[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Cell-Phone Insurance: A Bet on Bad Luck? here

[bouwmajill]

Although neither Apple nor AT&T offer iPhone insurance, it is offered through SquareTrade for a reasonable price (about $5/mo). With SquareTrade, you'll be covered against manufacturer defects, drops, slips, spills, cracked screen, etc. for three years. Check out www.squaretrade.com/iphone for more details. And for non-iPhones, visit www.squaretrade.com/cellphone.
Jill

[Adama]

I think it's a good idea to have insurance for your cell phone. When I had a cell phone, it got rained on and stopped working, and the insurance replaced it for me.

[NoFire]

There is a company that offers insurance for the iPhone that covers against loss, theft, breakage and water damage and is cheaper than the Square Trade policy.

http://www.InsureYourPhone.com

Included with their policies is a Lost and Found program that provides you with a label for your phone so whomever finds it can return it at not charge to them, and they receive a reward as well.

[CarmieJo]

It might be a good deal if you have a really expensive phone but in general insurance does not make sense unless you are clumsy or treat your phone carelessly. Even if you have the cheapest insurance rate of $5 a month that is $120 on a 2 year contact. (And even more if you have a family plan since you pay per phone.) Add the minimum deductible of $50 onto that and you will pay $170. I've had a cell phone for 12 years and have had one get destroyed in a car accident. Over the course of those 12 years then I would have paid $1440 in insurance + $50 deductible = $1490 for a phone the was worth $200 at full retail price.

[tralfaz]

Verizon's cell phone insurance is worthless. Look at the fine print. It excludes almost anything that you would actually need insurance coverage for. It's probably the same for the other carriers.

If you accidently break your phone.. not covered. If you lose your phone.. not covered. It's covered if the phone is stolen ONLY if you filed a police report.

I dropped my phone in the water.. not covered. There is a moisture sensor inside the phone. If it's been exposed to moisture at all.. not covered. I told them I dropped it in the water. They sent me a new phone and told me to ship the water damaged phone back to them. A week later it came back to me with a note.. sorry, not covered because this phone was exposed to water. !! They kept my battery and charged me for the new phone.

Save your money. The insurance is just there to make more money for them.

[BigsteelerMd44]

I recently lost my LG VX 9900 , I called Verizon they told me my phone was being used , they refunded all my plans used minutes by the person who found my phone. They transfered me To Asurion I made arrangements to get my new phone 50.00. deductable. I received my new phone the next day. One problem my phone had a generic battery that the phone would not recognize. I called Asurion told them the problem and I received the correct battery the next day.

[tralfaz]

I'm glad you had a good experience with phone insurance but in your case it was a theft, which IS covered.

A quick check on Google for Asurion comes up with many thousands of complaints from people. Complaints are usually about coverage denied, getting used messed up phones back as replacement.. some of them knock-offs, some scratched up, some without the water sensor (voids the insurance), etc. They can even switch the phone's color on you! The color and appearance are NOT guaranteed. All that is allowed under the insurance agreement.

One thing that seems to shock a lot of people.. if your phone just stops working.. no coverage! Electrical breakdown is not covered! I've read where people deliberately damage their phones in order to get coverage for a dead phone.

Asurion also doesn't cover a phone loss if someone asks you to borrow your phone and then they never give it back.. it's called "voluntary parting". Even if they tricked you or used fraud to take your phone away from you it's still not covered.

Asurion also will not cover your phone if you are eligible for an upgrade phone. That means that if you want your phone replaced you will need to sign up for a new contract with your carrier and get an upgrade phone. Make you wonder why they were taking the insurance premiums after the upgrade date?

Some people seem to have a good experience with cell phone insurance. I'm not one of them and many thousands of others have found out the hard way too that the insurance they have been paying for is next to worthless. I think if people would do their homework and read all these complaints online, nobody would be buying the insurance. We all just assume that we are covered if ANYTHING happens to the phone because that's what the sales rep tells us. That's just not the case.

[rodco]

Applecare is not just for Tech support. It also extends the warranty another year. Much better ROI than third party insurance because it is direct from Apple.