AT&T Cell Phone Insurance ?

[fordy]

...........Rece'ved and email offering too enroll me in the AT&T cell phone insurance coverage , $4.95 a month . I purchased a Motorola Cell for $269 in dec '09 .
...........I noted that there is a $50 deductible and a max of 2 claims in a 12 month period , SO I'm wondering IF anyone hereabouts has filed a Claim on their AT&T insurance and HOW prompt was their response , etc ? I'm considering enrolling but not before I get some input from those who have , Actually filed a claim . , thanks , fordy

[Callieslamb]

We did it. I have a bad track record wtih phones. They sneak into the washing machine, fall out of my pocket and under a wheel of the car, etc...Oh the stories! We always carry ins on our cell phones. We had to go online, pick out another phone, and pay $50 towards it. Painless and quick. Once we had the new phone we sent the old one back to them and received the credit on our bill for it. Until they received it- our bill was charged with the full price of the new phone.

[Saffron]

I don't bother - that is close to $60 per year - per phone. And you can't make a claim for a certain number of months after enrolling.

I just keep an older phone handy if something happens to my normal phone and use it until I can get on ebay and buy a cheapo that I like.

Of course - I never get the latest and greatest phone out there for my service. And now I am no longer under contract.

[fordy]

..........They also start billing for the deductible ASAP , then they Put restrictions on When , they will pay the claims ! PLus , they can basically pick a Phone and it doesn't have too be a direct model replacement . Typical Insurance strategy leveraging everything too their satisfaction . , fordy

[CrossCreek Mom]

In many cases, the replacement phone is a refurbished one.

[danielsumner]

Get the insurance. Let me tell you what I did I love to scuba dive. Even though I'm a big guy(fat), I'm like a gracefull manatee in the water. Well I spent a lot of money on a new phone. The next day I go diving, it was warm weather, so I just wear my swim trunks, not my wetsuit. I was diving a wrecked navy ship off of Key Largo Florida in the Florida Keys. I was deep, about 130 feet down looking at the bottom of the ship, and stirred up some sand, I was brushing it off of my self and gear and what do I feel, My NEW CELL PHONE in my pocket. I did'nt have the insurance. $300 thrown in the Ocean

Daniel

[agmantoo]

Buy an as new phone off ebay or craigslist for cheap. When you destroy it you will have saved enough to get another. I only paid $60 for a new Blackberry pearl a few months back. That pearl replaced the one that I destroyed that was bought about a year before for $75. My wife has a Nokia phone that she has used for more than 5 years. She has save more than $300 by not having a replacement contract.

[Gary in ohio]

I normally dont like to buy insurance on items. There usually a rip off, however on cell phones that get bounced around a lot I have. Depending on your phone, cheap free phone skip the insurance, fance smart fone get one. How long I keep the insurance is based on what the value of the phone is. I check ebay for the price of phones from time to time, When it gets down near the cost of the insurance then drop the insrance cost and take the chance.


My wife has a "free' phone and it has no insurance, I can buy one on ebay for $20.. My sons is a "text" phone and cost a bit more new so I had insurance but the used price value dropped after 9months to more than the insurance cost, so I dropped is. My smart phone still has enough value in it its still cost effective to keep the insurance./ I suspect sometime in the next few months with all the new modeles comes out that it will drip below my threshhold and Ill remove the insurnace from it.

[Natural Beauty Farm]

Must depend on carrier. I'm with Verizon and about once a month I break my phone working in some crazy place. I just walk into any store, hand them my phone and 5 min later walk out with a new one. They have even upgraded it over the years for free.

[Saffron]

If your phone would cost more than $100 to replace brand new - then it is probably a good idea to get the insurance.

I have never had a phone that expensive, and when we first started ATT (Cingular) years ago, the ins was a waste of money for us.

I am a cheapo though, I won't pay if I don't have to for those things. Ebay, Craig's List, Freecycle are my buds for cell phones.

Rereading - I saw that that phone was more than $250 - so it might be a good idea for you.

[arabian knight]

True on any phone that is that high in cost better to get the insurance then take a chance.

