Other Warning! For theft and loss claims Find My must be enabled!

[coolbreeze2]

Warning! For theft and loss claims Find My must be enabled! I learned the hard way. I erased and reset my iPhone and overlooked turning on Find My on. A few days later, my iPhone was destroyed in a car accident I barely escaped from. When I filed my claim with Apple theft and loss vendor AIG, they denied it because Find My was not enabled. I appealed it and this was their response:

"Per Apple’s research team the device on the policy was not enabled to find my iPhone on the reported lost date. AIG is unable to overturn the denial of the claim. As licensed adjusters we must follow all terms and conditions set forth and required in the policy you purchased from Apple to provide a replacement. The contract is a legal binding agreement. I have attached a copy of your policy for you. Unfortunately, we are not able to approve your claim because you did not have find my iPhone enabled."

Fortunately for me, the iPhone was being used as a line in my small business account with Verizon in which all devices are covered by the business protection plan. Verizon's vendor Asurion charges a deductible that is $100 more than AIG but at least they replaced the iPhone. However, even they appeared to question Find My not being enabled and ask me to sign an Affidavit. This was my first time filing a claim with both AIG and Asurion.

So keep Find My on if you have bought Theft and Loss coverage. When buying the coverage, you are agreeing to do so. I did not know this.

 

[laptech]

If your phone was destroyed in the accident, how did AIG know the phone did not have 'Find My' enabled?

 

[coolbreeze2]

If your phone was destroyed in the accident, how did AIG know the phone did not have 'Find My' enabled?

Apparently, they either contact Apple to gather that information or they can actually check for themselves. I am not sure but I am sure they checked and knew. I certainly didn't tell them.

 

[laptech]

Apparently, they either contact Apple to gather that information or they can actually check for themselves. I am not sure but I am sure they checked and knew. I certainly didn't tell them.

So, being in a car crash is totally irrelevant to having 'Find My' enabled but yet AIG went digging to see if they could find a way to deny you insurance claim. If there was someone higher you could take the issue to them I would because AIG have done what every insurance company does, look for ways to deny claims.

So in this hypothetical example then, if you had you phone in your pocket and was running to catch a train and your phone fell out of your pocket in the rush and smashed when hitting the ground, AIG would deny your insurance claim because 'Find My' was not switched on?

Your phone was not lost, it was not stolen, it was in your possession at the time thus making 'Find My' irrelevant BUT AIG decided they did not want to pay out for a new phone so they went digging to find a way to not do so. Just proves in my opinion how much scumbags insurance companies are.

 

[canuckRus]

Insurers always provide some loopholes in their contracts.

 

[RRC]

I would have thought it was common sense to have Find My turned on anyway, it’s there for a reason, and there’s no real reason not to have it turned on.

 

[Devyn89]

I mean the terms and conditions of Applecare with theft and loss are very clear that you need to have Find My enabled.

 

[coolbreeze2]

So, being in a car crash is totally irrelevant to having 'Find My' enabled but yet AIG went digging to see if they could find a way to deny you insurance claim. If there was someone higher you could take the issue to them I would because AIG have done what every insurance company does, look for ways to deny claims.

So in this hypothetical example then, if you had you phone in your pocket and was running to catch a train and your phone fell out of your pocket in the rush and smashed when hitting the ground, AIG would deny your insurance claim because 'Find My' was not switched on?

Your phone was not lost, it was not stolen, it was in your possession at the time thus making 'Find My' irrelevant BUT AIG decided they did not want to pay out for a new phone so they went digging to find a way to not do so. Just proves in my opinion how much scumbags insurance companies are.

I totally agree and presented this argument over the phone to AIG and they still denied the claim. I even mentioned that they should check my history and see I have kept Find My active on my phones since Find My became available, only deactivating when necessary and re-activating quickly. I was told that the history would be checked during the appeal process. However, they still denied the claim.

 

[coolbreeze2]

I mean the terms and conditions of Applecare with theft and loss are very clear that you need to have Find My enabled.

Yes that's true. However, I didn't know this and therefore I am warning others. This requirement is not emphasized although it's in the contract. It should be brought forward to customers when they purchase the coverage. People are not going to naturally think of this. It would be great customer service and prevent disappointment if this requirement is emphasized. Instead, it was used as a legal loophole to deny the claim. Lesson was learned on my part.

