iPhone Insurance: Are We in Good Hands Yet?

Within the span of the weeks since I last wrote about the iPhone, its ubiquity has grown even more. Sales are through the roof. iPhones and PDAs have been used in jury trials or should I say mistrials. Half of all web mobile device traffic is conducted on iPhones. Applications are blossoming. More goodies such as the 3.0 OS are in the pipeline. Even my die-hard Verizon holdout friends have made the switch to the network that constantly drops calls.

I've settled into a comfort, perhaps even complacency, with the iPhone of late. I used to be a worrier about not being contactable. When I used to travel I used to fret about not having my laptop along. Now I could care less; I still have access to my email, news and AIM/Gtalk via the iPhone. In fact, my laptop's power supply has been broken since November and I am only now getting around to replacing it. The comfort of being enabled and connected by pulling out this amalgam of plastic, silicon, metal and glass is both a blessing and curse. Good in that you can be contacted almost always, but bad because you can almost always be contacted!

But more practical concern is that iPhone has become increasingly valuable as a repository of, well you and your information. Losing it could be costly in terms of personal information in the hands of a stranger and it can be costly in real money terms. Being a risk averse lawyer I've taken the step of having a passcode on my iPhone. At least I have a fighting chance at protecting my information. But, if an iPhone is lost or is stolen, it would cost $500 to replace it. Neither AT&T or Apple sell insurance or has a non-warranty replacement plan. Also, iPhones are not typically covered under your homeowner's insurance unless it is subject to theft or fire. So when ill befalls your iPhone who do we look to?

Recently, thanks to a targeted Facebook ad, I switched to State Farm for my car (the Good Neighbors slogan people) and found out that there is such a thing as iPhone insurance against loss or theft. Praise be State Farm.

So the logistics: State Farm sells iPhone insurance so long as it is tied to a personal effect like a laptop or something like a musical instruments (bicycles do not count sadly, but furs do apparently). The premium for my laptop and my iPhone (16 GB) was $35 a year. It makes sense that someone is finally selling iPhone insurance because they are everywhere. It must also be a good market sector to get into - the moral hazard is relatively low now because of people are used to safeguarding their iPhones, lest they have to bear the costs of replacing it. Now, there's one less thing to worry about. Hope I'll never have to use it.

[dws7]

State Farm told me they no longer have personal article policies and would not insure cell phones, etc. Am looking for damage, loss or theft coverage for an iphone.

[liebhabe]

Have you looked at Compcoach? (www.compcoach.com) $59 per year covers everything.

[r1bouch]

Compcoach is a scam. I've had a replacement request outstanding for several weeks after they processed my replacement fee. Every time I call, I get put on hold and/or am told someone will call me back and no one ever calls. I have sent multiple emails as well as a detailed email to their president (Will Liebhaber) which has never been returned. I have copies of all of my email correspondence for anyone who is interested for proof.

[JoMama007]

The owner of the scam company Compcoach wrote that -- look at the user name...

[JoMama007]

Compcoach.com has THEEE worst customer service I have ever experienced. Whatever you do, DON'T use Compcoach for your iPhone. My biggest complaint is that we've been waiting over a week for a replacement iphone from Compcoach. They're a rinky dink operation -- use someone reputable for your iPhone insurance.

Compcoach has never answered their business line when I called this last week, or returned ANY of my voicemails left. Website not working properly....all signs make me suspect they're going out of business soon. I have many complaints about Compcoach.

[r1bouch]

I agree - I think they are a scam. They have never responded to my replacement claim but did process the replacement fee. Multiple calls/emails have never been responded to, including trying to directly contact their president. I am filing complsints wherever I can and submitted a claim to retrieve my payment

[ugakid526]

See the this link for more information. It is an old post, but nothing has changed. Issuing coverage for an iPhone under a Personal Articles Policy is up to the discretion of the individual underwriter.

http://www.illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A6770

[ramblezeus]

You can try www.squaretrade.com , they are pretty popular and seem to have good insurance products.

Insurance for Iphone 3G S 16GB costs 96$ for TWO years. thats about $4 per month.

Square Trade is popular with NexTag and Epinions..

[JoMama007]

you can find the owner on facebook. file a complaint with the BBB. Get you initial payments back via a dispute with your credit card! Maybe start a group on facebook: Compcoach, worst company everrrrr. ripoffreport.com?

[unclebod]

Today, 7-13-09, Compcoach has once again "changed the terms as they go along" by notifying its participants that they will no longer honor their loss/theft coverage. Sadly, owner Will Liebhaber was either too naive to anticipate how he would cover fraudulent loss/theft replacement claims, or is dumb like a fox.
Compcoach arbitrarily changes the terms of their coverage agreement so frequently that it is nearly impossible to know what is covered and what is not. Fortunately, I have never made a claim with Compcoach, and have asked for a refund of my remaining agreement term. From previous comments, Compcoach's numerous coverage changes to reduce their hemmoraging losses seem as suspect as their complaints of suspect loss/theft claims. It will be interesting to see how owner Liebhaber responds to this comment.Expect to see a class action lawsuit.

[bettb]

Did you get the refund of your premium?

[bettb]

Also - if the guy had insurance, that company would investigate and recover from fraudulent claims on the company. Has anyone got a copy of the original terms and conditions? (No comment on why I do not. Am kicking self for not personally keeping copies of what the site said at the time we signed up.) The language about not being an insurance company seems new to me, I am fairly sure I would have seen that when researching them.

[ibalen]

Compcoach is the right company to choose?. If you want to get ripped off and be treated like crap. I bought the Compcoach coverage plan for my iphone a few months ago. Telling me how good the company was and charging my credit card was never a problem unlike when I needed to make a claim. When I called I was told they were very busy but someone would call me that very day to file the claim, as if I wasn?t important enough for them to spend time on me right there. Nobody called me. I called the next day and the rep I spoke with almost yelled at me for calling again, he said a link will be sent to my email instead of someone calling me; didn?t get any emails. To make the story short I was being told the same, time after time, when I requested to speak to a manager, I was told there was NONE around. I asked for the direct number or email and they said there wasn?t ANY. By now it had been a week, I called furious this time, asked again for a manager, and again I got the same answer, in a very rude way too. At this point I told them I was documenting everything that had happened and my next step was to go directly with the BBB, Department of Commerce or any other agency that would help me, and, Surprise, the manager, Will became available. He sent me a link to file the claim finally after 1 entire week, when I looked it up, a lot of the terms, conditions and fees I originally signed in for were way different. I knew I was going to sign up for a new nightmare by accepting the new contracts so I decided to call my bank to make a dispute of the original charge. They called the company and they prorated their ?coverage period? before my refund. I got most of it back but I DO regret ever dealing with this company. Not only they don?t deliver what they offered, but they also treat you really bad as a customer. I HIGHLY recommend you not to ever use them.

[ec325]

I just want to thank those of you who have used compcoach for your warnings! I have been trying to decide between them and Square Trade. I was leaning toward them because they covered loss/theft and Square Trade did not. However, I could not find any customer reviews on compoach until I came here. I've read good things about Square Trade and they seem to be reputable so I'm going with them. I've never lost a phone or had one stolen, so hopefully I'll be okay still. Thanks everyone for taking time out to post?you really help other consumers with your opinion. I'm sorry you had such horrible experiences :(