[MN Gardener]

If you ever lost or broke your phone you can go to Walmart and get a cheap phone for $20. All you do it put your SIMS card in it, just make sure it is ATT compatible. If you don't want a stripped down model the insurance might or might not be worth it. Figure if you pay the insurance and have a claim a year from now you will be paying $110 ($60 in premiums, $50 deductible) for a new phone. Chances are the $269 phone you just bought will only cost $150 or less by then or there might be a refurbished on available for cheap. There is also a limit on how many claims you can make and they will drop your insurance. For me, it doesn't matter, I like the stripped down $50 phones. If I had a $269 phone and needed the features (for work, etc) I might get insurance, at least for the first few months.

[halfpint]

We had the insurance last year on my son's phone. Three weeks after he purchased it last January, it was stolen. He received a new phone within two days, including the new sim card. If your phone is stolen or lost and you replace with an inexpensive off the shelf phone, you will have to pay for the sim card also. So like others have said, if you have an expensive phone, and have problems with losing/breaking phones, it may be worth it. Otherwise it's probably a waste of money. Now that we can get his phone fairly cheaply on the internet, we've dropped the coverage.
Dawn

[TheMartianChick]

I just bought a couple of cheap used cells off of ebay. I spent $7 on each one. Everybody started out with a brand new phone when I initiated the contract. My husband and I chose ones that didn't cost us anything since we were able to choose from some really nice phones. I had a free credit coming which gave me an additional $100 towards a phone so I got a smartphone.

The kids chose some special phones that cost them an additional $175 each. Both of the kids phones and my hubby's phone all broke in the same week in November! The girls each got an old refurbished phone since they had no money to contribute. Hubby decided that his phone problems weren't all that bad and decided to just deal with the issue (phone stuck on speaker). My family knows that if they break or lose a phone that they will be relegated to one of the used ones that we keep on hand. I will probably get the refurbished phones back in March when the girls will be eligible for an upgrade. I know that they hate using the refurbished ones but I will not waste money by buying them new replacements or even by spending the $50 deductible to get a new one.

[Jalopy]

I probably am jinxing myself by talking about this, but we do not carry the insurance. We have four phones and at $5/ month that is $240 a year so as long as all four of us do not destroy our phones during the sameyear, I figure we are money ahead to just pickup replacement costs as we need to. I am usually the one that has the most problems,such as dropping it in the cattle yard or running over it with the skidloader.
On the flip side I have a friend that always carry's the insurance and he is rougher on phones than I am and he always has a newer phone, but they still don't work any better as he always uses them hard while working on his farm.

[beaglebiz]

ATT users are fortunate in that you can buy a cheap go phone for 20 dollars at wm, and put the sim card in and use it. I did this when mine broke. After we switched to Verizon, their phones dont use a sim card, so no go phone fix.
FTR, I have no insurance on my or DH's phones, but I do on my college age son's.
DH's phone did break, and my brother gave him his old phone. I have had my phone more than 2 years, and could get a new one, but I just dont want to sign a new contract in these uncertain times.

[farmerbrian]

Originally Posted by beaglebiz

ATT users are fortunate in that you can buy a cheap go phone for 20 dollars at wm, and put the sim card in and use it.

Yep this is exactly what I do. $20 GOPhone at Walmart and plug in my sim card. Its tiny, light, and doesnt have a camera! Its a phone....for calling people. Im not interested in smart phones (hope I dont need one for new job) so insurance doesnt interest me. Also planning on going month to month with ATT once our contract expires.

[Kung]

What Saffron said; my phone would cost more than $200 to replace, new; so it's worth it for me.

[fordy]

...............The reason I purchased the Motorola is that my work location is out in the sticks ! I had a cheap phone with NO contract with Virgin mobile , every time my boss would call the phone would almost always Drop the call , and the Boss thought I was hanging UP , on her.......not good . So , 3 other coworkers had AT&T with strong signals and NO , dropped calls . So , I signed a contract and purchased the fone , IF I get laid off , it won't matter anyway cause ya can't get Blood out of an UNemployed Turnip , lol ! , fordy

[beaglebiz]

I saw a news story this morning that Verizon will lower the cost of their plans, potentially starting a price war.
I am glad I am not in a contract right now, because I will be able to wait and see how low they will go before I renew.