2024-07-23 09:30:52
Beim Smartphone
Consumer advocates warn of these costs
22.07.2024 – 11:43 a.m.Reading time: 4 min.
Experts advise against taking out expensive insurance for smartphones, as the costs often exceed the benefits. Instead, other protective measures can help.
- Consumer advocates advise against expensive smartphone insurance, as the costs often exceed the benefits.
- Protective cases and screen protectors offer a cost-effective alternative to protect against damage.
- Repairable smartphones are a sustainable option to save costs and reduce the ecological footprint.
A lot can happen to a smartphone – the camera or the display can break or the device can be stolen. Replacing it can be quite expensive. As a customer, you start to think twice when you are offered insurance when you buy a new smartphone. But you can save yourself the trouble: consumer advocates and experts advise against such offers.
“As a rule, extra insurance for a smartphone is too expensive compared to the benefits,” says consumer advocate Sandra Klug. The Hamburg Consumer Center determined that insurance costs can be up to 34 percent of the smartphone purchase price, plus deductibles in the event of damage. Regular complaints from consumers also show that insurance companies are unwilling or very reluctant to pay in the event of damage.
In a sample calculation for a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the financial advisor “Finanztip” calculated an insurance premium of 225 euros for two years. In addition, there is a deductible of 100 euros in the event of damage. “However, a defective battery for this model only costs 78 euros. Consumers therefore pay 247 euros extra here,” says Henriette Neubert from Finanztip about the specific case of battery defect. This sample calculation turned out to be similarly bad for an iPhone.
At the end of 2022, Stiftung Warentest also came to a sobering conclusion when comparing 19 cell phone insurance policies. Not only are the policies expensive, many do not cover a number of types of damage at all. Display, for example: For some insurance companies, a cracked display that is otherwise still functional is not considered a claim.
It makes more sense to protect the smartphone against damage from falls with a protective case and a screen protector. “It is also helpful to have the smartphone fully linked to an Apple or Google account. This way, if the device is lost or stolen, GPS tracking can be used – provided it is switched on,” recommends Neubert.
Another important protective measure: the screen lock. “This simple tool can protect private data from short-term access and makes it more difficult to use it again after it has been stolen,” says Neubert. The screen lock can be activated on every smartphone via the security settings.
Sandra Klug from the Hamburg Consumer Advice Center also recommends not carrying your smartphone in your unsafe back pocket. “It’s quick and convenient, but it’s almost an invitation for thieves.” Especially if you travel a lot on public transport, it’s better to store your smartphone in an inside pocket or a breast pocket.
In recent years, repairable smartphones have also increasingly come onto the market. In smartphones from major brands such as Apple or Samsung, the individual parts are often glued together and cannot be removed without special accessories. With repairable cell phones, the device can be disassembled and broken parts can be replaced more easily. This not only saves consumers money, but also reduces their ecological footprint. After all, a new cell phone produces about as much CO2 during production as 432 disposable plastic bottles.
Companies such as the London start-up “Nothing” or the Dutch company “Fairphone” offer such repairable smartphones. They are no different in price to conventional cell phones – they are often even cheaper.
What many people don’t know is that a smartphone is covered by some insurance policies even without additional insurance. “If the smartphone is stolen during a break-in, the damage will be covered by the home contents insurance. This also applies if it is stolen from a locked hotel room and, depending on the contract, if the cell phone is stolen from the car,” says Henriette Neubert.
If the smartphone is damaged when someone else uses it – for example, to look at photos on it – their liability insurance will cover the cost of the repair.
Anyone who has taken out insurance when selling a cell phone and later changes their mind has two weeks to withdraw from the contract. “The contract should be cancelled in writing within these 14 days and it is also advisable to have this cancellation confirmed in writing,” says Sandra Klug. Customers can find the exact deadlines in the contract documents.
If a cell phone insurance company refuses to pay a claim, the consumer advice center advises contacting the insurance company’s ombudsman. Who this is is stated in the insurance documents. “The ombudsman then mediates and an arbitration takes place, which the insurance company must adhere to,” explains Klug. Consumer advice centers can also help.
A survey conducted by Stiftung Warentest almost three years ago showed that cell phone insurance is rather superfluous in the eyes of the vast majority. According to the survey, 96 percent of the 1,544 respondents had private liability insurance and 88 percent had home contents insurance, but only one percent had cell phone insurance. This put cell phone insurance in third-to-last place out of 39 types of insurance, followed only by education insurance and laptop insurance.