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Why Do You Need to Get Mobile Phone Insurance?

Mobile phones are the UK's most popular gadget, and they are getting ever more high tech and multi-purpose. The latest phones are more like mini computers than traditional phones, and as they become more functional and crucial to our lifestyles, it is becoming more and more difficult to do without them for any length of time.

The problem is that we take our phones everywhere and use them all the time, so there are plenty of opportunities for them to be lost or damaged.

Many people decide not to insure their phones, reasoning that they are too careful to let their phone get lost, broken or stolen. The figures show just how wrong these ideas are. According to the BBC, on average 228 phones were reported stolen every hour in the UK last year, and 6% of teenagers were victims of phone theft in the space of those twelve months. The statistics for phones being lost and broken are equally shocking.

These harrowing statistics show that no matter how careful you think you are, you cannot guarantee with 100% certainty that your phone will not be misplaced or damaged at some point. If your phone is put out of action and you do not have insurance, then you will have no choice but to pay for a brand new handset, often at great expense. For students or people on modest incomes, having to shell out unexpectedly for a new phone can put an unwanted strain on already stretched finances.

Also, some people think that they do not need to buy separate mobile phone insurance, because they assume that the cost of replacing a lost or damaged phone will be covered by their existing household contents insurance. In some cases this is true, but it is important to bear in mind that household policies often have high excess charges, which may be incurred if you claim because of a lost phone. Not only that, some policies have large no-claim discounts, which would have to be forgone if you made a claim for a mobile phone. For these reasons it is often uneconomical to rely on household insurance to cover something like a mobile phone, as it can end up costing you an awful lot more money that you might think.

For Pay and Go phone users, sometimes going without insurance can be an acceptable risk, as the only real cost for losing a phone will be a replacement handset. However, if you are on a contract phone, there is also the possibility that if your phone is stolen it could be used to rack up hundreds or thousands of pounds worth of call charges in your name before you even realise the phone is gone and have a chance to get the handset blocked. You would also need to continue paying the contract fee every month for the duration of the contract, even though you didn't have the handset anymore. Consequently, anyone with a contract phone is strongly advised to make sure they have a good phone insurance policy that will cover their mobile in the event of any mishaps.

If you are looking to insure your mobile then visit iProtect Insurance, a leading provider of low cost mobile phone insurance in the UK