Get Insurance Smart when Buying a Smart Phone
Perform a cursory check on the internet and you’ll find a proliferation of gadget websites that aim to marry excited ‘girls and boys’ to all the ‘latest toys’. All the latest ‘must-have’ items are proudly displayed online where people ‘virtually’ queue to buy them. But the trouble with gadgets, especially if they are new to the market, is that they tend to be pretty expensive!
Handheld items in particular are highly portable and therefore more likely to be lost, broken or stolen. So, it is essential that owners of such items have insurance cover that allows them to replace their latest beloved gadget if lost in those circumstances. The costly alternative to insurance will be to go without or take another hefty hit to one’s bank balance to buy a replacement.
For example, the latest smart phones are very expensive to replace, with some individual handsets retailing for well over ?500 if not purchased as part of a network contract deal. As well as allowing the owner to make calls, send texts, keep up to date with emails and also surf the web, smart phones are also capable of storing a vast amount of personal information. Losing access to that vital information is almost as distressing as losing the handset itself and even if a replacement arrives quickly there will still be a period of time during which much disruption is caused to the owner’s business and personal lives.
Anyone buying such a smart phone with a major UK network will be automatically offered insurance for the handset, which can be relatively expensive to buy compared to other available options. For example, many people buying smart phones may also be the type of person who holds a private premier banking account with any one of the UK’s banks. Typically, amongst the benefits of that type of account is mobile phone insurance and in some cases, gadget insurance. So, rather than pay insurance to the phone network such account holders can merely inform the bank of the IMEI number of the new handset and they will be fully covered.
Even if the smart phone purchaser does not hold such a premier banking account their home contents insurance may provide similar cover. It is certainly worth reading the home insurance policy document to check whether such items are covered before paying extra for any other insurance.
Once proudly possessed, making sure gadgets such as smart phones are adequately insured won’t prevent them being lost, stolen or damaged but will ensure that obtaining a replacement is not as expensive as buying it first time around!
This article has been written for information and interest purposes only. The information contained within this article is the opinion of the author only, and should not be construed as advice or used to make financial decisions. Expert financial advice should always be sought and any links contained within this article are included for information purposes only.
