The #1 Best Mobile Phone Insurance 2020 (iPhone, Android & Gadgets)

Thomas Niemczewski

01/13/20 •  7 min read

Pin

You can get mobile phone insurance cover for your iPhone or Samsung phone for less than £5 per month…

iPhones aren’t cheap, so if you lose yours – or, worse, it gets stolen and you’re left wondering, where’s my phone – you’ll want to make sure that you’re covered. Fortunately, if you’re in the UK, you can pick up cover for your iPhone (or any type of mobile phone) for as little as £5 a month.

Our #1 highest-rated mobile phone insurer right now is Insurance2Go; it offers robust cover for mobile phones of all shapes and sizes. You can get cover for as little as £56 a year (less than £5 a month) – and this will cover loss, theft, and damage.

But there are different levels of cover that you need to be aware of before you go ahead and apply for a quote (we’ll cover these in a minute). First, though, let’s take a look at how mobile phone insurance differs from traditional insurance.

Mobile Phone Insurance vs. Standard Insurance

Mobile phone insurance is different from, say, home insurance and car insurance in a few key ways. The first is that your age and gender have no effect on your overall premium. And the second? If you’re prone to losing your phone, it’s likely that your premiums will not increase – even if you’ve lost several over the course of the last few years.

That’s good news for all you serial phone-losers out there! However, when selecting an insurance provider for your mobile phone, you need to keep a few things in mind. The most notable of which is that not all phone insurers are created equally – some are great, others are, well… not so great.

This is the #1 reason why we recommend Insurance2Go; it has a solid TrustPilot rating (4/5) and a very impressive Review Centre rating (4.5/5). Why is this important? Simple: TrustPilot and Review Centre are public review forums. All reviews are from real customers, so if a company has a high TrustPilot score, you’re likely in good hands.

This is important for a couple of reasons: 1) it means there aren’t too many issues with payouts, and 2) people are more than happy to recommend them to friends and family. Conversely, if a company had a low TrustPilot rating, you’d want to avoid them at all costs – the public (AKA said company’s customers) have spoken and the verdict is BAD.

You Need Phone Insurance If…

Do you need mobile phone insurance? It isn’t mandatory like car insurance, but there are certain types of people that are more likely to benefit from having mobile phone cover. If you answer, yes, to any of the statements below, you’ll likely benefit from some kind of cover:

• You’re Prone To Losing Your Phone.
• You Don’t Want To Make Claims on Your Home Insurance.
• You Do A Job Where It Could Be Damaged.
• You Live In A Rough Neighbourhood.
• You Travel A Lot (Domestic & International)
• You Bought The Phone Outright, So You Want Cover In Case of Loss, Theft, and/or Damage.
• Peace of Mind.

Does Home Insurance Cover Mobile Phones?

Yes and no – it’s slightly tricky, and it depends on what type of home insurance you have. Most of the time, your phone will be covered for things like theft via burglary, though some providers do cover for damage and loss as well. You’ll have to check the T&Cs of your insurance to be 100% certain.

The downside here is that if you lose or damage your phone outside the home, it won’t be covered under home insurance in most cases. On top of this, should you make a claim on your home insurance you might have to pay an excess charge – anywhere from £100 to £500! In some cases, this excess charge might be more than the value of your phone.

In addition to this, if you do make a claim for your phone on your home insurance, it will affect your no-claims discount and that, in turn, will affect your premiums when it’s time to renew. And if it’s just for a phone, it’s not really worth it – this is the #1 reason why dedicated phone insurance exists in the first place.

Taking out extra, dedicated phone insurance for your mobile and other gadgets ensures your home insurance is safe from any potential claims. And remember, the fewer claims you make, the lower your premiums. This goes for car insurance and house insurance, so it’s always good practice to aim for the cleanest profile as possible.

Different Levels of Mobile Phone Coverage

Depending on where you go for your phone insurance, you’ll want to double-check what’s covered and what isn’t. Most insurers worth their salt will cover the following as a minimum:

• Theft (Not Loss)
• Accidental Damage
• Mechanical Failure
• Liquid Damage
• Cover For Accessories & Peripherals (Cases & Headphones)

Do you need all of the above? Arguably, no. But most insurers, including our #1 recommended phone insurance provider, will cover you for loss and theft, as well as damage. If you want broader coverage for things like unauthorized calls, for instance, you might pay a little more for your coverage. 99.9% of people should be able to get away with loss and theft as a bare minimum, however, as well as maybe cover for damage.

You Need To Get Cover Within 6 Months of Buying The Phone

Most mobile phone insurance companies will demand that you get insured within six months of buying/getting the phone in question. There are exceptions, however, like GadgetCover which will offer cover on devices – phones, computers, tablets – up to 18 months after purchase.

You also have to be over 18 to get insurance and be able to provide proof of ownership. Insurance policies are not available for phones bought second-hand or imported from overseas.

The best thing to do is to get your phone covered within the first week of buying it. That way you’ll be covered from the get-go and will be able to get the exact coverage you’re after. The less leverage the insurer has over you the better, as it will result in lower premiums for coverage. And that’s what everybody wants.

Phone Insurance Prices: A Guide For UK Users

Anything Else I Need To Know?

Nope, that about covers it. You have to be 18 to get phone insurance, you need to apply within 6 months of getting your phone, and you can insure other gadgets under your premium too – things like tablets and laptops, for instance.

As you can see in the table above, there are plenty of dedicated phone insurance providers in the UK, across a range of price points. I use Insurance2Go – and have done for the past several years – because they’re one of the cheapest providers and they have excellent cover.

You can also get cover for your phone via your network, though most places want you to apply for coverage when you buy the phone. If you didn’t do that, it’s worth looking elsewhere for coverage. Again, I use Insurance2Go for three key reasons: 1) it is highly-rated by its customers, B) provides great cover for iPhone and Android phones, and C) it doesn’t screw you over when the time comes to make a claim.

Need a quote? You can get one today – it only takes a few minutes and there are ZERO obligations.

Thomas Niemczewski