Insure an iPhone, iPad, and other expensive electronics for cheap
If you’ve ever dropped your iPhone or spilled a drink on an iPad you probably realized a little too late that getting these expensive devices insured is a good idea. There’s a lot of confusion as to what’s the best way to go about insuring expensive gadgets though, and there’s a million third party warranties and insurance plans out there that range from $100-$200/year that will cover the iPhone, iPad, your MacBook, etc.
Before you jump into any particular service though, check out something called a “personal articles floater” policy:
you can insure these types of items [iPhone, iPad] on a mini insurance policy known as an inland marine policy, or more commonly, a āpersonal articles floaterā, and the cost is pennies on the dollar
I’d never heard of this until one of our readers sent us this link from an insurance industry blog that recommends the policy.
Apparently a personal articles policy can cover nearly anything, and often cost as little as $15-$20 per year. The other great part? There is usually no deductible, and they cover against any kind of loss: theft, damage, loss, you name it.
I imagine you just contact your general home owners or renters insurance agent to discuss adding this type of policy, and I must say this seems like good advice for not just your iPad and iPhone, but maybe your iMac, MacBook, and other expensive gadgets as well.
[…] look cheap as they traveled around the developing world, it sort of worked. Obviously nothing beats insuring your Apple hardware though, so if you expect any theft risk just pay the couple extra bucks a year to add the MacBook […]
And, State Farm is not pennies on the dollar ;) It’s $$ per $100 insured. I have a personal articles policy for some other items. I had it on a hearing aid and former cell phone as well. The cell phone was damaged and I had to purchase it and get reimbursed for it. 9 months later the hearing aid was also damaged and I got a nice letter form State Farm that they would drop my policy if I had any more claims within a year. Even with all the years of homeowners, auto, personal liability, etc. They have never even come close to paying out 1/10th of what we put in. Now I keep the personal items policy as spare as I can.
While this is a great idea, a lot of places will not insure cell phones this way, including iPhones. I’m with State Farm and have a ton of stuff covered on my personal articles policy (Laptops, firearms, frequently worn jewelry, etc.) but they will not cover my iPhones. I don’t know about iPads, I haven’t asked…