DON'T screw yourselves, GET insurance on your iPhones NOW

[Chetoc230]

um. if you paid via credit card most credit card companies cover accidental loss etc.

i know amex adds an additional year of warranty on the products also.

if my drop my iphone or it breaks on me after apples 1 year warranty amex has me covered with just a phone call.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

You are totally correct. It costs me about $100 a year, but now I've got an insurrance against accidental damage, water damage etc.
Accidents happen, even if you are very careful. You can be very careful but if the iPhone slips out of your hands just once, and it falls down in an incorrect way than you are screwed.

 

[LoganT]

You are totally correct. It costs me about $100 a year, but now I've got an insurrance against accidental damage, water damage etc.
Accidents happen, even if you are very careful. You can be very careful but if the iPhone slips out of your hands just once, and it falls down in an incorrect way than you are screwed.

Right, but you are only screwed out of 200 dollars. Apple doesn't charge you 600 dollars to repair a phone. There's a good chance I won't drop my phone, but if I did the price to repair it wouldn't be that bad.

 

[smokescreen220]

I'll have to check with my stae farm rep...wonder if my iphone will be covered under my renters insurance...

 

[bushbaby]

I"m finding it difficult to understand your logic, so could you enlighten me?

So your saying you'd rather, or better yet you DID/PREFFERED to spend $199+tax to have your iPhone swaped for a refurbished phone, which you addmitedly stated wouldn't even been an option as it didn't cover if you lost, burnt, or accidentaly/purposefully ran over your phone. Than simply spending ~$45//year and have it replaced (BRAND NEW) no matter what happened to it. I just can't get behind your logic, but t each his own.

I can see an argument regarding Apple's Applecare, as it truthfully doesn't cover much, but what I can't see is an argument against actual CHEAP AS **** insurance.

His logic makes sense. $92 a year equals the $199 it would cost to replace it through Apple coreswap, figuring you plan to keep the phones 2 years (so you can upgrade). These are not good odds. You're essentially betting that you'll damage one of these phones in the next two years to make this cost-effective. This cost is a high percentage of replacement value.

 

[Boiler]

Math

This is really a simple math problem.

Make a table of the costs of each scenario.

Insurance for one year ($100)
Cost of replacing iPhone ($300)
Cost of not replacing iPhone ($0)

Assign some utility scores to these outcomes on a scale from 1 to 10.
Buying insurance. 3
Replacing iPhone without insurance. 0
Nothing bad happening to it. 10

Costs*Probabilities will give you your expected value. Then you can compare these to a certainty equivalent to determine how much you really feel comfortable paying for insurance.

Insurance expected value.

($50) * 1.00 = ($50)

Take an educated guess on your past experience the odds of needing to replace the phone.

($300) * 0.20 + ($0) * 0.80 = ($60)

Now use your happiness numbers. That, is assuming money and happiness are not related linearly for you. Some people might say winning $10 million dollars would make them X happy, but winning $20 million probably would make them between 1X and 2X happy, not 2.00X happy exactly.

Just tweak the numbers around like the cost of insurance, replacing phone, and probability of needing a replacement. If you are risk neutral, go with the better expected value.

If the other guy only had to pay $200, you would have to expect the probability of needing an iphone replaced is around 25%, or a lesser percentage if having the coverage really gives you a greater sense of safety and security.

 

[Sun Baked]

Might as well figure insurance, bumpers, skin, and Applecare.

Since if you suck down the "protection" Koolaid you'd likely be spending the same amount every couple years protecting the phones as it cost buying a new one.

If you are destroying more than one phone every couple years.

---

Probably cheaper to get a hard case with a belt clip if you are always dropping the phones into the toilet and out of your shirt pocket.

 

[dsn112]

If your gonna get insurance, squaretrade is 99 dollars for 2 years of coverage but if your that worried, get an otterbox defender for $40 and call it a day

 

[Thedeathbear]

The girl at the Apple store said if I want insurance through AT&T, it would be about $10 more to my phone bill. I'm not sure. I've dropped my 3G dozens of times without the case and it has been fine....

 

[VeNoMiZeD]

I tried doing that last time with the 3GS because I spent $499 on it. The insurance guy at this State Farm gave me this dirty look and said "Im not going to insure that". I walked out and just never placed any insurance. Nothing ever happened so it worked out either way. I charged this Iphone 4 on my Amex card and they extend the warranty for another year of top of Apples warranty.

