Always thought it was a bit of a rip off. Think I had free cover with my old bank but I've switched banks.
Just got myself a phone that's worth a few quid, so knowing my luck and all that!
Just an additional tax imo, anything goes wrong with it mechanically should be covered by warranty. Only thing insurance really gives you extra is if you drop it and smash it. Get a heavy duty case for it and save yourself the £20? a month.
Mobile 'phone insurance is a very nice little earner for the insurers. I believe the mobile 'phone networks' own policies are often far from being good VFM.
It is also, from my direct experience as an (ex) investigator in the sector, rife with fraudulent offers from unauthorised "firms". For some reason that I cannot begin to explain, Swansea is (was?) a hotbed of such bogus insurers. So, first off be careful what you buy insurance-wise and from whom.
Anyway, whether you need mobile 'phone insurance depends on several things. First what kind of contract do you have? If you should lose, have stolen or irredeemably trash your 'phone and could not afford a replacement, it is likely that you will be still be tied into paying hefty monthly amounts while not having a phone to use! It is also likely that a direct replacement will have a chunky price tag because it will not be benefiting from the built-in contract subsidy.
If on PAYG, SIM only or non-contract, chances are you could just go out and buy a cheapo temporary replacement and wait till you can afford a "proper" 'phone. In which case insurance might not seem like good VFM.
Next, one of the advantages of separate mobile 'phone insurance is usually the provision of a new phone on a like-for-like basis almost immediately. But that's something you pay for and you need to ask yourself if you need this "luxury" cover. For example do you have ready access to funds? If so, general household insurance might work for you.
I've not got specific 'phone insurance but do have an "all risks" section on my household insurance which covers up to £3,500 of personal possessions worldwide with a limit of £2k per single item. If I had a mobile loss, I could just buy another one and then slap in a claim which might take a few weeks to settle. Others might need a replacement paid for them.
How about just setting aside whatever the 'phone insurance is as a pot of money that you could use to replace it? In other words. self-insure. If nothing goes wrong - bonus money to spend on anything. (Well, apart from a tattoo, obviously.)
Second - and this is merely speculative because I don't know the answer - but does specific mobile 'phone insurance also cover any consequential loss? By this I mean for example the cost of any calls/other usage that a miscreant might have made on your 'phone after it was nicked? Or the cost of Ryanair's charges in the event that your mobile has gone AWOL with your boarding pass on it, that sort of thing. Because I doubt that general household cover would.
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It is also, from my direct experience as an (ex) investigator in the sector, rife with fraudulent offers from unauthorised "firms". For some reason that I cannot begin to explain, Swansea is (was?) a hotbed of such bogus insurers. So, first off be careful what you buy insurance-wise and from whom.
Anyway, whether you need mobile 'phone insurance depends on several things. First what kind of contract do you have? If you should lose, have stolen or irredeemably trash your 'phone and could not afford a replacement, it is likely that you will be still be tied into paying hefty monthly amounts while not having a phone to use! It is also likely that a direct replacement will have a chunky price tag because it will not be benefiting from the built-in contract subsidy.
If on PAYG, SIM only or non-contract, chances are you could just go out and buy a cheapo temporary replacement and wait till you can afford a "proper" 'phone. In which case insurance might not seem like good VFM.
Next, one of the advantages of separate mobile 'phone insurance is usually the provision of a new phone on a like-for-like basis almost immediately. But that's something you pay for and you need to ask yourself if you need this "luxury" cover. For example do you have ready access to funds? If so, general household insurance might work for you.
I've not got specific 'phone insurance but do have an "all risks" section on my household insurance which covers up to £3,500 of personal possessions worldwide with a limit of £2k per single item. If I had a mobile loss, I could just buy another one and then slap in a claim which might take a few weeks to settle. Others might need a replacement paid for them.
How about just setting aside whatever the 'phone insurance is as a pot of money that you could use to replace it? In other words. self-insure. If nothing goes wrong - bonus money to spend on anything. (Well, apart from a tattoo, obviously.)
Second - and this is merely speculative because I don't know the answer - but does specific mobile 'phone insurance also cover any consequential loss? By this I mean for example the cost of any calls/other usage that a miscreant might have made on your 'phone after it was nicked? Or the cost of Ryanair's charges in the event that your mobile has gone AWOL with your boarding pass on it, that sort of thing. Because I doubt that general household cover would.