You insuring your iPhone? Who with?

[drlunanerd]

I have had numerous phone calls to o2 Customer Services today and I think a lot of you should be very worried - especially those of you who think you can just buy a new one if you loose your iPhone!

After speaking with about 3 different people at o2 I finally got clarification that in the event of loss you can in fact buy a new iPhone and attach it to your existing contract but this will cost you the full price of approx £490!

It would seem that in the case of the iPhone some sort of insurance policy is favorable. I have requested the o2 insurance from their website but I think that I may cancel this and speak with my Home Insurance company and get them to cover my iPhone upto £500.

Let me just be clear with what o2 are saying - - YOU CANNOT simply buy a £269 iPhone and get it connected to your existing contract. You would have to pay the full sim free price of £490.

Its early days but I think there will be lots of complaints when o2 start getting calls from people who have lost or damaged their iPhones and they realise they have to fork out 500 quid to get it replaced!!!

Oh really? So that means there's a SIM-free unlocked UK iPhone available to buy from O2 for £490.

 

[00hkelly]

I have had Cusc phone insurance for about two years. They are really good, I have never had to claim from them thankfully but they have been very helpful ecerytime I have contacted them(eg.change of phone)

 

[rushmere]

I have had Cusc phone for about two years. They are really good, I have never had to claim from them thankfully but tjey have been very helpful ecerytime I have contacted them(eg.change of phone)

Thanks, that's useful to know. I'm also seriously considering CUSC at the moment. It's more comprehensive cover than home contents insurance, but I don't think I need the higher (and much more expensive) cover provided by O2 or Carphone Warehouse. I was originally looking at insurance2go.co.uk, but they told me they don't yet cover the iPhone with their policy.

 

[00hkelly]

yes, home insurance is an option but I'd encourage getting a policy specifically for a device. I have my laptop insured with cusc as well, the cheapness, easy to understand policy and the fact that your device is covered worldwide are all major bonuses.

 

[cwedl]

What I want to know is if you lose your phone can you just buy a new one for £269 and use it in place of the one you lost or does it have to somehow go through O2.

The CPW sales people would have me believe that I would just have to pay for the remainder of the contract and start a new one if I wanted a new iPhone.
If I didn't have insurance of course!

Surely this can't be the case. Can it?

Thats what they told me as well, if you are willing to buy an new phone then they can't do that, just think the thousands of people that bought from the Apple Store? does that mean they would have to do that? If they did there would be so many law suits Apple would be driven out of Europe!

 

[notsofatjames]

I get phone inusrance with my current account (at halifax, its a great account, and i do work there so i'm allowed to plug!). I called up to let them know i changed my phone, and the guy was like can i have your IMEI number, so i start reading it out, and hes like no it needs to start with 3 then a long bunch of numbers, and I was like no, its definately 001.... Then he asked me what phone it was, was it imported, then he said, fine thats ok, and he'll send the confimration in the post. Im gonna double check in a weeks time, but as far as ive been told, im insured.
The cost is £10 per month, but that not just for the insurance. You get car breakdown cover travel insurance and other stuff, but im not going into it here.

 

[ANTMUZ]

I've just added the phone onto my home insurance policy. It costs an extra £1.50 a month and covers me for up to £1,000 of any personal item. So if it's accidentally damaged, lost or stolen they'll cover me.

Although it doesn't cover the cost of calls, my solution is to put the pin guard on the phone so hopefully within the couple of hours it takes the thieves to get around that I would have noticed my phone has gone and alerted my phone company.

 

[emotion]

Y'know I can't believe someone would pay 10 or even 13 quid a month on insurance for a phone. That's a third of the contract price.

I've never had insurance for my phones. I'll just remain careful I think. It's only the calls I'm risking as I have devices covered under home insurance.

Now, how do I go about blocking a nicked phone? I want to know how to do that quickly

 

[00hkelly]

Thats what they told me as well, if you are willing to buy an new phone then they can't do that, just think the thousands of people that bought from the Apple Store? does that mean they would have to do that? If they did there would be so many law suits Apple would be driven out of Europe!

the people at carphone warehouse are clearly talking out of their a***s, if your iPhone breaks you can just be given a fresh one. Every time you connect it to iTunes it backs up everything thats on your iPhone, that way you can just take the fresh one back, connect of and clone all of the data back.

 

[Hustle]

Y'know I can't believe someone would pay 10 or even 13 quid a month on insurance for a phone. That's a third of the contract price.

I've never had insurance for my phones. I'll just remain careful I think. It's only the calls I'm risking as I have devices covered under home insurance.

