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iPhone insurance through State Farm

KentuckyHouse

KentuckyHouse

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 29, 2010
2,723
998
Lexington, KY.
I've seen some posts about insuring your iPhone recently, and I thought I would relay my experience so as to possibly help someone out.

I have my car, renter's, and motorcycle insurance through State Farm. After researching all the online iPhone insurance providers (Worth Ave, Squaretrade, etc.), I decided to give my agent a call before making a move with one of these. I'm glad I did!

I got $600 of coverage (the cost of a new, non-subsidized iPhone 3GS 16 GB) for $41.69/year. The best part? There's NO DEDUCTIBLE. And this insurance covers everything that the Apple warranty doesn't...water damage, glass breakage, theft, loss (yes, loss...none of the online companies cover loss that I know of, only theft). As my agent described it, it covers "accidental damage or loss". He said he'd had a guy with this policy drop his iPhone as he was getting into his car, but didn't realize it until he heard the crunch as he backed over it. State Farm reimbursed him for the FULL PRICE of a NEW iPhone.

Just to make certain that I understood that it covered stupidity (because if something happens to my iPhone, THAT will be why...my stupidity), I asked him if I went to the bathroom and accidentally dropped it in the toilet, would they reimburse me? His answer was yes.

Now, he did explain that State Farm doesn't do "iPhone insurance". It's basically an "electronics insurance policy" that covers the cost of a new phone. He compared the policy to a husband taking out a policy on his wife's engagement ring, just in case something happened to it. I asked if there was a cap on how many times they would replace the phone (if you were extremely clumsy) and he said there was no cap. I assured him that I'd actually never broken a cell phone before, so it shouldn't be an issue, but that was good to know. He did say, however, that as with all insurance policies, after about the 3rd claim, they'd probably want to take a closer look at having you as a client...lol. I can completely understand that!

So, there you go. I know there was some vagueness as to whether State Farm would cover iPhones anymore. I have no idea if my experience will be the same for everyone else, but as for State Farm's policy here in Kentucky, yes, they WILL provide insurance on your iPhone (and darn good insurance at a great price at that!)

I hope this helps someone!
 
I hate state farm to death, but I hope this is true

Also make sure you read the fine print, because that's how they get you. It doesn't matter what their word says, but what's in that fine paper you signed...
 
it's not available through State Farm in Texas.

thanks for the info though, it was worth a try.
 
I agree, xsecretfiles. I did this over the phone and they're sending me the policy, so once I get that, I'll give it a good reading and make sure everything I was told is true.

And hzeat, I'm sorry to hear that! But I guess it was worth a shot, huh? Hopefully this will help someone, though.
 
That's cool, better than my computer add on to my homeowners.

I pay an extra few buck a month, with a $50 deductible.
 
darkeyes41 said:
so it's only $42 a year? or $42 per month??
Click to expand...

Per year, $42/month is the cost of some people's homeowner's insurance. Make sure you check out the exclusions section of the endorsement, that's actually where you will find out what's covered.
 
darkeyes41, it's $42 a year. My agent admitted that State Farm used to offer actual iPhone insurance, but that it turned out to be a losing proposition for them, so they started calling it an "electronics insurance policy"...that's the words he used. I don't know if they did this to discourage people from getting it through them or what, but he said he'd written quite a few policies up in this area to cover iPhones.

Thanks, Mischka07. I've already been advised that part of the policy is found on page 2 of the paperwork, so you can believe I'll be scouring it when it arrives. I've known my agent for about 28 of my 35 years (I grew up and went to school with her son), so I trust her about as much as you can. I seriously doubt she would steer me wrong (whether intentionally or out of ignorance). But I will check it over and make sure everything that I was told is covered actually is.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

My agent told me that smart phones are no longer covered. State Farm had too many fraudulant claims.
 
fishkorp, my agent hinted at that same thing, but never actually said that. I got the feeling that the local agents might have taken to calling it something different so as to get around the ban on insuring smart phones. Of course, I'm not really sure how they could get away with that, but that was my gut feeling.
 
There might be no limit as to how many times you can file a claim, but I had that insurance and they dropped my policy after the first claim. I also tried to open a new policy a year later and they wouldn't let me.
 
jason72780, I did say that my agent said eventually they'd want to reconsider having you as a customer if you used the insurance too much, but that goes for pretty much ANY insurance.

And would anyone complain if they dropped the policy after you used it once? $42 vs. $599 for a new iPhone. I'm not seeing the downside here. And if they did drop you, then why not just move to something like Worth Ave. or Squaretrade to insure your NEW iPhone? Yes, it's a bit more expensive, but you're still covered.

I'm sorry to hear State Farm dropped you after one claim, though. Hopefully I never have to test it out, but if I do, I won't be complaining about getting a new phone for the $42 I paid up front.
 
I would recheck the definition of loss in your contract because last time I saw it in my insurance plan it meant that it was a total loss because of fire, etc. not because you lost it. Allowing people to claim "losing" their iPhone seems like opening the door to fraud as they can't prove you actually lost it. Fire is provable, and so is being stolen, water damage, or broken glass. Just an FYI before you lose for phone for real.
 
KentuckyHouse said:
jason72780, I did say that my agent said eventually they'd want to reconsider having you as a customer if you used the insurance too much, but that goes for pretty much ANY insurance.

And would anyone complain if they dropped the policy after you used it once? $42 vs. $599 for a new iPhone. I'm not seeing the downside here. And if they did drop you, then why not just move to something like Worth Ave. or Squaretrade to insure your NEW iPhone? Yes, it's a bit more expensive, but you're still covered.

I'm sorry to hear State Farm dropped you after one claim, though. Hopefully I never have to test it out, but if I do, I won't be complaining about getting a new phone for the $42 I paid up front.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong. I have no complaint. It was $30 a year and I cracked the screen after 3 months so I paid $7.50 and they cut me a check for $440 or somthong like that. Then dropped me. I'm glad I had it for the 3 months that I did. Wish I still did
 
I've found this insurance to be wonderful. I pay about 60 dollars a year for my MacBook Pro and my iPhone to be insured with no deductible. I actually had to use this when a relative dropped my MacBook Pro. It was really quite nice. They sent me a check for the cost of the MacBook Pro in less than a week. I'd recommend this insurance to anyone. Luckily, I've never had to use it again and hope that I won't have to in the future, but just in case..I have it.
 
Just to be clearer, I went to my agents office and showed them the phone and reciept. They broke up $30 over 12 months which was $2.50 a month. Took my $2.50 for the first month and added it from then on onto my auto and renters ins. Only my personal articles policy got dropped. And the $440 whatever check they cut me wasn't for full retail, but the early upgrade price.
 
Tweak, I actually got the policy in the mail today, so I've been able to go over exactly what is covered. According to this, loss is covered, believe it or not. I agree that it seems this would open them up to fraud, but there it is in black and white.

And thanks, Jason. I didn't mean to come down on you or anything, and it kinda reads like I was. I apologize if that was how it was taken. According to both the policy and my agent, should something happen to the phone, they'll reimburse me for the full purchase price of a new iPhone 3GS 16g. I'm hoping I never have to actually USE this insurance, but if I do and they drop the policy after that, I won't be complaining...lol. This has got to be a slippery slope for them, though, so I can kinda understand. I wouldn't be completely happy about getting dropped, but I would at least understand.

crobbins, so they didn't drop your policy after you filed the claim? I'd be interested to see how many people have had the experience that Jason72780 had of getting dropped after employing this policy. It might be an interesting number.
 
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