<p>^^^^^
We dont have a land line anymore becuse the cord kept getting tangled when I would go outside.</p>
<p>Some insurance policies have HUGE deductibles, so be aware of what you are purchasing. We figure we will just take our chances and so far have never had any regrets. All 4 of us have every incentive to be very careful with our newish iPhone5s, and so far, so good.</p>
<p>Our webmaster has just a voice and text phone rather than a smart phone because he figures he’s on his computer so much anyway. Those ‘non-smart’ phones are being given away for free at TCA and you can have unlimited text and voice for only $30/month. I like our landline and its $60/month with our DSL. I do love the convenience of a smartphone, especially when we travel. It’s great for directions and also for YELP and email, as well as limited surfing and even viewing of videos.</p>
<p>Just today, a co-worker was telling me how proud she was that she was able to use her insurance to replace her lost phone. The deductible was “only” $199. We figured out how much insurance she’s paid over the last 9 years, added the deductible, and discovered that she could have paid for TWO new phones. Oddly, she still thought it was a good deal – she couldn’t get past the fact that she only had to come up with $199!</p>
<p>We used to have insurance, used it one time, then did the same calculation and cancelled it. My personal philosophy is that insurance is for costs I couldn’t cover without an uncomfortable hit to my financial life. A phone doesn’t fall into that category.</p>
<p>We have had phones since the kids were in HS. We figure we’ve saved a bundle over the years NOT having any insurance. We also didn’t buy them any insurance when they were in college, nor tuition insurance NOT trip insurance, nor CDW nor gas from car rental companies, nor any maintenance contracts. We figure over the years, we have come out WAY ahead. Whenever something happened to a phone, we repaired it or were able to get a replacement at a decent price. </p>
<p>When S got phone stolen in college, he was able to use my broken phone and a co-worker’s non-functioning phone to create ONE functioning phone. When D’s phone was stolen, I gave her mine and borrowed one from my brother that he no longer wanted because he had upgraded. I figure we’ll have to do something similar if we manage to damage, break or have our current phone stolen. The kids didn’t have anything else to claim if they had had insurance when in college or on their phones.</p>
<p>I can see the value in insurance for liability and medical, but not for smaller things that we can absorb as needed. I love that our CCard gives us an extra year of warranty and loss or damage protection for 90 days–have used those insurances that were free. </p>
<p>We’re all different and that’s why we make different choices.</p>
<p>My daughter seems to lose or break her smartphone every six months. The most recent time, her brand new, $800 dollar Samsung Galaxy was stolen from a nightclub in Las Vegas. Even with the $175 deductible, the insurance has paid off for her. (BTW, now that she has graduated and has a job, SHE is paying for her phone). I have the free, cheap dumb phone that came with my plan 10 years ago. It still works. No insurance for me.</p>
<p>All this phone talk makes me want to go look at new phones.</p>
<p>My D has lost 3 iphones. One while she was robbed in London, one in a NYC cab (she was following the cab via the phone’s GPS for a while) but someone took it, one in a bar in New Orleans. She had insurance for the New Orleans incident, but I was surprised she had the frame of mind to make a police report and the insurance required it.</p>
<p>Squaretrade is great when it comes to repair or accidental damage, but they do not cover theft or lost phones. At least they didn’t last year when I called them up and asked.</p>
<p>I got my daughter a Google Galaxy Nexus S last year and I got my son a Google Galaxy Nexus 4 this year when his died (he paid for it). They are both very nice phones for $350 and I don’t think that they’re targets for theft but replacing them would be a lot less painful than getting an iPhone. I have an iPhone 5 and I do like it but the price differential between many very capable Android phones and the iPhone gives me pause. Of course I don’t see it as clearly because the contract price obscures the real cost but I do know what the real cost is and I know that I’m paying for it with my wireless contract.</p>
<p>If you don’t need the best in specs, you can go down another notch and drop another $100.</p>
<p>When a phone is lost or stolen or damaged, I’m not aware of anything that requires replacement with the SAME device. I figure if anything happens to any of our 4 iPhones, we can replace with whatever we prefer and are willing to purchase. I like the phone, but can learn to like pretty much anything that will be easy enough to search the web, text and answer email.</p>
<p>GolfFather, I’m surprised to hear you had to return the broken one first. Sadly, S2 has a lot of phone insurance experience (he pays for the insurance or I won’t buy the phone).</p>
<p>Asurion (common ins used by cell companies) ships you a replacement (refurb) phone next day. You then have 10 (I think) days to return the broken one. In cases of loss (i.e. genius S2 goes GoCart riding on a giant Texas ranch and phone falls out of pocket) you just mark “loss” when filing the claim and you still get the replacement in 1-2 days. </p>
<p>There is an $80-100 deductible depending on phone type. I don’t normally take the insurance, but at $8/month against a $600-800 phone I even got a policy for myself.</p>
<p>I have a full replacement policy with Sprint. A new phone of the same kind is $100. But in many cases, we have opted for buying a refurbished phone for $50 when a good one is available. We have 5 smart phones in the family. We have replaced phones MULTIPLE times…lost, stolen, drowned, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t see on the Square Trade site anywhere where they cover theft. That I think would be the biggest danger of all.</p>
<p>No, dropping damage is the biggest claims issue by far.</p>
<p>I have property insurance, which covers accidental damage and I believe theft. They were really good about it when I dropped mine and it broke.</p>
<p>CSI insurance covers phone and computer and other electronics up to $3000, whether they are lost, dropped, or stolen. $25 deductible cost us $87 for the year.</p>
<p>Both of my kids had their phones stolen; S also washed one phone (but it kept working after a brief stint in the dryer). They have not broken phones. S did take my broken phone and a colleague’s broken phone and cobble together an excellent frankenphone that worked fine until we were entitled to new phones. Both I and his colleague were impressed and amazed. 
I have never had a phone broken or stolen, though I have lost it and had it returned several times and only lost one permanently. H has hung onto his phones and generally has to replace them when he can’t purchase replacement batteries after a while. ;)</p>