Insurance on cellphone

[lunamama]

I just got a new (new every two) phone for myself this week. I am tempted to get the insurance because the prices for phones when not up for a new contract are outrageous. The insurance is 5.99 a month with a $50 deductable. Is this worth it or is it throwing money away? The insurance covers damage, theft, loss etc.

[lunamama]

BTW, we only have cell phones and a Magic Jack voip at home.

[Sailor]

I got rid of my cell phone, and don't have one at all any more. So, I may not be the right person to answer this.

However, I don't think it's worth it. I've owned several cell phones, and nothing every happened to them. If it's the fault of the phone, then you're covered in the warranty for some time anyway. The rest - accidents with the phone - are fairly rare, I'd think.

[mightymoo]

Not worth it unless you are extremely likely to lose or damage your phone (meaning, you do it a lot, you leave them places, or put them where they get wrecked, etc - if you've had to buy yourself a lot of new phones before because of this) and you have a really expensive one. If you've had your previous phone for the last two years and not had a problem, then it doesn't seem worth it to me. Take the $6 and put it into an account to offset the cost of buying yourself a new phone if you ever lose yours. Remember, you don't have to buy a new phone if you break yours, you can buy a used or refurbished one to save money.

[MamaJenese]

Over the summer I purchased my first ever expensive phone. My previous phone had been in a couple of really close calls. For example getting dropped in a kiddy pool resulting in spending days in a container of rice! We do not have a land line we both have cells. So I got the new phone, and DH decided to just get the insurance (he never does). Well two weeks later my phone gets dropped into the ocean in the middle of tropical storm Hanna. So the insurance paid for itslef in the first two weeks!

[WC_hapamama]

Considering the fact that a cell phone costs about $200-$400 to replace if you're not using a promo, yeah, the insurance it worth it... or at least it is for us. We don't often have $200-$400 free to drop on a new phone. A few years ago, there was 1 month when both DH and I needed to replace our phones... that $100 hit was easier to absorb that $600 for 2 new phones.

[weliveintheforest]

not usually worth it. imagine if you have your phone for 2 years, and it breaks. You've paid 140+ bucks in insurance, a 50 dollar deductible, and they will likely be giving you a refurbished model. It's a tough call, but in my experience as a customer service rep for a cell phone company, it was usually a waste of money.

[pbjmama]

I wish I had the insurance. Mine was only going to be $4 per month and no deductible. Totally worth it in my world. My kids are always trying to get ahold of my phone, I'm very absent minded lately (something about 2 kids and a busy life). So my phone was in my pocket and I washed it. Yeah. Anyway, my sister gave me her old phone which is fine but kind of beat up. I wish I had more features. And it took a couple of days for her to ship it to me during that time I didn't have a phone. You could probably get one cheap through a friend/ebay/craigslist but being able to show up, even with out the phone in hand and say I need a new one is worth the extra $ to me.

[llamalluv]

It depends on the person. I don't have insurance on my phone, because I am careful with my phones. My husband has the insurance because in the last year and a half he has already lost one phone in the sewer, and destroyed one in the washer at work (forgot he put it in his coveralls while he was spraying for mosquitoes ). He's about trashed his current phone; dropping it about 4 times a day has caused most of the screen to go blank. And even with the promotions, he can't get the free phone. Those are way too delicate. He has to have the rough and tumble phone with the rubber and shock absorption.

[LaLaLaLa]

Originally Posted by pbjmama

So my phone was in my pocket and I washed it. Yeah.

Same here! I'd never had a cellphone before, and I keep mine in the back pocket of my jeans. One day I couldn't find my phone, kept calling it and getting an error message, and realized I'd sent it through the wash. Not good for cellphones.

We did have the insurance, so we paid our fifty bucks or whatever and they sent me a brand-new phone in just a couple of days and I promised not to be dumb with the second one.

If DH and I hadn't been new to cellphones and prone to doing brainless things, we probably wouldn't have gotten the insurance. We canceled it after six months or so, once we were better at keeping track of our phones.

