Whenever we buy a new cell phone, taking care of it and avoiding any kinder of damage is essential. Therefore, there has been a slow but steady growth in the market of smartphone insurance policies in the last years. However, being able to understand what exactly smartphone insurance is and what it covers will help us make the best decision when we purchase cell phone protection.
Also, when we understand what is not covered by smartphone insurance, we’ll be fully able to determine whether or not we should get coverage. After all, insurance policies are there to protect us in case of an accident, and few things are as prone to accidents as cell phones are.
What Exactly Is Smartphone Insurance
Smartphone insurance is a type of protection that will cover the expenses of repairing or replacing your smartphone. We can get this protection either through our mobile carriers or directly with an insurance company specialized in cellphones. Most of the times paying those costs is more expensive than a premium is. As a result, insurance for smartphones seems to be a smart decision.
However, we need to consider our carrier, premiums, cellphone, and most importantly, our deductibles. Since every carrier and insurer is different, these figures might vary. According to NerdWallet, though, an insurance deductible might end up being higher than what we pay for our phone every month.
What Does Smartphone Insurance Cover?
Since we carry our phones around with us all the time, they are exposed to many potential accidents. The most common issues we face with our phones are damaged batteries, charging-part failure, cracked screens, damaged cameras, and headphone jack failures. Also, losing our phones, or having someone steal them happen quite often, too.
Most of the smartphone insurance carriers do cover the expenses of repairing or replacing your device. One of the main issues, though, is that most carriers will limit the number of claims you can submit per year to 3 or 4.
Should I Consider Purchasing Smartphone Insurance?
The main aspect to keep in mind before purchasing this insurance plan is the type of cellphone we might have. Some makes and models are easier to fix than others and might be cheaper than deductibles. Most companies will require payments of deductibles between $50 and $200, depending on plan and device. Thus, we might end up paying more with insurance than without one.
If we have equipment protection, we should be perfectly aware of what they cover and what they don’t. This way, we make a much more informed decision on whether to get smartphone insurance or not. Understanding the possible risks and situations we expose our phones too can help us make a decision, too. Therefore, we’ll be able to determine if phone protection would be the right decision for us or not.