Now, how do I go about blocking a nicked phone? I want to know how to do that quickly

For those of us that live in a rough area, i think its worth the money. Phones get stollen everyday in my area, and i've broken a few of mine, therefore, i think £7.50 a month from 02 is worth it for insurance.

 

[UKLawTalkingGuy]

Oh really? So that means there's a SIM-free unlocked UK iPhone available to buy from O2 for £490.

No and I'm not sure how you reach that conclusion. Just because they have a sim-free version, doesn't mean its unlocked.

Assuming for a moment that the o2 CS was correct then:

You can buy one locked to o2 for £269 if you sign up to an 18 month contract. (A new contract)

THEN

If you need a replacement within the 18 month period, they will sell you another locked on for £490 and allow you to continue whatever portion of the 18 month contract you still had to complete.
OR
You buy one for £269, sign a new 18 month contract and have two phone running in tandem for whatever period remains on the original contract.

o2 have some experience of this with the XDA. That was only available on o2 on contract. There was a sim-free version available if you lost/damaged yours was available for £700-800 but it was still locked.

Insurance is a very personal decision. As someone who worked in mobile phone retail for a number of years (part time job whilst I was a student), I know what its like when someone has their phone stolen and finds out how easy/difficult & cheap/expensive it is get going again.

My suggestions:

1) Understand the risk - work out how much it would cost you to replace the phone &/or keep paying the monthly line rental, in month 1, 6, 12 and 18 of the contract vs insurance

2) Aside from an iphone contract, if you purchased anything else (eg a Nokia N95) would you be content to replace it with any phone if you lost (damaged/stolen etc) or would you want another N95 - the cost of replacement, depending on your answer varies from £20 to £500 potentially.

3) If you decide to insure, compare the terms carefully. My wife had her N95 robbed from her hand as she walked down our local high street (a nice bit of West London incidently). For the first time, we hadn't taken out specific phone insurance and instead relied on our content insurance. Whilst they paid out (Direct Line), it took almost 3 weeks from start to finish as they wanted a number of things sent to them (invoices etc) and their 'fulfillment agent' had a rather lackadaisical attitude to replacing items.
High Street retail insurance is often more expensive but many (CPW included) usually process your claim in store.

Be careful out there!

 

[oelph@blueyonde]

The hard sale from the CPW really soured my experience on Friday. I ended up accepting their insurance with a view to researching and cancelling within 14 days if needed.

I too understood that if I needed a replacement phone due to my original being lost or stolen I'd have to take out a new 18 month contract if I didn't have insurance.

Wait till this hits Watchdog.

 

[drlunanerd]

No and I'm not sure how you reach that conclusion. Just because they have a sim-free version, doesn't mean its unlocked.

Assuming for a moment that the o2 CS was correct then:

This is the problem. I've read through all the small print I could find from O2 about the iPhone (not much admittedly) and nowhere does it say anything about replacement cost. Why can't O2 just spell it out - surely they are legally compelled to put it in writing somewhere? Like others I agree it's inevitable the media will latch onto this and milk it as another anti-Apple/iPhone/iSheep story.

Are you proficient in UK consumer law perchance (I ask due to your username)? If so what is your take on this? Fair enough or a rip-off?

 

[UKLawTalkingGuy]

This is the problem. I've read through all the small print I could find from O2 about the iPhone (not much admittedly) and nowhere does it say anything about replacement cost. Why can't O2 just spell it out - surely they are legally compelled to put it in writing somewhere? Like others I agree it's inevitable the media will latch onto this and milk it as another anti-Apple/iPhone/iSheep story.

Are you proficient in UK consumer law perchance (I ask due to your username)? If so what is your take on this? Fair enough or a rip-off?

My areas of specialism are crime and a bit of tax (VAT in specific). That said, I consider more proficient that most in this area.

My view is that o2 ought to have put the answer to this in their terms and conditions.

I am about to email o2 and explain that I want an answer prior to signing up with references to the iphone terms and conditions (which I am now reading) - if I get an answer, I will post it here

Bottom line - locked phones are like having your nuts locked in a vice; painful, messy and costly to fix any damage.

 

[CHAOS STEP]

Notwithstanding that my thread was ignored, the o2 contract seems to imply that you simply need to 'extend' your contract from the date that you put a new one on;

8.3 If this Agreement is ended during the Minimum Period, you may be required to pay us the monthly subscription charges up to the end of that Minimum Period. This does not apply if you end the Agreement for the reasons in paragraph 8.4 or if you purchase a new iPhone from us, but in this case you agree that a new Minimum Period will apply.

