<p>My son and I are getting new Verizon Iphone 4s phones. I am debating about the insurance. I know I need insurance on them, but the cost with Verizon is expensive, like around $11 per month per phone. So I am researching other cell phone insurance plans on the internet. Has anyone used any of these other insurance plans and can tell me about them? I want one that also covers theft and loss and some of them only cover accidental damage.</p>
<p>The best insurance you can buy for an Iphone is an Otterbox Defender case. Makes the phone look like a preschool toy, but gives great protection. I asked for recommendations at the local Apple store, and practically in unison everyone behind the counter held up their Iphone … all of them had an Otterbox.</p>
<p>college dorms insurance covers cell phjones. Use the search function it has been discussed in several threads. Worth the money!</p>
<p>My son has CSI insurance, which would cover his phone,but I need insurance on mine as well, that is why I want to hear from others who have insured their iphones with another insurance carrier. Also, the Otterbox will not protect against loss or theft, only accidental damage…</p>
<p>How about foursquare? I use them for any electronics. I got a full refund for a roomba with them. They are really easy to work with and well priced.</p>
<p>I have purchased Square Trade insurance on the last 3 Iphone purchases in my family. We have luckily not had to test it out yet. In the past we have never purchased phone insurance. With the kids when they had basic phones I would just order a simple replacement phone from Ebay. I also try to keep a supply of the old phones in case someone breaks their phone.
D also has insurance through CSI.</p>
<p>True, the otterbox does nothing for lost or stolen phones, but in the past … 13? maybe it’s been 15? … years that we’ve had cell phones, including most recent 4years where we’ve been dealing with 5 family phones and one work blackberry, we have had NO lost or stolen phones, but a plethora of dropped, stepped on, sat on, jumbled around in the gymbag, and otherwise miserably mistreated phones. The otterbox has been the best money we’ve spent.</p>
<p>When D just got hers, the Apple Store folks told us that the AppleCare plan now includes accidental damage, fwiw.</p>
<p>She has dorm room insurance that covers the iPhone with a $50 deductible for loss, theft, or accidental damage.</p>
<p>Our family has used Worth Ave Group. They are the best. My DD has lost 4 iphones (I know, ridiculous) before I insisted that she gets insurance. She lost one in New Orleans and Worth Ave sent her a check within a week. I was proud that she had good sense to have a police report in New Orleans which Worth Ave required.
I also insured my iPad with them before I left for Europe last year.</p>
<p>Squaretrade and my homeowner’s insurance(even specific rider) do not cover iphones against loss/theft.</p>
<p>Fyi - I have a new in box Otterbox Defender --if anyone is interested.
My daughter doesn’t want to use it, and I bought one / get one free from Verizon in Nov when we bought our new phones. Send me private message and we can work it out. It’s a pink one, but can probably exchange it for color you might prefer.</p>
<p>cbreeze: Yes, I know about Worth group but was kinda put off by having to file a police report if your phone is stolen or lost. It seems like a lot of work to do that… I am looking for insurance that does not require that. But good to know that Worth is easy to work with… I will keep them in mind. Anyone else with any experience? I do think most people damage the phones nowadays but I do think it is important to be covered for loss and theft. A friend of mine’s son was in the library last year at college and accidentally fell asleep. When he woke up his Macbook and Iphone (which was in his hand when he fell asleep) were gone! Someone had stolen them while he was sleeping. So, it can happen.</p>
<p>We bought insurance until we had to use it once. Here was our experience:</p>
<p>D’s phone broke through a combination of hard use and bad design. I called the insurance company for instructions and discovered that there was a $50 deductible. I paid, and shipped the phone back… and waited. (No “loaner” phone was provided, so D was sans phone for the entire interlude.) After a couple of weeks, I called and was told two things: </p>
<p>First, they’d run into a problem and left D a voicemail – on the very phone they had in their repair shop. Geniuses.</p>
<p>Second, the phone was by then out of production and could not be repaired or replaced. It was still under warranty though, so they referred me to the website where I could select a free replacement phone. I logged on to find two unacceptable phones – the broken phone was a qwerty, and the replacements were both flip phones. I called back the next day and pointed this out, and was told, “Sorry, but those are the two options.” “Are you saying a flip phone is comparable to a qwerty?” “Oh, you can definitely get a qwerty. That’ll be an extra hundred bucks.” “But the phone is under warranty.” “Those are the two options.”</p>
<p>Thinking that a face-to-face conversation might be more productive, I then went into a Verizon store. “Those are the two options.” “Let me talk to the manager.” Manager: “I understand your frustration. You know, you can get a qwerty for only an extra hundred bucks.”</p>
<p>So I spent about an hour digging around in the depths of the Verizon website, and finally came across the crucial sentence on the warranty page, paraphrasing: “The phone will be replaced with a model which has the same functionality as the original.” I printed it out and took it back to the store. “Well… you’re right, ma’am, the replacement options don’t have the same functionality as the original. But those are the two options.” I asked for the manager, and then asked him to call his higher-ups. They decided to do me a big favor by honoring the plain meaning of the word “warranty,” and allowed us to select a qwerty.</p>
<p>A week later, it hadn’t arrived, so I called. They knew absolutely nothing about it. I went back to the store and dredged up the manager, who called the warehouse. It was “stuck” in their shipping loop, because it was a “special order.” They shipped it. They shipped it to my home address, when I had specifically asked them to ship it to my office (I stood there and watched her enter the address into the computer). Since no one was home to sign for it, it went back to the warehouse. They then called and left another message on D’s phone which by then had been dismantled for parts. I called again, and that time they finally got it right, and we got the phone.</p>
<p>At the point we filed the claim, she’d had a phone for about 2 years, times $5/month = $120 in premiums paid, plus the $50 deductible. Plus the hours of time on the phone and driving to Verizon stores. Plus more than a month without the phone (and the loss of all her contacts which were on the broken phone). Plus the torment of dealing with Verizon reps.</p>
<p>So no, I don’t waste my money. It’s probably cheaper and certainly less frustrating to self-insure.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing. Your story just proved to me why I do not want to insure through Verizon…What a nightmare of a story!</p>