The Compareaholic’s Guide to iPhone Insurance

What’s in this guide:

1. Do You need iPhone Insurance? – You may already be covered
2. What to look for in a policy – Know what to look for when researching
3. Comparison Table – All the UK policies in an easy-to-use table
4. iPhone Insurers – More info on each company & policy with customer reviews (where available)
5. FAQs – Answers to the most frequently asked questions

1. Do I need iPhone Insurance?

There may be some instances in which you don’t need cover:

1. Your home insurance policy may cover your mobile phone

   Your iPhone may already be covered by your home contents insurance policy. Some home contents policies include cover for electrical items and gadgets and your smart phone may fall under this category. If you already have contents insurance for your house, take a note of the coverage a typical iPhone insurance policy provides and ask your contents insurer if they offer the same level of cover.

   Remember:

   - A home contents policy may not provide the same level of cover as mobile phone specific policy (check to see if they offer cover for things like water damage, loss and international cover).
   - Claiming on your contents insurance could affect the cost of your premium the following year
   - The excess you will need to pay to claim on your home contents insurance may be more than the annual cost of iPhone cover.

2. Your current account (bank) may include cover for your mobile phone

   Does your bank account include mobile phone insurance? It probably won’t if it’s just a basic level account but some of the premium accounts do. It’s worth a quick look to see if you’re already covered and to what level.

3. Your Apple warranty provides some cover for breakdown

   Your Apple warranty will cover certain types of repair during the warranty period. Water damage, theft, loss, unauthorised calls and all of the other typical features of a mobile phone insurance policy are not covered by the warranty.

2. What to Look for in a Policy

Knowing what to look for in an insurance policy is half the challenge, after that it’s just a case of seeing which companies meet the criteria.

• Theft: If your phone is stolen, the insurer will provide you with a replacement or cover the cost of a replacement
• Accidental Damage: Covers the cost of getting your mobile phone repaired or replaced
• Water Damage: Specific cover for water damage (dropping it in the toilet, spilling drinks over it, etc)
• Loss: Covers you if you lose your phone
• International Cover: Provides the same level of protection while you’re abroad for a set number of days per year
• Unauthorised Calls: Protects you against the costs of unauthorised calls made if your handset is stolen
• Premium: The cost of the policy (either per month or as an annual payment – depending on the insurance company)

3. All the information in a nice comparison table

I guess having a comparison table would make it easy to see which is the best deal?

Company	Theft	Damage	Loss	Water Damage	Worldwide	Est Cost p/m	More Info
			£1p/m		60 Days	£7.99	More Info
			£1p/m		30 Days	£4.99	More Info
					30 Days	£3.33	More Info
					90 Days	£4.99	More Info
					90 Days	£5.62	More Info

4. Insurance Companies: Reviews & More

Looking for more information about a particular company or product? Browse through the policy overviews or clickthrough to read reviews and feedback from the compareaholic community.

5. FAQs

1. I Need Cover for Backpacking/Travel Abroad

   JS Insurance (90 days), Insureandgo (90 Days) and Protectyourbubble (60 days) offer the longest periods of cover.
   If you are planning a long trip (or several short ones) then these are the best ones to look at. If you are taking out travel insurance however, check to see if mobile phones are covered within the policy – there’s no point in insuring yourself twice (unless the travel insurance policy doesn’t offer specific cover for things like water damage, which is quite likely).

2. I’m on a budget. Just show me the cheapest

   Currently Better Buy Insurance is the cheapest. Of course cheapest doesn’t always mean best. It’s important to compare the options carefully using the comparison table. If you need further re-assurance take a look at some of the reviews left by current and previous policy owners.

3. I need a policy that’s suitable for my iPhone 4

   All policies are suitable for the iPhone 4 (as well as iPhone 2, 3G 3GS).

4. I tend to lose things – and think it’s possible I will lose my phone

   Not all policies include cover for loss. If you feel it’s likely that you might lose your phone then take a look at the following policies: Protectyourbubble (additional £1 per month), Insurance2go (additional £1 per month), Better Buy Insurance & InsureandGo.

5. I’m under 18 which policies are suitable for me?

   Currently Protect Your Bubble is suitable for all ages while Insurance2go and JS Insurance are suitable for over 16s. Remember if you are planning to take out insurance you will most likely need a credit/debit card to make the payment online.

6. What about O2′s instore insurance?

   Some mobile phone networks such as O2 and Vodafone offer their own inhouse policies. While they do offer some basic level of coverage we’ve found that they can be as much as 4 times the price of some of the policies we’ve compared here and generally with less features (notably cover for loss and water damage). If you are interested in looking at any of these policies however you can see O2′s here and Vodafone’s here.

7. Which policies offer new for old replacement?

   Insureandgo state that they replace gadgets on a ‘new for old’ basis. We’re currently researching the others