I was fortunate that I had another avenue to pursue to replace the phone. This is the latest model and I only made a few payments toward the contract. Imagine if I didn't have double coverage! I would have had to honor Verizon's 36-month contract, paying for a phone I didn't have and paying for another to use. I thank God that didn't happen.

 

[coolbreeze2]

By the way, I am not promoting double coverage. I am saying if you are going with Apple Theft and Loss, ALWAYS make sure you have Find My enabled OR just pay for your carrier's coverage, not both.

 

[stocklen]

Apparently, they either contact Apple to gather that information or they can actually check for themselves. I am not sure but I am sure they checked and knew. I certainly didn't tell them.

This sounds suspicious.

Apple pride themselves on their privacy and theres simply no way that a 3rd party could approach apple to find out whether or not find my was enabled on your phone.
Apple simply couldnt and shouldnt release ANY information pertaining to your phone in this way.

As someone else said, if the phone was destroyed then find my would not work and its not as if you were claiming for theft at all - where find my would be of use - but total destruction find my is somewhat irrelevant and if you can provide the remains of the phone then surely thats sufficient regardless.

But, to say they 'know' whether find my was activated or not is blatantly a lie as that information pertains to the appleID to which the phone is registered and thats not something that privy to others to know or be told about.

 

[coolbreeze2]

I stand before God with both hands on the Bible, I am telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Please read what their response said. Also, I could not provide the remains of the phone, although they never asked me to. The vehicle totally caught fire after I escaped. Read what AIG said, "Find My was not enabled and claim denied". How did they know this????? Apple had to have provided this information or they can access this information on their own!

I know it seems unreal that this is true but it is 100% true.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Apple’s relevant page is here.

Legal - Find My & Privacy - Apple

Data & Privacy

www.apple.com

“When you use Find My, your device’s location, as well as information about your device and your account will be sent to and retained by Apple so we can provide you with the service.“
So, they would know if Find My was enabled on every device that user has registered with Find My.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Apple’s relevant page is here.

Legal - Find My & Privacy - Apple

Data & Privacy

www.apple.com

“When you use Find My, your device’s location, as well as information about your device and your account will be sent to and retained by Apple so we can provide you with the service.“
So, they would know if Find My was enabled on every device that user has registered with Find My.

I certainly believe that. We as consumers often never read the fine print. In my case, the fine print hurt me in the end. Lesson learned.

 

[zorinlynx]

I stand before God with both hands on the Bible, I am telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Please read what their response said. Also, I could not provide the remains of the phone, although they never asked me to. The vehicle totally caught fire after I escaped. Read what AIG said, "Find My was not enabled and claim denied". How did they know this????? Apple had to have provided this information or they can access this information on their own!

I know it seems unreal that this is true but it is 100% true.

I don't think people are accusing you of lying, I think they're questioning why this company would have access to Find My, and think THEY might be lying to try to deny you the claim.

I mean, how would they know? The only way, other than going into YOUR iCloud account, to find out if Find My is enabled on a device is from the device itself (trying to activate it). That means Apple isn't holding up to their privacy promises as much as they should, in my opinion.

 

[Ruggy]

Why did you claim under 'theft and loss' when it was neither stolen nor lost?
Surely your claim should be under accidental damage.
Still, a good heads up that you need to have find my enabled if you want to prove it was stolen or lost.

 

[coolbreeze2]

I don't think people are accusing you of lying, I think they're questioning why this company would have access to Find My, and think THEY might be lying to try to deny you the claim.

I mean, how would they know? The only way, other than going into YOUR iCloud account, to find out if Find My is enabled on a device is from the device itself (trying to activate it). That means Apple isn't holding up to their privacy promises as much as they should, in my opinion.

Yes I was accused of lying. Read what stocklen wrote.

 

[KaliYoni]

This requirement is not emphasized although it's in the contract. It should be brought forward to customers when they purchase the coverage. People are not going to naturally think of this. It would be great customer service and prevent disappointment if this requirement is emphasized.

First, I think it's good you've started a thread reminding people to ensure Find My is turned on. As a result, I took a look at Apple's website. Maybe Apple has made the requirement more visible recently. It's now on the main AppleCare page, both as a prominent requirement and in the fine-print footnotes (see: AppleCare), and on a more detailed terms and conditions page (see: Want to View Your Coverage Details?).

 

[laptech]

Apple’s relevant page is here.

