Phone Insurance
DCON
Newbie

If insurance does't qualify me for a new phone if something goes wrong, why am I paying for it?

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Re: Phone Insurance
nmchileman
Master - Level 3

Insurance gets you a replacement at a cheaper cost than if you weren't eligible for upgrade. Let's say you're anywhere from 6-12 months into your contract and your phone gets stolen. If you didn't have insurance you would have to pay anywhere from $100-600 to get a new phone (depending on the phone you wanted). With insurance you only pay a small deductible to get a replacement either $40 or $80 depending on your device.

 

Of course, if you're eligible for any type of upgrade that will probably end up being the more logical route to go, but if you're not eligible for an upgrade and don't have insurance it can be difficult and expensive to get a replacement device.

 

Some find value in insurance, some don't. If you don't see any value in it, then don't pay for it. It's as simple as that.

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Re: Phone Insurance
budone
Legend

 


nmchileman wrote:

Insurance gets you a replacement at a cheaper cost than if you weren't eligible for upgrade. Let's say you're anywhere from 6-12 months into your contract and your phone gets stolen. If you didn't have insurance you would have to pay anywhere from $100-600 to get a new phone (depending on the phone you wanted). With insurance you only pay a small deductible to get a replacement either $40 or $80 depending on your device.

 

Of course, if you're eligible for any type of upgrade that will probably end up being the more logical route to go, but if you're not eligible for an upgrade and don't have insurance it can be difficult and expensive to get a replacement device.

 

Some find value in insurance, some don't. If you don't see any value in it, then don't pay for it. It's as simple as that.


 

I took DCON's question as to why, with insurance you do not receive a NEW PHONE, if you are paying what I would call a deductible to receive a refurbed one.

 

 

 

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Re: Phone Insurance
nmchileman
Master - Level 3
I think the most logical answer would be that the insurance company, Asurion, doesn't stock NEW phones. They purchase phones from the carrier, and I'd imagine it's cheaper to purchase refurbished devices or "like-new" devices, rather than brand spankin new phones. That would be my best educated guess.
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Re: Phone Insurance
Zehan
Contributor - Level 2
Compare phone insurance to car insurance. If your car is damaged, they don't get you a brand new car, they fix what's broken, which could be considered refurbishing the car. Not the best comparison, I'm sure, but it seems similar to me.
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Re: Phone Insurance
nmchileman
Master - Level 3

 


Zehan wrote:
Compare phone insurance to car insurance. If your car is damaged, they don't get you a brand new car, they fix what's broken, which could be considered refurbishing the car. Not the best comparison, I'm sure, but it seems similar to me.

 

That's a great analogy. I love that one.

 

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Re: Phone Insurance
tim600sl
Contributor - Level 3

Very poor example I would say.... here's why:

If your phone gets stolen, it is a TOTAL loss. If your car gets stolen, it is also a TOTAL loss, now tell me, when the car gets stolen, do they fix your stolen car?!? NO! That doesnt even make sense. The insurance company gives you money to purchase a car that hasnt been rebuilt, or refurbished.  Same thing with the phone, if it gets stolen, you are ENTITLED to a phone that hasnt been fixed! On the other hand this analogy would make sense if your phone did not get stolen, but damaged, then I would somehow agree on this.

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Re: Phone Insurance
nmchileman
Master - Level 3

 


tim600sl wrote:

Very poor example I would say.... here's why:

If your phone gets stolen, it is a TOTAL loss. If your car gets stolen, it is also a TOTAL loss, now tell me, when the car gets stolen, do they fix your stolen car?!? NO! That doesnt even make sense. The insurance company gives you money to purchase a car that hasnt been rebuilt, or refurbished.  Same thing with the phone, if it gets stolen, you are ENTITLED to a phone that hasnt been fixed! On the other hand this analogy would make sense if your phone did not get stolen, but damaged, then I would somehow agree on this.


You were reading too much into it. He never said if the car/phone was lost/stolen. He only mentioned damaged, therefore the analogy works.
Semantics aside, who says you're ENTITLED to a new, non refurbished phone? The Asurion brochure doesn't. The Asurion T&C's don't. YOU feel this way. It's not something you're "entitled" to. Just because you feel a certain way about something doesn't make it fact. Reality doesn't necessarily work that way.

 

 

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Re: Phone Insurance
tim600sl
Contributor - Level 3

ok, but thats the whole reason why the insurance is not free, you pay for it! and the premium is not cheap. Maybe the word ENTITLED sounds a bit rude, but you WOULD expect to get a NEW replacement phone when you actually pay extra $7.99/mo (that is how much I pay)

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Re: Phone Insurance
SuzyQ
Community Leader
Community Leader

 


tim600sl wrote:

ok, but thats the whole reason why the insurance is not free, you pay for it! and the premium is not cheap. Maybe the word ENTITLED sounds a bit rude, but you WOULD expect to get a NEW replacement phone when you actually pay extra $7.99/mo (that is how much I pay)


 

 

And as chile said a few posts back - "Some find value in insurance, some don't. If you don't see any value in it, then don't pay for it. It's as simple as that."

 

I looked at our phones, and the cost of the insurance multiplied by the 4 phones on our plan, and the cost of replacing one if something should happen, and decided we were better off pocketing the (then) $20 a month and just eating the cost of a new phone if and when the need arose.  We had a few older Verizon phones from previous upgrades that would get us by, and with the various upgrade eligibilities we had it was more cost effective for us to drop the insurance.

 

You need to decide if it will work for you, and if it isn't worth it, then don't pay for it.  It's totally in your control!

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