Poll: Cell Phone Insurance - Worth It?

[turbo89]

What are everyone's thoughts on cell phone insurance?

I recently purchased a new smart phone after destroying my old iPhone 4. I bought it out-right, which enabled me to not sign a contract with Verizon (even though I was "eligible for an upgrade"). Verizon offers a $15/mo discount if you had a contract and stay month-to-month with them when it lapses (you need to call to get it).

To replace the phone would be ~ $350 (or free if I signed up for a 2yr contract). I'm currently paying $7.15/Mo for insurance and with the deductible I'm starting to think it's just not worth it (smart phone deductible is $100).

 

[travelover]

I never buy insurance for an expense that I can easily afford to bear.

 

[aaronc879]

I don't even buy a case for my smartphone let alone insurance. I don't understand how so many people break their phones. Apparently you have a history of breaking your phone so maybe it's a good thing for you but I don't think it's worth it for most people.

 

[turbo89]

I don't even buy a case for my smartphone let alone insurance. I don't understand how so many people break their phones. Apparently you have a history of breaking your phone so maybe it's a good thing for you but I don't think it's worth it for most people.

Yes, This may be true.... On my last iPhone I replaced the screen three times before the phone gave out (over ~ 4yr period). I had it in a hard case for the last ~ 2yrs or so.

Each screen cost me ~ $20 and I replaced them myself.

 

[Nodak]

At this time I have insurance but my contract has ended and my next phone will not have insurance. I have had a cell phone for 29 years and have yet to break one.

 

[aaronc879]

At this time I have insurance but my contract has ended and my next phone will not have insurance. I have had a cell phone for 29 years and have yet to break one.

There were cell phones 29 years ago? I guess it took a while for them to get to small town Wisconsin. I was one of the first people I knew to get a cell phone and that was 15 years ago.

 

[truenorth418]

I just bought the new iPhone 6s. I did not get the insurance. I have never needed insurance for any of my previous phones. For years I used an iPhone 4 and never damaged it despite dropping it many times. I use a plastic case on my phones just to be on the safe side.

I once accidentally dropped my iPhone 4 in the toilet - and it was fine!


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[spncity]

Cliphanger - Quickly access and securely handle your cell phone. for your phone. A good way to hold onto it so you don't drop it. Love being able to hang it on a belt loop, or on their special hook in the car.

They have different ones for different brands of phones. Some have a case incorporated. I need to add this to superior products.

Kindest regards.

 

[pb4uski]

.....I once accidentally dropped my iPhone 4 in the toilet ....

Inquiring minds yearn to know the details behind this story!

I dropped mine in the lake once. We were picking up a friend in our boat to go to a dinner... DW went to get the friend and I was holding the boat at the dock. I had my Blackberry in my shirt breast pocket and leaned over a bit and it slipped right out of my pocket and into the lake in ~2' of water. I jumped out of the boat and onto the dock and then into the water and retrieved it. The screen was still on! I powered it off and we put it in rice for a couple days and then it worked fine other than the speaker was always a bit tinny from that point onward.

 

[pb4uski]

I never bought insurance. Once I wish I had in that I killed a phone, wasn't yet eligible for an upgrade and had to go back to my prior phone.... and then I realized that my employer was paying the entire cellphone bill so there was no good reason to not carry the insurance.

 

[W2R]

Cell Phone Insurance - Worth It?

It's not worth it for me.

I do like using an Otterbox case. For me, even that case is probably overkill.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I also don't carry insurance, but I buy the shatterproof screen protector and a good case.
I put mine in the washer once, and yes, it was very, very dead.

 

[turbo89]

Interesting response. I thought there would be a definitive "No, you fool!"... but it doesn't appear to be that way.

I just added a Poll... let's see where it ends up.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[Katsmeow]

On insurance I think it depends on what it covers, what it costs, and the deductible. For example, the Apple insurance for the iPhone doesn't cover loss of the iPhone. I've never lost one, but my daughter lost an iPhone a few years ago (cost $750 to replace).

Some plans the cost of the insurance plus the deductible make it unattractive.

I think the most likely damage to a phone is breaking the screen. My son broke his screen on his iPhone 6 and the cost to replace was around $130 with no insurance.

If your insurance covers loss and the deductible is not high the cost you are paying is not huge. But, for a $350 phone I wouldn't buy insurance. I might be it at that cost for a phone that one of the higher priced phones.

 

[Car-Guy]

Not worth it to me to even think about it.

 

[travelover]

.........I put mine in the washer once, and yes, it was very, very dead.

But clean!

 

[Car-Guy]

I also don't carry insurance, but I buy the shatterproof screen protector and a good case.
I put mine in the washer once, and yes, it was very, very dead.

It may have seemed to be very dead (and even very clean) but the information on the phone, e.g. pictures, text, files, numbers, etc, were very likely recoverable.

 

[MRG]

Inquiring minds yearn to know the details behind this story!

I dropped mine in the lake once. We were picking up a friend in our boat to go to a dinner... DW went to get the friend and I was holding the boat at the dock. I had my Blackberry in my shirt breast pocket and leaned over a bit and it slipped right out of my pocket and into the lake in ~2' of water. I jumped out of the boat and onto the dock and then into the water and retrieved it. The screen was still on! I powered it off and we put it in rice for a couple days and then it worked fine other than the speaker was always a bit tinny from that point onward.

Part of my past was around the cell insurance providers(Megacorp did their IT at one time). The number one claim was dunked in water, typically lake and boating season. The application consumed 200% more resources after Memorial day and July 4th holidays.

 

[Senator]

Unless you kill the phone right away, by the time you need to use the insurance, the phone will be next to worthless.

Save the money, buy a new phone with the money. To replace the exact phone will be ~$5 after 2 years.

 

[Nodak]

There were cell phones 29 years ago? I guess it took a while for them to get to small town Wisconsin. I was one of the first people I knew to get a cell phone and that was 15 years ago.

I bought my first bag phone in 1986 after driving to work in a very bad blizzard. I decided I needed a way to communicate in an emergency.

 

[turbo89]

The poll has certainly shifted the direction of this thread... I'll probably end up dropping this insurance on Monday, when I get a few minutes to call VZ.

 

[calmloki]

For my $50 outright Nokia 520? Haven't ruined a phone yet, and my last Nokia lasted almost nine years. Niece & nephew seem to go through several expensive phones each year - suspect they are used as projectiles.

 

[youbet]

There were cell phones 29 years ago? I guess it took a while for them to get to small town Wisconsin. I was one of the first people I knew to get a cell phone and that was 15 years ago.

Yes. Motorola introduced its DynaTAC hand held cellular telephone in 1983. Mobiles were available a few years before that. But it took many years for the infrastructure (towers and base stations) to roll out to rural areas.

 

[hnzw_rui]

I came from Asia where most people were on prepaid and paid for devices in full instead of getting subsidies through contracts. What struck me immediately was how much carriers padded the price of cellphones so they can lock you in to a 2-year contract. The monthly insurance cost over a year + deductible would have been enough to pay for a brand new replacement through ebay so I've never gotten carrier insurance.

I did get AppleCare+ for iPhone and iPad purchases (top capacity models so $850-950 each) over the last couple of years but with the recent increase in AC+ price and deductible, not anymore.

 

[Sarah in SC]

It may have seemed to be very dead (and even very clean) but the information on the phone, e.g. pictures, text, files, numbers, etc, were very likely recoverable.

I use cloud based backups, so everything was recoverable through that. Easy, too. But the bruised ego was something else altogether, lol.