An iPhone insurance carrier says that four in six claims are suspicious, and is worse when a new model appears on the market.
Supercover Insurance is alleging that many iPhone owners are deliberately smashing their devices and filing false claims in order to upgrade to the latest model. The gadget insurance company told Sky News Sunday that it saw a 50-percent rise in claims during the month Apple launched the latest version, the iPhone 3GS.
"While most customers take out insurance because they value their iPhone, we started to notice increases in claims as new and upgraded iPhones were launched," said Carmi Korine, director of Supercover Insurance. "For short periods around new model or upgrade launches, claims to replace lost, stolen or damaged iPhones go through the roof."
Korina added that iPhone owners can't seem to wait it out for an upgrade, wanting to stay current by getting the latest model after resorting to "extreme measures." Many damaged models received by the company show at least six blows by a hammer. Korina said that one device was even dropped on the pavement and then run over by a car.
Four in ten of the iPhone claims received by Supercover is deemed "suspicious." Korina said that iPhones are very difficult to damage, making the false claims are actually easy to spot. "Very badly damaged iPhones draw attention because they turn up in a state that even being driven over by a car or dropped from a tall building will fail to achieve," Korina said.
Time for a manual upgrade.
Agreed. Hell, give them a refurb. That'll show anyone greedy enough to break a perfectly good phone in an attempt to get a newer model. I mean, what kind of insurance policy even agrees to an upgrade like that in the first place? Maybe if there weren't any of the old ones lying around, but people would have to wait months for that to happen.
and i can think of soooo many ways to destroy a phone and not make it look suspicious
for example,
- sparky to the plug of iphone, and fry the electrics
- overvolt the usb charging it (external usb charger)
- no more or ppl will start getting inspired, and no, i dont have an iPhone, never will
pfft, what do you think they are going to do? go crying to mom? confess to finally seeing how evil they are and changing there ways? helping to cure cancer?
no, they will just charge everyone, especially people using the service properly MORE for their insurance to cover costs.
Actually I'd say insanely fat profit margins are why insurance costs so much - but yea this might contribute too.
In general for electronics retail, extended warranties and service plans come with fatter profit margins than almost anything else in the store. Ask anyone who works retail. (thats counting people who abuse it.)
They do replace the broken/stolen iPhone with the same model.
With the hassle I've seen with friends who have either had their iPhone stolen or a legitimately damaged phone - I wouldn't touch this company with a barge pole.
It got over 20 bids and the winning bid was $265. Crazy! I knew they must be scamming either Apple or some insurance company.
I didn't take out insurance on my phone because i didn't want to pay them $7 extra per month.. 2 months after i got it... i had to replace my screen at my cost.. would have cost me $14... instead cost me $150. So that means... 2 months in, $136 down in my pocket..
Now, after latest forced firmware upgrade, it DISABLED my WIFI "cannot connect to wifi network" on EVERY WIFI i tried..... I tried everything from looking up internet, reinstalling base OS, restoring, clearing network settings blah blah... Phone is useless to me without WIFI...
This is 3 months AFTER my damn phone elapsed its own 1yo warranty (still paying phone off though for another 9 months sigh!)
So 12 months * $7 = $84.. not sure if the "extra" insurance goes on after crap warranty of 1 year.
SO i'm still down $74 by not getting insurance.. I LOSE lol...
However, given i swapped my phone with my wife, jailbroke hers , i'm getting MUCH more enjoyment out of looking at new things without spending the $$$$$ on all the crap software to find good things..
I have purchased two items since jailbreaking - the sleep clock and the qik video after i saw those two neat apps ... if a app is worth it, i'll buy it... I've wasted a lot of $$ on crappo stuff too haha.
But back to insurance... they will raise premiums or have specific terms built in to address this.. next time i think i'll get the insurance...