[EmsMom]

I am new to cell phones and have been wondering the same thing (although my plan's insurance is less and there is no deductible). I can attest, though, that in the last year I have personally found (and returned) 4 cell phones in varying places - right on the road in front of my house, among the large item pick-up area at IKEA, etc. And I had a call from a friend that they lost theirs on the street by my house after a visit (never found due to snowstorm and subsequent plowing!). So I am pretty sure that loss and damage to a cell phone is actually rather common. I could, however, put that $60 aside towards the cost of a new phone (if needed). Another $60 the next year would bring me up to roughly the price of a new phone (if I made it that long without losing/breaking mine). I still have not decided! But I am leaning towards the insurance, frankly.

[notneb]

I wouldn't do it. We've had phones get destroyed and have always been able to get new ones for no more than $30 - not quite as nice, but fine to finish out the year or 2 until the phone company was willing to give us new ones. So, for me, unless I think we go through a phone every 6 months or less (6 months*$5=$30 for a new phone, not to mention the $50 deductible) it just doesn't make sense.

This works for me because I use my phone to make phone calls. If your phone is your camera or mp3 player, you're probably looking at a more expensive replacement, and it might be worth it to get the insurance.

[sugarlumpkin]

My husband got the insurance and it has definitely been worth it! He's always breaking it or something, though. Seems to be just bad luck. Anyhow, because of the insurance, he's had 4 new phones in two years, and now has a new and better model than the one he originally bought because that model was discontinued so they had to send him the new one. Definitely worth it for us!

I should add that my husband has one of those PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) phones, so rather pricey, therefore the insurance is worth more to him.

[PassionateWriter]

my teenager has a Razr (?) and has lost/destroyed 2 of them.

if we didnt want to renew the contract (we didint) it has been worth it. we have spent $100 on 2 new phones plus the 5.00 a month for insurance. so....$160 (approx) for 2 phones. we dont know if we want to go back w/ Verizon after our contract is up this october. and it would have cost much more if i hadnt had the insurance.

btw, i made the teenager pay the $50 fee...we paid for the insurance.

neither of us have insurance though...and we have a 2 year contract so if anything happens (9 more months to go) we will have to buy a used cheap phone off of ebay or something...it will be the punishment for losing/destroying our phone. lol

[Krabs]

The insurance is very worth it for us. DH has dropped his phone off roofs, been tackled by his brother resulting in a cracked screen, and many other things. I have it on my phone as well because we have bad luck and if I didn't, my phone would be obliterated in the next 24 hours. The extra money a month really is worth it for us.

[mnnice]

If you have a working, older phone keep it and it's chargers to use for "insurance". I

've wrecked a few phones and never had the insurance. I think whether it's a good idea depends on the price of the insurance and the price of your phone (and if you'd be happy with a cheaper phone if it gets wrecked before your contract runs out).

[Aliviasmom]

I did it for my new phone. It's $200 retail. I can come up with a $50 deductible a lot easier than $200. I don't have a landline, just my phone. And the phone I got is a slider with a QWERTY keyboard, built in MP3 player, and camera/video camera. I've had phones break, or stop holding a charge, etc. It's worth the $6 a month to me.

[lunamama]

Ya, my phone is a pretty expensive one. I think I am going to stick with the insurance for now. My kids are fascinated with it since you can draw on it and do some cool stuff. It is defintiley a toy but I got a great deal on it. INsurance for us.

[hibana]

Read the terms of the insurance very carefully. A friend of mine purchased a phone (renewing his contract, so he got the phone cheap) and got insurance on the darn thing. It quit working on its own, and he went to have it replaced. They charged him almost the full retail price of the phone, because the terms of the phone insurance only covered part of the price of the unit and none of the extra fees associated with replacing the phone before the contact expired.

[CarrieMF]

I wouldn't. I'd do what a pp said & put the $6/month into an account instead. If your contract is 2 years that'll be $144 in an account that YOU will be making interest on, not the cel phone company. No it won't be alot of interest, but still it's some.

We've had our current cel for 2 years, never had a problem with it.

IMO if your phone is expensive a person should be more careful with it if they won't have funds sitting around to replace it.