PFT #44 - Personal Finance Tip of the Week: The Cell Phone Wars

It seems that everyone has a cell phone and back in the day that was the sentiment for owning a television.The difference is that people’s devices are attached to the palm of their hands.

The interesting thing is that a cell phone can cost more than most T.V. 's but we tend to test their durability. It is plausible to say that people drop their phones at least twice a day. Moreover, we’ve all heard or had stories of losing them and dropping them into a lake.

I actually dropped one into a toilet in Mexico - so that was an interesting experience and I pissed it away for a lack of a better phrase. So this leads us to cell phone insurance and like all protection plans, is it worth the cost?

The answer is that it depends. From research, it typically costs $8 - $17 when using your cell phone carrier. You can also opt for third-party services from companies such as AKKO and SquareTrade which tend to be less expensive.

Okay there’s no shocker here in that with just about each type of insurance, it comes with fine print namely in deductibles and the range of coverage. So understand the details before you commit.

A good exercise is to determine the monthly cost insurance with a potential deductible over the cost of fixing or replacing your device over the duration of owning the phone.

Typically, kids tend to damage or lose phones more than adults but in either case, many of the major phone makers in recent years design them to be waterproof. Either way, if you get a solid protective case and / or with screen protector you should be in good shape and may opt out of insurance.



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