Mobile phone insurance promises protection if your smartphone is accidentally immersed in water or suffers similar damage from a fall. However, a current comparison by Stiftung Warentest shows that the offered insurance policies are expensive and often have catches.
AUSTRIA. Who doesn’t know? The smartphone drops, followed by an anxious bending down and picking up the device, then the sobering certainty: the screen is broken. For these and other damage cases, such as a cell phone in the toilet or a broken battery, there are countless insurance companies that promise fast and, above all, free repairs. Insurance is often offered with the purchase of a cell phone. Especially when the device is brand new, many people tend to protect themselves. After all, you’ve already spent a lot of money with your new purchase, and some repairs can be expensive. However, the conclusion of an insurance should be well thought out. Because the price differences are huge and there can be some nasty surprises in the fine print on your insurance policies.
A current analysis by Stiftung Warentest proves this. He took a close look at 19 cell phone insurance policies and compared them. One thing right away: Stiftung Warentest does not list cell phone insurance among the important types of insurance, because any financial damage is usually manageable. If you still want to buy insurance for your mobile phone or tablet, you should know the weaknesses of each type of insurance so that you are not disappointed in the event of a claim.
cost of insurance
The cost of cell phone insurance depends mainly on two factors: the purchase price of the cell phone and the duration of the insurance. The prices of the deals examined are between 6 and 20 percent of the purchase price, which is quite a wide range. Insurance for a €1,300 smartphone for two years costs €127 with the cheapest provider in the test, and more than double with the most expensive insurer at €312.
Customers can usually choose between a monthly and an annual payment method. However, you shouldn’t let the seemingly low monthly payments fool you. Because many mobile phone insurance policies have no fixed term and are automatically extended. For example, if you forget to give notice and pay €5.30 a month for five years, you end up paying a total of €318 in insurance premiums.
remain deductible
Most insurers require customers to pay part of the costs in the event of a claim. The amount of this deductible depends on the price of the device and the costs and scope of the respective repair. Even in the event of a “total loss” there is often a deductible.
Speaking of total loss: In this case, most insurers deliver a device “of the same type and quality” – this does not necessarily have to be a new device, but can also be a used or refurbished device. And sometimes, instead of a “new” device, there is a monetary replacement, but usually not in the amount of the purchase price, but in the present value (residual value) of the insured cell phone.
Beware of theft protection
Most mobile phone insurance also offers theft protection as an add-on package. However, Stiftung Warentest does not recommend this extra. First of all, theft protection obviously makes insurance more expensive. But what is even more important is that the protection is usually tied to conditions so strict in small print that the insurance company often does not pay after a simple theft.
Because the insurance companies only take effect in the event of theft if it occurs despite the phone being worn close to the body or never left out of sight – i.e. if there was “increased personal custody” at the time of the theft. However, most thefts happen under different circumstances. And if a theft by force (robbery) should ever occur, the contents insurance of the stolen person would still come into force, explains the Stiftung Warentest.
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