When you have the expensive smart phones it makes sense. Did you have to pay a $50 deductible? That is what Verizon makes us do if we use the insurance.

My son's phone broke, and it was still under warranty, so they mailed him a new one. But earlier he got it wet and the insurance covered it - minus a $50 deductible.

Yes, I gladly paid the $50.00 deductible. He was nowhere near the 'new every two' with Verizon so it was far cheaper than spending the big bucks to replace it.

My only complaint about the Verizon insurance program is that you receive a refurbished phone. For some reason my husband's 6 month old phone kept dropping calls and it only showed 1 bar when all the other Verizon phones in the house had 4 bars to show signal strength. After talking with tech support they finally agreed to send him a replacement phone. It arrived and had what looked like teeth marks on the side and it didn't come with a battery or a back. You were expected to use your current battery and back from the old phone.

This wouldn't be too bad except the replacement phone wouldn't hold a charge. So we went through this all over again and got another replacement. At least we didn't have to pay another $50.00.

My daughter works at a grocery store. She laid her phone down on the ledge at customer service to say hello/hug a friend she hadnt seen in a while and when she turned back around her Blackberry was gone.

They viewed the security tapes and saw what the guy looked like and called the police, made a report...(NO insurance on it)

Lo and Behold, this thief came back into the store about 3 weeks later! My daughter saw him and got her manager and they both thought it looked like him! So he was up at customer service buying a Cashier's Check and they asked him for his license. They didnt need it but they wanted to know where the guy lived so they could send police to his house. He showed them his license they copied it and after he left, they called police.

To make a long story short, the police called my daughter and told her the man turned himself in and they had her phone.

I never in a million years thought she'd get that phone back but she really did. I love happy endings.

Moral of the story - get insurance if you can.

I used to carry insurance but our carrier (T-Mobile) changed the terms so that it wasn't worth it any more. That's partly due to the fact that my phone (a Windows Mobile smart phone) is over 2 years old now. I'll look into it again when I get a new phone, though.

If the phone is still under warranty, you do get a refurbished phone. Max's phone was no longer under warranty, plus he lost it. Verizon's warranty wouldn't cover that.

This insurance even covered loss and it is through an independent carrier. His Blackberry is brand new, not refurbished.

Weirdly enough, everyone I know IRL who has an iPhone has dropped it in the toilet. One person I know has done so twice. I gave him the belt clip with the retractable "leash" that sticks onto the phone for his birthday. :-) It made me wonder how many iPhone insurance claims are for dropping them into toilets!

DH lost his fancy-schmancy Verizon phone a couple of years ago and was sent a pretty bashed-up refurb as a replacement. It was one of the touch-screen models and the replacement's screen was all scratched up, but when he raised a stink they sent out another one RDQ. Still a refurb but in basically mint condition. (He's very good at being so politely nasty that you don't realize you've been handed your @$$ on a plate until you feel a draft in your pants.) It doesn't bother me that the replacement is a refurb if the one it's replacing has been in use for a certain period of time, as long as it's in good condition - it's when a NEW phone (or computer - do you hear me Dell? - or some such thing) is defective right out of the box and they try to replace it with an obvious refurb that I get cranky. Sprint used to be notorious for that.

I think it makes sense to carry insurance on the expensive smartphones, Blackberries, etc. but not on the plain-Jane ones. For the same amount as the annual insurance charge on my phone I could just go buy another one that's good enough for my needs - I don't need texting, Web access, music, or all those "extras", which generally translates out to much less expensive phones and sometimes even freebie handmedowns when people you know upgrade. :-)

I don't know if the policy has changed, but when I bought my iphone, they did not offer their insurance for it. All other ATT phones (including some much more expensive)-- but not the iphone.