Insurance For iPhones

My husband works at a State University and we were talking about college students last night.  He said at any given time he can walk through the campus’s main library and count at least 5 cell phones, and other electronics, that are left unattended on tables.  He said they don’t have a buddy watch their stuff , they just leave it on the table, probably to go to the bathroom or look for a book, without a care in the world.

This blew my mind! When I was a student I couldn’t afford a new backpack must less a new cell phone or laptop.  In fact, I didn’t even own my own laptop and had to check one out from the library almost daily.

All it would take would be one person with itchy fingers and a lot of students would be having a really BAD day.   Now I won’t sit here and pretend that I’ve never accidentally walked away from my prized possessions but I would never do it on purpose…at least I have my electronic insurance with Worth Ave Group.  Besides covering accidental damage, fire and flood, my WAG policy covers theft.

I hope those students had some kind of insurance because it’s only a matter of time…

We all remember the day we opened that beautiful black box with the little silver apple on the top to reveal our new baby…our iPhone.  Whether it’s the original iPhone, a 3G iPhone or a 3GS…a 4, 8, 16, or 32 GB, we love our iPhones.

Some of us also remember the day we destroyed our baby.  You remember  – you left it in the bathroom while taking a long hot shower, your cat knocked it into the sink full of dishes, you left it alone in the same room as a two year old and there was some sort of liquid within a ten foot radius (WHY IS THIS?!), you decided to take a swim without checking your pockets or if you’re like my mother… you went to use the restroom and forgot to take your iPhone out of your back pocket and watched it kerplunk into the commode.

Since I’m probably the most accidental person known to man I called my homeowners when I got my iPhone back in October.  I was told that yes it would cover my iPhone but was reminded I had $1000.00 deductible.  So, I went online and found a slew of companies offering iPhone insurance.  3 of the companies really stuck to me.  Safeware would insure my iPhone against accidental damage (water damage), theft, fire, flood and all natural disasters for $59.00 dollars a year.   I spoke to someone at Safeware though and was told if I were to damage my iPhone I would have to ship it off to Safeware for them to then ship it off to someone else to fix or decide it needs to be replaced.  No thank you.  I also looked through the Ensquare website and realized the coverage wouldn’t start until 30 days after it was purchased.  Worth Avenue Group coverage starts almost the same days as purchase  and would insure me against accidental damage, theft, flood, fire, vandalism or power surge due to lighting and more  for $55.00 a year.   They also said they wouldn’t ask me to ship me damaged phone to them unless it wasn’t repairable and I was going to get a check to replace my iPhone.

So needless to say, I didn’t have to get rid of my cat or shun 2 years olds AND I can even let me mom borrow my phone…well maybe.

A friend of mine told me about a service plan they just took out when they purchased their iPhone from Best Buy.  They were so excited that I went online to check it out for myself.

At first glance it looked alright to me, but after reading through their terms and conditions I came across a few problems I would have with their claims process.

1) If you have a damaged iPhone, they will try to fix it up to 4 times before they will consider replacing it.  What in the world would I do without my phone while I’m shipping it off up to 4 times and waiting for them to figure out if it can fix or not?

2) When they do decide to replace your iPhone, they can do so by mailing you an iPhone of the same like, kind and quality (and from what I read it will probably be refurbished) or by sending you a gift card to Best Buy.  It bothered me that they wouldn’t just send me a check to buy a new one.  What if I didn’t want to buy another phone from Best Buy?

4) I also read they they would never pay out more than what you originally paid for your phone.  So if they don’t make my phone anymore I’ll have to come up with the difference to buy the newer model?

5) Once they’ve replaced your iPhone the service plan is over, no matter how many months you had left on your contract.

Reading thru their Terms and Conditions made me wonder about my own policy with Worth Ave. Group.  I called and spoke with one of their claims representatives and explained what I had read on Best Buy’s page.  I was reassured that would not be the case with them as I have a policy with Worth Ave Group and not a service plan.  So even if I had three claims in one year the policy would stay in effect.  She also said they my policy is a replacement cost policy.  So I would be paid what it would cost to buy a new iPhone not what I had originally paid or less.  Then she said I would only have to mail in my iPhone if it was being replaced (which is almost always the case with iPhones).  We went over of their coverages so I made a small table showing what Worth Ave Group covered that the service plan doesn’t.

iPhone  insurance is a special type of insurance that is meant to protect your iphone should it get damaged or stolen.  The majority of insurance companies have very strict policies about what is and is not covered under their insurance plan.   There used to be some homeowner’s policies that would cover an iphone like State Farm but it became cost prohibitive for them to do so and they no longer provide this type of coverage.

If you are an iphone user, you must first understand that when you purchase an iphone….all that comes with it is a warranty against product failures due to normal wear and tear.  80% of iphone product failures are from accidental damage (drops and spills.)

My research has uncovered three companies that provide broader coverage for my iphone.  They are Worth Avenue Group, Safeware and Square Trade.  Please research these policies.  They each are all a little different.  I have found the company that provides the broadest coverage is Worth Avenue Group.  Here are a few of the specifics that induced me to buy the policy:

$50 deductible/incident

Covers theft, fire, flood, natural disasters, vandalism, lightning strikes and accidental damage

Worldwide coverage

No time limit to apply for this policy after my iphone purchase date

Does not limit the number of claims per year

Many consumers buy extended warranties on high dollar products, like an iPhone, thinking they are protected for any losses they might experience. There are several companies that offer some type of coverage for the iPhone. So, the questions most consumers should ask themselves, what are you looking to cover?

