadgets purchased less than six months ago! 

The reliability of mobile insurances differs greatly, partly because of the type and extent of cover they offer and also because of the way they are availed. Package bank account, mobile phone warranty, or even home content insurance can (to some extent) offset costs incurred on repair/replacement of mobile devices, but not without other consequences. 

It is, therefore, a must to shop around for a good offering from a reputed provider, handle and protect the mobile phone responsibly and, of course, report incidents of threat/loss or damage in a timely manner with the prescribed documentation to make best use of mobile insurance products.

Here are a few options for iPhone insurance that covers loss;

only Ultimate cover iPhone insurance covers you for both theft and loss

Asurion offers loss coverage

Loveitcover it offer a decent deal too

As for my daughter, she managed a whole year of looking after her phone until one of her friends managed to drop it in a plant pot, but that is a whole other story. 

Thank goodness for insurance eh?

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