iPhone insurance?

Been looking at insuring my new iPhone 3G and I'm a bit put off by the terms and conditions. I've looked at insurance from O2 and Carphone warehouse and both state that in the event of damage they may replace the phone with a similar model.

If I insure an my phone then I want it replacing with an iPhone, not something similar.

Thoughts? I personally think I'd be better off sticking �30 a month in the savings account if they're going to have stupid clauses like this.

I don't know how much iPhone insurance is, but when I've been offered insurance on some of my previous phones I found it laughably expensive - I could probably insure the contents of my house to �20k for the sum they were quoting!

If you have home contents insurance you might be able to add mobile phone insurance to that for a reasonable fee (if it's not included already).

Daylight robbery! Regardless of the Ts&Cs, for that money you could start a second �30 a month contract and have a usable spare iPhone!

Insurance is usually only worth while for things you really couldn't afford to replace yourself, and couldn't live without. An iPhone doesn't match either of those criteria for me. I'll take good care of mine, keep my money, and if I ever need to replace it *I* can decide what I want to do.

Cheers. I'm glad I'm not the only person thinking the insurance is a bit pointless, especially the poor cover on offer.

I've never broken or lost a mobile phone and therefore I'm not going to start now.

�30!! I did read your �30 figure but assumed you'd rounded up a figure of, say, �10 to a nice sum to put in a savings account. �30 is unbelievable.

I know two people with original iPhones who have claimed using their iPhone insurance; friend 'a' (claimed about a fortnight after the original iPhone was launched) got a replacement original iPhone, friend 'b' who claimed a few days ago got 3G iPhone as a replacement for their original iPhone.

That clause is simply so O2 don't have to keep stocks of old phones which they can't source any more. But �30 a month - who's quoted you that?

I took the O2 insurance because at present the 3G iPhone feels much too much like the target of attention - some light fingered pikey's far too likely to try and half-inch it at the moment...

I looked at some of the alternate phone insurance policies - the ones I contacted all wriggled out with phrases like "We won't be able to replace that as O2 won't let us buy them as replacements", "This is mobile telephone insurance, that's an iPod/Smartphone", one of the companies sent me a list of their replacement phones - replace my 16Gb iPhone with a W910i - no thanks.

My home insurance wouldn't cover the piephone either because it's a Smartphone not a mobile phone.

I don't recall exactly what I was quoted by CPW for insurance, because I was laughing too much. But I do know it was a silly monthly figure, not very dissimilar from the total monthly plan rate.

I'm not sure what the policy is, but the high end policy isn't cheap, but that means you never get a reconditioned phone and the phone is delivered to you worldwide, no need to find a shop.

But anyway, iPhone is rumoured be out on PAYG for about �300 and so that's not too bad.

In reply to:

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for about �300 and so that's not too bad.

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The last PAYG mobile phone I bought was �14.99 from Woolies... to hell with paying 300 quid

An iPod touch is about �180.

I'm used to paying for SIM free phones. Cost a lot but give you freedom and you can sell them way before they're worn out and worthless.