The Apple Store offers the AppleCare Protection Plan. This plan covers defects of the phone and will repair these defects with new or refurbished parts. It also provides technical support coverage for the iPhone and iTunes. However, all iPhones have this coverage included for the first year. And, most manufactured defects would surface during the first year of owning the phone. There is no coverage for Accidental Damage or Theft. This might not be what most consumers are looking for.

You can purchase an iPhone warranty through a company called Square Trade. This company offers an extended warranty. This policy covers the same as the Apple Care but also includes coverage for Drops and Spills. The downside to this policy is the 30 day waiting period after you purchase the policy. If you were to drop your iPhone 10 days after purchasing the policy, you will have no coverage and will have to pay out of pocket for a new phone. The other downside to this policy is that this only provides coverage for one phone. If you file a claim on your damaged or defective phone, you must then purchase another plan to cover the new or replaced phone. This adds additional costs that most consumers would not like.

Another company that offers coverage for iPhones is Worth Ave. Group. This is by far the best option with the best benefits. It not only covers Accidental Damage such as drops and spills but also provides coverage for theft, fire, flood, all natural disasters, lightning strikes and vandalism. It also provides coverage for one full calendar year regardless how many claims you may file. With a low deductible of only $50 and premiums as low as $55 a year! When consumers buy extended warranties this is the type of coverage they are wanting. With a little common sense and some research you can find what type of policy best suits your needs too.

All it took was once!  That is all it took for me to go shopping for iphone insurance after I recently dropped my iphone while getting out of my car.  My screen was shattered!  I’ve heard people say that their phone were still operational at this point but I was not blessed with this luck.

I have always considered myself a careful person but I am clumsy and these types of accidents seem to be typical for me.   My initial assumption was that the apple store could just replace my screen for a nominal charge.  NOT!    I had to replace the ENTIRE phone for $500….but I guess they ARE in the business of selling phones!  What a racket!

So for all you folks out there like me who do drop your iphone every now and then, there is insurance out in cyberspace to cover your negligence.  I just hope you’re pro-active and shop for it before an accident happens to you.  I found an excellent policy from Worth Avenue Group that gives me a sense of security at a very affordable price.

Wowza!  Beware!  After you spend $199 initially on that sweet little apple iPhone, you better protect it with your life unless you own iPhone insurance.  The iPhone one time purchase price was offered as an incentive or inducement to you to sign a contract with AT&T.  If your iPhone is damaged or stolen during that contract period, you better get ready to belly up and buy a replacement at full retail for $400 to $600, depending on the model you own.

Applecare is Apple’s extended warranty and support program which covers products outside their limited manufacturer’s warranty. In the case of the iPhone, AppleCare will provide an additional year of coverage for defects and repair, including the battery.  Applecare does not provide coverage for losses due to theft, fire, flood, natural disasters, and vandalism or accidental damage (drops and spills.)  In other words, Applecare does not cover iPhone user negligence….only product failures.  So, in essence….it is a warranty.  80% of iPhone product failures are due to user negligence (drops and spills.)

Several companies have risen to the occasion to fill the gap created by the lack of iPhone insurance.  Worth Avenue Group and its affiliates have been in business for 40+ years and offers the broadest coverage at a very value engineered price. The Worth Avenue Group iPhone policy provides worldwide coverage with a very low deductible of $50 per incident. Their claims are paid by in-house adjusters so that the claims process is very expeditious.  The policy covers losses due to theft, fire, flood, natural disasters, vandalism and accidental damage.  The policy premium ranges between $55 and $79 per year depending on the model of iPhone that you own.  The Worth Avenue Group policy is underwritten by Hanover Insurance Group, which has a superior A rating by AM Best Rating system.

Ever noticed there’s always that one word you can never type correctly the first time?  You’d think working in insurance for the last 5 years my word wouldn’t in fact be insurance …no such luck.  For example I’ll catch myself having typed iphone insurace, iphone insuance and iphone insruance.  Bad, I know.  But this is nothing compared to the numerous different ways I found it misspelled.

Checking my traffic stats today and I realized I’m not the only one.  I was blown away with the misspellings I found.  My favorites were iphone insurenace, ipjone insurance and iphone insturance…just to name a few.

Have we really been THAT pampered by spell check and what did we do before it?

For your enjoyment purposes, here are the rest of the commonly misspelled iPhone insurance terms:

Based on insurance for a 16GB 3GS iPhone

Insurers	Worth Ave Group	Safeware	Square Trade
Price	Domestic & International-$63	Domestic & International-$99 Domestic only-$79	Domestic only – $120
Term	1 Year	1 Year	2 Year
Requirement to Purchase	None	None	Within 30 days of purchase
Deductible	$50 per incident	$50 per incident domestic $200 per incident international	$50 per incident
Occurrence Limit	None	None	1 Replacement only during 2 year period
Worldwide Coverage	Yes	Optional-Premium upcharge for Worldwide	No
Claims Waiting Period	None	None	30 days
Insurance Coverage	Yes	Yes	No
Repairs void Apple Warranty	No	No	Yes
Accidental Damage Coverage	Yes	Yes	Yes
Liquid Spill Coverage	Yes	Yes	Yes
Power Surge Coverage	Yes	Yes	Yes
Theft Coverage	Yes	Yes	No
Fire Coverage	Yes	Yes	No
Flood Coverage	Yes	Yes	No
Vandalism Coverage	Yes	Yes	No

** Please note: AppleCare doesn’t cover drops or spills. It only covers product failures through normal wear and tear. 80% of iPhone product failures are from accidental damage.