Legal - Find My & Privacy - Apple

Data & Privacy

www.apple.com

“When you use Find My, your device’s location, as well as information about your device and your account will be sent to and retained by Apple so we can provide you with the service.“
So, they would know if Find My was enabled on every device that user has registered with Find My.

Just looked at the Applecare loss and theft policy and saw this:

6.2.1. Find My. As a condition of receiving Theft and Loss Coverage, You must have Find My enabled on Your Covered Equipment throughout Your Coverage Period and at the time of the Theft or Loss. Find My must remain enabled, and Your Covered Equipment must remain associated with Your Apple ID, throughout the Theft or Loss claims process.

So yep, AIG are sticking to their guns in denying you your claim. What disturbs me is that Apple will happily refuse to help law enforcement when it comes to criminals iphones but yet they will gladly help an insurance company to determine if a customers iphone had Find My enabled at a certain time in the day so they can deny the customers insurance claim.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Why did you claim under 'theft and loss' when it was neither stolen nor lost?
Surely your claim should be under accidental damage.
Still, a good heads up that you need to have find my enabled if you want to prove it was stolen or lost.

Things are getting murky in my brain. I was in a vehicle that was on fire and it became totally ablaze after I escaped. If I remember correctly, I didn't see an option that fit my situation. With the accidental damage, a damaged phone is expected to be sent in. That didn't anything to send in.

 

[jaytv111]

This sounds suspicious.

Apple pride themselves on their privacy and theres simply no way that a 3rd party could approach apple to find out whether or not find my was enabled on your phone.
Apple simply couldnt and shouldnt release ANY information pertaining to your phone in this way.

As someone else said, if the phone was destroyed then find my would not work and its not as if you were claiming for theft at all - where find my would be of use - but total destruction find my is somewhat irrelevant and if you can provide the remains of the phone then surely thats sufficient regardless.

But, to say they 'know' whether find my was activated or not is blatantly a lie as that information pertains to the appleID to which the phone is registered and thats not something that privy to others to know or be told about.

Uh, AIG is the insurance claim side of Applecare Theft and Loss. Yes, they can ask Apple if Find My is on. Find My is required (as OP points out) on Applecare Theft and Loss.

This is like saying Apple shouldn't be able to say whether a phone number is on iMessage or not, of course they can.

I don't think people are accusing you of lying, I think they're questioning why this company would have access to Find My, and think THEY might be lying to try to deny you the claim.

I mean, how would they know? The only way, other than going into YOUR iCloud account, to find out if Find My is enabled on a device is from the device itself (trying to activate it). That means Apple isn't holding up to their privacy promises as much as they should, in my opinion.

Apple knows if any given iPhone has Find My enabled or not. Apple handles routing messages (encrypted) between phones and iCloud so that you can look at a phone's location on the web or your other devices. The important part about privacy is that Apple itself can't see your device location, UNLESS you put it on Lost Mode. When it's on Lost Mode, it starts sending coordinates to Apple which they can use for law enforcement or to send a recovery team.

Apple never promised specifically that Apple can't see that an iPhone has Find My enabled, just like it doesn't promise they won't know if iMessage is enabled for a given phone number. The important point of both is the actual location, or the actual iMessage content, are only accessible by the user. Metadata is its own privacy problem but they need public records in order to be able to route from phone to web and back to other devices.

 

[jaytv111]

Things are getting murky in my brain. I was in a vehicle that was on fire and it became totally ablaze after I escaped. If I remember correctly, I didn't see an option that fit my situation. With the accidental damage, a damaged phone is expected to be sent in. That didn't anything to send in.

Could have sent a box of ashes.

 

[johnmacward]

Lay people who are far from being experts in law and most certainly won’t read the 20 to 50 pages of legalese of an AppleCare contract - right or wrong, they won’t. Our business society realises this and hides all sorts of get out of jail clauses to get your money but ultimately deny your claims even in very reasonable cases.

 

[canuckRus]

Insurers always provide some loopholes in their contracts.

If you send it to Apple for repair you are told to turn off "find my" first thing. Does carrier's insurer take the hit?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

So yep, AIG are sticking to their guns in denying you your claim. What disturbs me is that Apple will happily refuse to help law enforcement when it comes to criminals iphones but yet they will gladly help an insurance company to determine if a customers iphone had Find My enabled at a certain time in the day so they can deny the customers insurance claim.

Well, to be fair, it’s not often that law enforcement is just asking Apple, “Did this user have Find My on”?