If you’ve just got hold of a brand new iPhone 4, you will most probably have addressed the thorny issue of insurance. For a long time, it’s been an extra 5 or 6 pounds a month on top of the contract generally speaking — but with the introduction of shiny mugger-friendly iPhones, the insurance prices from the operators and retail outlets have gone through the roof.
o2, for instance, charges a whopping £15 per month. That’s £360 across a 24 month contract. For £15 a month you can get a Nokia E63, 100 minutes, 5,000 texts and 500mb data from 3 on a 24-month contract! For the cost of insuring your iPhone!
Prices have hit ridiculous levels.
So I’m pleased that Protect Your Bubble has launched a much more sensible £5.99/month insurance deal for iPhone 4. The new policy includes cover for accidental damage, including water damage, theft and mechanical breakdown once the Apple warranty expires. And for a quid more each month, you can also get loss protection.
The policy includes worldwide cover, £100 of unauthorised call costs, 48-hour replacement and a free data backup service for your contacts.
Not bad at all. Of course you can use this for your other iPhones, it’s not just for the iPhone 4.
I haven’t tried the service but I’m giving serious consideration to it. As with all insurance deals, do check the terms & conditions to define the excesses and exclusions.
Hmm, I called them up and was un-impressed. Got through to an American call centre and the guy told me although it states on the website they cover accidental cover in actual fact they don't and haven't for over a year.
Oh that's not good at all 😐
I could have just got a dodgy cs rep but it certainly put me off. Adding to home insurance is the way forward.
Read the terms and conditions, not too appealing
Hi Jim,
I'm Chris from Protect your bubble and just seen these posts. So sorry that you had a bad experience when you contacted our call centre… it's actually in sunny Willesden Junction so I think you must have just got an American representative.
We definitely do cover accidental damage on iPhones so my apologies that you were given the wrong information.
If you need to make a claim and I can help at all, please feel free to email me at chris.winstanley@assurant.com.
Thanks for your comments about Protect your bubble and I hope you haven't lost confidence in us as an insurance provider – we're a small but growing website and your experience really matters to us.
Kind regards
Chris Winstanley
Protect your bubble
i'm a customer of protect your bubble and i must say that i would never insure any other handset with this company again. i spoke to one of your representatives yesterday and told me about the £100 excess in case of a claim, and compared to the other competitive quotes out there, this works out a lot more dearer in case of a claim.
i have an on going claim that still has not been settled from january 2010 and i have had to use a budget handset for eight months! you seem like a reasonable person, maybe i'll speak to you tomorrow!
I have had the misfortune to have been a customer with protect your bubble. From the price, the insurance appears too good to be true, thats because it is!! Avoid this company at all costs. I made a claim after losing my i phone and from the minute i contacted bubble, it was clear they had no intention of paying out. The particular excuse they used was that I did not report the loss to my closest police station within 24 hrs, despite that fact my closest station was closed over xmas. The fact it was reported at another nearby station was not good enough. It is clear that bubble have a book of loopholes they will heavily relay on to avoid paying out. I have heard a similar story from a work colleague, who also had nothing complementary to say about these cowboys. Other insurance may be more expensive, but as they say, you get what you pay for!!
I have had the misfortune to have been a customer with protect your bubble. From the price, the insurance appears too good to be true, thats because it is!! Avoid this company at all costs. I made a claim after losing my i phone and from the minute i contacted bubble, it was clear they had no intention of paying out. The particular excuse they used was that I did not report the loss to my closest police station within 24 hrs, despite that fact my closest station was closed over xmas. The fact it was reported at another nearby station was not good enough. It is clear that bubble have a book of loopholes they will heavily relay on to avoid paying out. I have heard a similar story from a work colleague, who also had nothing complementary to say about these cowboys. Other insurance may be more expensive, but as they say, you get what you pay for!!
Ah dear
Ah dear
I had my phone stolen on NYE. As the offices were closed the earliest I could report it to Protect my Bubble was last Tuesday and one week later I am still waiting for them to process claim. I had to ring their offices 4 times last week chasing claim up as I had no response, holding for 20 minutes plus each time, only to be told that someone would call me back later that afternoon. This never transpired. I finally had a conference call today with 02, the claims man was very aggressive with the 02 lady and was almost pushing her to verify the information incorrectly. The call took 45 minutes, which at the end, I was told they still needed to verify the information with the police, even though I have a claim reference. Then once this had happened my claim would finally be considered which could take up to 3 days. I am unsure where the 48 hours for replacement phone comes from in their adverts as this clearly isn’t the case. I have never written a review before but my experience to date has been so bad that I would ask anyone considering this insurer to think twice about taking insurance out with them. For all the agro it is worth paying that little bit more.
very very annoying
Do your research. This company will very rarely pay anyone out.. It’s a total rip off. Trust me.. Invest in a proper policy that will pay when you need it.
I insured with them and they took 7 months to process the claim and they paid us £150 than the original price paid. It for a laptop and they said this because the item was still on sale and therefore we had to buy that model. It wasn’t available anymore and the only one we did find was the original price paid. They have the worst customer service I have ever experienced. DO NOT INSURE WITH THIS COMPANY
On Sunday my car window was smashed in and my bag was stolen from the boot of my car which contained my iphone4 (Reported to the police immediately). I had insured my phone with protect your bubble at the start of September 11 and was very happy with how quick and easy the online application was and the letter that followed welcoming me as a customer. On waiting around 20 minutes on hold each time I rang them, I was finally told that my policy had been cancelled in November 11′ because there was no money in my account which is false and I have bank statements proving otherwise. The terms and conditions clearly state that 30 days written notice must be given in advance prior to cancelling a policy. I did not once receive an email,letter or any other communication warning me of this meaning that from Nov 11-May 12 my phone has been completely unprotected. All the person on the other end of the phone could say was “the letter must have got lost in the post”. I am infuriated and disgusted by this company and don’t know how they are allowed to operate. I warn anyone considering to sign up to stay well well clear of them.