When does mobile phone insurance make sense?
t-online thinks that you can usually save on mobile phone insurance. The insurance protection often does not cover all damage, it is also expensive and if the smartphone breaks, this is usually not a threat to economic existence. Mobile phone insurance usually covers the following damage: breakage and falls, liquid damage, overvoltage damage when charging the battery, fire, operating errors and vandalism. Theft protection is often missing. If it comes to the case that the insurance cover takes effect, the insurance service provider only pays the so-called current value of the device, writes t-online. Fair value is the current value of the phone at the time, so you don’t get a refund of the original purchase price, except for the first year. In the second year, however, it is only 80 percent and in the third year only 60 percent of what you get reimbursed from the purchase price, according to the portal.
What costs must be expected in the event of damage?
According to the insurer friendsurance, the average repair costs in 2019 were 351 euros. At 64.3 percent, broken displays were the most common reason for repairs. The reason for this is the trend towards ever larger displays, which are also becoming more susceptible to damage. The investigation also showed that the probability is very high that a smartphone will break after a short time. The friendsurance blog says that 84 percent of all cell phone damage was reported in the first two years after cell phone insurance was taken out.
But not only is the probability of damage to the mobile phone high, but thefts are also apparently increasing. If the insurance cover takes effect, only one percent of the insured state that theft is the type of damage, but if there is a theft without insurance, it will be expensive. friendsurance refers to data from the Federal Police and writes that a cell phone theft can only be cleared up in 6 out of 100 cases, so here several hundred euros are quickly lost if you own a high-end device. Mobile phone insurance with theft protection, on the other hand, only costs around 119 euros a year, without a deductible. So is mobile phone insurance worth it?
For whom is mobile phone insurance worthwhile?
It is not very common for mobile phones to catch fire or be destroyed by vandalism, writes t-online and this was also confirmed by the data from friendsurance. Should it nevertheless happen that the mobile phone is destroyed by a fire in the house or by a burglary, household contents insurance will take effect anyway, reports t-online. Household contents insurance often even takes effect in the event of theft, in the event of a burglary in the house, and even pays you the purchase price of the mobile phone and not just the current market value. If it should happen that a friend drops the cell phone, there is no need for special cell phone insurance, because the friend’s private liability insurance then takes effect. If they don’t have one, the portal recommends checking their own private liability insurance to see if they have “coverage against claims” included. In various situations, there are definitely ways and means of getting the purchase price of your mobile phone reimbursed through other forms of insurance.
In general, it is advisable to equip your cell phone with a protective cover and a tempered glass film anyway to avoid a broken display. If more complicated damage occurs, such as liquid damage, which, according to friendsurance, accounts for 4.5 percent of the damage, you should switch off the device as soon as possible and place rice in a dry bowl, which can drain the liquid from the device again, writes t-online.
In summary, one can say that it depends on one’s own discretion. Insurance without theft protection costs between EUR 26.40 and EUR 132 per year, according to t-online, with insurance cover between EUR 95.88 and EUR 239.76 per year. It also depends on how much you have spent on your cell phone and what functions the smartphone has. If it is waterproof, you can rule out expensive liquid damage more easily. You should also find out beforehand which cases your own household contents and personal liability insurance will cover in order to save unnecessary costs.
Editorial office finanzen.net
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