 

[dukebound85]

Why not use your CC and have insurance through that? and best of all, it is free

For example, here is what mine offers that seem to encompass any type of warranty I may need

Purchase Replacement - Purchase Replacement - Within the first ninety days of the date of purchase, Purchase Replacement will replace or repair eligible items of personal property purchased entirely with your eligible card up to a maximum of $500 per claim and $50,000 per year, in the event the item is lost, stolen, or damaged. Certain exclusions, restrictions, and limitations apply.

Purchase Guard - Purchase Guard will double the manufacturer’s original United States (U.S.) warranty period on personal items purchased in full with your eligible card that carry a warranty duration of less than 1 year and extend the manufacturer’s original U.S. warranty period for 1 additional year for Covered Purchases with a warranty duration of 1 to 3 years.

 

[withe011]

SquareTrade

I'm new to getting insurance for the iPhone, but I felt like this one may just need it. I got insurance through SquareTrade It's normally $124 but with the 35% discount code, SLICKPHONE4, it comes out to $80. It covers the phone for 2 years and has a $50 fee if you file a claim and the damage was your fault. It seems to be a pretty good deal.

One caveat. It only covers the cost of the phone up to $599. So if you have a 32GB, you'll have to pay $100 extra to get a full replacement.

I'm not sure what the Apple store core phone deal is, but that could be better.

Just my 2¢.

 

[LoganT]

Insurance for one year ($100)
Cost of replacing iPhone ($300)
Cost of not replacing iPhone ($0)

That is exactly how I feel.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Why not use your CC and have insurance through that? and best of all, it is free

For example, here is what mine offers that seem to encompass any type of warranty I may need

They're typically only good for 90 days from purchase date, but yeah it's better than nothing. I have a 3GS as a back-up for the other 9 months if something happens to my iPhone 4 (or I can just pay $199 to replace a shattered phone).

Applecare is worthless if everyone is upgrading yearly.

 

[highres]

I'm new to getting insurance for the iPhone, but I felt like this one may just need it. I got insurance through SquareTrade It's normally $124 but with the 35% discount code, SLICKPHONE4, it comes out to $80. It covers the phone for 2 years and has a $50 fee if you file a claim and the damage was your fault. It seems to be a pretty good deal.

One caveat. It only covers the cost of the phone up to $599. So if you have a 32GB, you'll have to pay $100 extra to get a full replacement.

I'm not sure what the Apple store core phone deal is, but that could be better.

Just my 2¢.

Thanks for the discount code! SquareTrade knocked off $43 dollars when I plugged the code in. iPhone 4 is now covered for 2 years for $85 (including tax). Small price to pay for complete peace of mind.

 

[~~Hello~~]

Never had insurance. I'd rather invest in a half decent case.

 

[drjsway]

Anybody that buys insurance on a iPhone is a sucker.

 

[ntrigue]

This is really a simple math problem.

Make a table of the costs of each scenario.

Insurance for one year ($100)
Cost of replacing iPhone ($300)
Cost of not replacing iPhone ($0)

Assign some utility scores to these outcomes on a scale from 1 to 10.
Buying insurance. 3
Replacing iPhone without insurance. 0
Nothing bad happening to it. 10

Costs*Probabilities will give you your expected value. Then you can compare these to a certainty equivalent to determine how much you really feel comfortable paying for insurance.

Insurance expected value.

($50) * 1.00 = ($50)

Take an educated guess on your past experience the odds of needing to replace the phone.

($300) * 0.20 + ($0) * 0.80 = ($60)

Now use your happiness numbers. That, is assuming money and happiness are not related linearly for you. Some people might say winning $10 million dollars would make them X happy, but winning $20 million probably would make them between 1X and 2X happy, not 2.00X happy exactly.

Just tweak the numbers around like the cost of insurance, replacing phone, and probability of needing a replacement. If you are risk neutral, go with the better expected value.

If the other guy only had to pay $200, you would have to expect the probability of needing an iphone replaced is around 25%, or a lesser percentage if having the coverage really gives you a greater sense of safety and security.

Awesome, you just quantified emotions.