Your smartphone is more than just your phone. It’s your music player, calendar, camera, debit card and more all in one.
It’s a great convenience, but it also means that if you lose your phone or it’s stolen, you’ll be left without your primary communication device – and possibly risk bank or identity fraud.
That’s why it’s probably best to buy phone insurance to cover your smartphone against accidental damage, loss, or theft.
If insured, you can get a quick replacement for a phone affected by one of these things – shattered screen, dropped in the sea, pinched pub – but not all insurance policies cover all eventualities.
In the UK you can very easily buy phone insurance on a new phone, but it is also possible to buy cover for one phone or multiple devices at any time.
Phone insurance with UK mobile operators
Many of the major network providers in the UK offer insurance services. Damage, loss and theft cover may even be included in your policy, so it’s worth checking with your insurer before going to a separate insurance company:
- EE – From £2.40 per month for Damage Protection, or £4.80 per month for Full Protection.
- Must be purchased when upgrading or signing up for a new contract.
- O2 – From £3 per month, with protection against loss, theft and damage. Minimum excess of £10.
- Must be purchased when upgrading or signing up for a new contract.
- Three – From £4 per month. Some plans include protection against damage, loss, theft and more.
- Must be picked up within 28 days of purchase.
- Vodafone – From £6.50 to £8.50 damage protection, worldwide; From £9.50 to £13.50 for damage, loss and theft protection, worldwide.
- The device must be less than 60 days old.
iPhone insurance with AppleCare
Apple doesn’t call it insurance, but that’s what AppleCare and AppleCare+ are.
If you buy a new iPhone directly from Apple (and some third-party resellers), you can also choose to purchase AppleCare at the same time (or within 60 days of iPhone purchase).
Prices for standard AppleCare start at £3.49 per month or £69 for two years for the iPhone SE (2022) and go up to £9.99 per month or £199 for two years for the iPhone SE (2022). iPhone 14 Pro Max. This covers unlimited repairs for accidental damage, repairs using Apple parts, Express Replacement Service, and 24/7 access to AppleCare experts online.
You can also get AppleCare+ from £5.99 per month and £119 for two years, up to £12.49 per month and £249 for two years, which gets you all of the above plus a full coverage in case of loss and theft.
If you bought your iPhone from Apple, we recommend AppleCare because it’s so easy to get a quick repair at any Apple Store nationwide. Insurance is also tied to your Apple ID, so you don’t need proof of purchase when attending an appointment at the store (it’s best to book at the Genius Bar before showing up).
Samsung phone insurance
Samsung offers similar insurance packages to Apple at similar prices with Samsung Care Plus, with an upside and a downside: you can get insurance on your phone within six months of purchase, which is a generous window, but none of the plans cover loss – only accidental damage and/or theft.
The best telephone insurers
Protect your bubble – Good for low overhead on older phone models with £50 for claims for damage or breakdown, and £75 for loss or theft. Policies start at £15.99 per month to insure up to three gadgets with worldwide cover. Protect Your Bubble allows up to two claims for theft or loss per year, per gadget.
You must have purchased your phone within the last six months. Be prepared to pay a lot more than the £5 starting prices for phones like the iPhone 14 and newer Samsung models, though.
Gadget cover – Voucher for shared telephone insurance, as your policy is extended to cover damage while a member of your immediate family is using your device. Prices start from around £3.99 per month, with optional loss cover, with an excess of £50 for devices worth less than £500, £75 for those worth between £501 and £999 and anything over £1000 has a £100 excess.
Endsled- Good for quick replacements. If your phone is lost, stolen, or beyond repair, you should get a replacement within one business day. Insurance cover starts from £3.99 per month.
Unlike most gadget insurers, Endsleigh takes your age, occupation and other details into account when calculating a rate, so prices vary – but loss is included by default and devices may be just under 3 years old when you start the font. They also have options for students.
Simplesurance – Good for long term plans. Simplesurance does exactly what you would expect from its name: it keeps things simple. Instead of a monthly fee, you’ll pay a one-time fixed price to protect your phone for one, two, or three years.
You can also add theft protection. The prices are very reasonable and get better if you choose a longer duration.
Other insurance companies worth checking out include So-Sure and Love It Cover It.
Guide to buying phone insurance
Different types of phone insurance
The first thing to decide when it comes to phone insurance is the level of protection you want. A few factors affect the price of insurance, starting with the assumed market value of the device you are insuring. Most insurance companies will have specific plans for particularly popular devices like iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones.
Many policies cover damage such as liquid damage and theft, but beware that most packages do not cover loss, and some of the cheapest packages (the cheapest being around £3 per month) even omit theft altogether and you will only be covered for accidental damage. So be sure to check the fine print, because sometimes a cheap price means you won’t be covered for everything.
You might also consider add-ons to a basic phone insurance plan like worldwide coverage or coverage for the cost of unauthorized calls, texts, or downloads if someone else has your phone.
These days, with cool technologies like Apple Pay and Android Pay, there is also the risk that if stolen, your phone could be used for contactless transactions, so watch out for e-wallet coverage – Gadget Cover is one of the few companies that includes it as standard.
Price and risk
Some phone insurance offers may seem attractive when advertising a monthly direct debit price. Often these single-digit monthly plans have a larger excess cost if you make a claim.
An example is Protect Your Bubble, which offers a deductible for a damage or breakdown claim of £50 for many phones, increasing to £100 for newer and larger ones.
Other plans may have excess costs of over £100. You need to consider the balance you want to strike between peace of mind and the likelihood of making a claim; if you think you will, make sure you are happy with the excess costs before signing up.
Consider multi-device strategies
If you’re looking to insure more than one device (say you want to cover all the phones in your family), several providers sell multi-device plans. Protect Your Bubble is again a good option, offering household gadget insurance for 4-10 devices from £12.99 per month.
Gadget Cover also offers simple and flexible household insurance policies that are worth considering.
You may already have insurance
If you’re not worried about theft or accidental damage (although most people should be!), remember that the majority of smartphone manufacturers cover device defects for 12 months. iPhones certainly are (when bought new), so double check.
It’s also possible that your phone is covered by your existing homeowners insurance or by an insurance policy that comes with your bank account. So be sure to check both before committing to spending more money on a new font.
Check the terms and conditions
Although we think the providers and policies mentioned in this article are good choices for smartphone insurance, you should always check the terms and conditions and the fine print before taking out a policy – as it depends on your personal circumstances or of your preferences.
For example, your phone may be covered against car theft only if the car is locked and the phone is in the glove compartment.
Some insurers also won’t cover smartphones unless they’re six months old or younger. All of these little things could add up to an insurance headache, so be sure to check the fine print.
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