It is important to think about why you want mobile phone insurance...

There are 2 principle reasons why you would want to insure your phone ...

1. To cover the high cost of replacing your phone
2. To get your phone replaced quickly and easily

We looked at the cost of replacing the mobile in a previous blog article - in short - replacing your mobile phone is FAR more expensive than you think. Contract phones are heavily subsidised when you first sign up for a new contract - but not when you get a replacement mobile phone mid-contract. Pay as you go phones are simply quite expensive but your best bet if you want to buy your own replacement.

2. To get your phone replaced quickly and easily

Imagine being without your mobile phone for days - is this acceptable? If this is OK to you, then great. If your phone is critical to your business or your personal
life, you need to look carefully at the turn-around time on a claim with any mobile phone insurance company. Unless they *promise* a quick turn around time of 24 to 48 hours, then do NOT assume they will be quick - some have waited weeks!

Some phone insurance companies do promise a rapid replacement time such as HLAS. A key part of a rapid replacement is for you to stay on top of the process - call the insurance company daily and ask for an update so they know how important your phone is to you. Some customers are not worried about when they get it, so not all are worried about replacement time. You need to let the mobile phone insurance company know that YOU want rapid replacement. You do this by simply making sure you have their phone number, and calling them daily after making a claim.

Also, before you choose a mobile phone insurance company, make sure you can submit your claim form by email, online or by fax, so they get it instantly. This obviously speeds up the process of your insurance claim.

For damage claims, the mobile phone insurance company will insist on you sending the phone to them to assess, to either repair or replace. Most mobile phone insurance companies will send out a pre-paid jiffy-bag (post and package paid) for you to then return your damaged phone in. Obviously it will take 1 to 3 days for that jiffy bag to get to you before you then return it, so you might want to consider speeding the process up by sending the phone by courier (at your own expense but it should be less than ￡10) as soon as you make the claim. This will shave 1 to 3 days off your claim.