 

[Jebaloo]

I know everyone is getting very worried about this - but my experience of losing phones, is that the phone company charge you £15 for a replacement SIM card, and you then go off and buy a replacement phone (or get insurance to pay for it).
I'm pretty sure that O2 will just offer to sell you a replacement SIM card which you would swap into your replacement phone.

 

[emotion]

I know everyone is getting very worried about this - but my experience of losing phones, is that the phone company charge you £15 for a replacement SIM card, and you then go off and buy a replacement phone (or get insurance to pay for it).
I'm pretty sure that O2 will just offer to sell you a replacement SIM card which you would swap into your replacement phone.

Some sense!

However, I suspect it might not be that straightforward though, because as much as people don't think this is the case, the iPhone is subsidised and you're only allowed one of them against each contract.

 

[oelph@blueyonde]

I've just spoken to O2 customer services and it would appear that if you don't have insurance you'll need to pay for a new phone but you do not have to take out a new contract (makes sense). However they would not confirm what that new phone cost is - £280 or higher. I suspect higher. Even at £280 it still makes the £7.50 insurance plan good value with an 18 month cost of £135.

 

[rushmere]

I got this email reply from O2 today. Seems pretty clear....

"If your iPhone is lost or stolen and you also don't have Insurance on your account, you can buy a new iPhone by paying the £269. You don't need to buy a new contract, as we'll transfer your services to your new iPhone.

Please note if you've a valid insurance cover on your iPhone, we'll then provide you with the iPhone and an inbuilt SIM card. You can get all the details related to insurance in your welcome email."

 

[phantasmagoria]

I've just spoken to O2 customer services and it would appear that if you don't have insurance you'll need to pay for a new phone but you do not have to take out a new contract (makes sense). However they would not confirm what that new phone cost is - £280 or higher. I suspect higher. Even at £280 it still makes the £7.50 insurance plan good value with an 18 month cost of £135.

I just called them as well, as I wanted to clarify the situation to help me decide whether to insure or not. They weren't 100% sure so put me on hold while they phoned Apple to confirm.

I was then told that the process would be that you would report your old handset lost or stolen or whatever and they would send out a new sim. You would then buy a new iphone from wherever you choose and would activate this in iTunes using the replacement sim. iTunes would recognise the active replacement sim and require you to enter some additional information after which your new phone would be activated on your existing contract.

He confirmed that the contract would not be reset and that the handset would not cost any more as you would simply buy it from a retailer as you would a phone for a new contract.

Hope he's right as that's alleviated my concerns a little... It certainly echoes the recent posts above, so hopefully that is indeed our answer!

 

[emotion]

I've just spoken to O2 customer services and it would appear that if you don't have insurance you'll need to pay for a new phone but you do not have to take out a new contract (makes sense). However they would not confirm what that new phone cost is - £280 or higher. I suspect higher. Even at £280 it still makes the £7.50 insurance plan good value with an 18 month cost of £135.

Only if you claim....

The phone costs £269 btw.

So, it seems after others have called I'm satisfied my home insurance covers my iPhone. I have outside accidental and theft insurance included anyway so I pay zero extra. Phew.

 

[drlunanerd]

Some sense!

However, I suspect it might not be that straightforward though, because as much as people don't think this is the case, the iPhone is subsidised and you're only allowed one of them against each contract.

It's not a subsided phone. When you buy one you are not entering into a contract. Only once you activate it does this happen. From the emails people have now had from O2 this also confirms the non-subsided status. This is good news, be better once O2 incorporate this in writing in the T&Cs though.

 

[ascender]

But the phone isn't subsidised, so why would a replacement cost more than the £269? I'm sure O2 don't give a monkeys so long as you see out their contract.

 

[Luke Redpath]

Its reassuring to see some of the replies above. I too have sent O2 an e-mail asking for confirmation and will post it when I receive a reply.

I took the O2 insurance when I bought it (I didn't really want to but the shop staff, who didn't seem to have a clue, insisted I *must* buy it there and then if I wanted it but that I could cancel it at any time) but I think I will cancel and have it put on my contents insurance. I'm pretty sure they offer mobile phone cover but I could also just add it as a named item.

 

[GTiPhone]

LOL I don't insure $500 purchases. What a waste of money.

Buy a $350,000 house....insure that.

Buy a $35,000 vehicle....insure that too.

Your health, yeah maybe that as well ;-)



Don't waste money for insurance on personal items.