Cell phone insurance?

[james.hendrickson]

Hi Guys,

Been looking a potentially buying insurance when my cell phone plan expires next month. My gut tells me the value isn't there, but I thought I'd put it out to the community.

Do you guys use cell phone insurance?

Is it pretty much a money waster, or no?

More importantly, do you know a way to get free cell phone insurance?

[creditcardfree]

Best cell phone insurance I know of is to have money set aside to replace it should it fail on you. It's free, and can even pay you a bit if you set it aside in a savings account that pays interest.

[AnnieG]

We have never purchased it. We are very gentle on our belongings and our phones are still in good shape when we replace them.

Our son, however, has purchased and used the insurance several times. He is not gentle. He also only did this when money was tight for him (college student and/or low paying job). Now that he has a healthy emergency fund, he does not buy the insurance.

[Sammydabullz]

No I do not buy phone insurance. I buy cell phones outright. Cell phones are usually replaced every two years anyways. oh and cell phones usually come with a 1 year warranty anyways.

[disneysteve]

No I do not buy phone insurance. I buy cell phones outright. Cell phones are usually replaced every two years anyways. oh and cell phones usually come with a 1 year warranty anyways.

We have never replaced phones every 2 years. We use them until they die or are no longer supported by the company.

As for the 1-year warranty, I doubt that covers accidental damage, cracking the screen, dropping it in the toilet, etc. That's why people do buy insurance.

But no, we don't buy insurance. We just take care of our belongings and on the very rare occasion when something has happened, we paid for it out of pocket.

[snafu]

Another voice suggesting you buy your next cell phone outright. They come with insurance and CCs likewise insure faulty merchandise. If you see yourself as a klutz, prone to dropping your cell phone, I urge you to buy a clam shell type cover. It doubles as a wallet if you buy the type with slots in the cover to hold a CC, medical card and DL.

[siggy_freud]

Just like all insurance, they wouldn't offer it if it wasn't a net gain for them (the company) monetarily. So the odds are in their favor that you'll never use it, but pay them anyways. The odds say don't take it, provided you can afford the out of pocket expense should you be one of the few unlucky ones.

[pflyers85]

My company pays for insurance on my work cell but I do not pay for insurance for my personal cell. Granted my work cell is an iPhone 7 and my personal cell is a cheap budget model LG smartphone. Personally I have never felt the need to drop $750+ dollars on a new cell phone. To each their own I guess. In my opinion if you can't out of pocket replace the phone when the damage renders the phone unusable then you bought more phone than you can afford.

[msomnipotent]

My daughter bought her Iphone 7 outright and still had to buy insurance. It was about $10 a month, and it took her all of 2 months to break the screen. She is only 12, though. We don't get insurance for our phones. We always buy ours with cash, unless there is a very strong incentive. We are looking at getting the new Samsung S 8 for both of us to replace the S4 and a cheap Moto that just doesn't work for me.

[FLA]

I don't get the insurance, I buy the phone outright and put a glass voter over the glass and use a case. I am, however, curious about the commercials for that insurance called Lemonade that starts at $5 a month to insure your electronics

[~bs]

phone insurance is generally not worth it unless you are an habitual phone breaker. even in that case, you're better off just encasing the phone in an otterbox defender or something.

some phone insurance doesn't cover loss

phone insurance has very high deductibles, so the amount they will cover is a lot smaller than you would think

you're probably better off putting the money you'd have paid for in insurance, maybe $10-20 per month, on the side in your account.

in the 15 years that I've owned cell phones, I've never broken a single one of them, and my phones normally see heavy usage as the occasional drop as well.

[~bs]

My daughter bought her Iphone 7 outright and still had to buy insurance. It was about $10 a month, and it took her all of 2 months to break the screen. She is only 12, though. We don't get insurance for our phones. We always buy ours with cash, unless there is a very strong incentive. We are looking at getting the new Samsung S 8 for both of us to replace the S4 and a cheap Moto that just doesn't work for me.

for kids, you should just get them a phone case. they even have ones for little kids that are super bulky, but really protective.

Phone case protection ranges, and goes all the way up to being able to stop a .50 cal bullet. Of course a bullet stopping phone case will cost you around $500.

http://www.marudai-corp.com/iphone-case/info-product.html

[Mandy63]

I would rather put the money into a good case and save the extra money to put toward purchasing a new phone if needed.

[msomnipotent]

for kids, you should just get them a phone case. they even have ones for little kids that are super bulky, but really protective.

Phone case protection ranges, and goes all the way up to being able to stop a .50 cal bullet. Of course a bullet stopping phone case will cost you around $500.

http://www.marudai-corp.com/iphone-c...o-product.html

It was in a pretty good case and a super-deluxe glass screen protector when she broke it. It fell out of her pocket and managed to hit the only rock in a 5 mile area, directly on the screen.

At least she learned her lesson about buying a case for looks instead of protection. She insisted on buying a poor quality case simply because it had the Jurassic Park logo on it, and my old S4 completely shattered to bits when she dropped it. She made a point about researching protection when she bought the 7 because she had to use her own money to buy it.

For $500, I would rather buy her a bullet-proof backpack and have her keep the phone in there. I'm still toying with the idea of the back pack, to be honest.

[David James]

Ymmv!

This definitely a "your mileage may vary" situation, but I've had great luck with Walmart's Care Plan. Twice now I've returned the phone and gotten my money back. One issue was a broken screen (thanks to my daughter) the other was a faulty charger connection. I'm not generally a fan of Walmart, but the Care Plan is the best insurance/warranty that I've experienced. I'm sure other folks have had a negative experience and it largely depends on the local store involved.

Years ago I had insurance with Verizon that was expensive and essentially useless, because the deductible is cost prohibitive.

If you're looking for an iPhone, you can save money by purchasing a refurbished iPhone from Apple. It carries the same warranty as a brand new iPhone and is considerably less expensive.