Protect your bubble / other cover plans

[Stissy]

So, I recently smashed my laptop to pieces and it stopped working. Luckily, I took out the protection plan when I bought my laptop, so it’s been sent away for repair free of charge. My laptop is very important for me for my uni work, and I also do a bit of digital photography.

Fortunately, I can use my phone and ipad as an interim until I get my laptop back. They’re not as good, but they’re good enough so that I can talk to the people at my uni, sort out work etc. This got me thinking, if I now smashed my phone/ipad I’d be in serious trouble, as they’re not covered.

So I thought I’d get them covered. I first tried to get them added to the protection plan I took out when I bought my laptop, but since they were bought from different stores, I wasn’t able to. I then phoned up ‘protect your bubble’ and they quoted me £8pm to get my phone (which is a Z1) and ipad (16gb mini retina) covered. I asked what the cover included, and they said “everything, apart from if you break the screen or if you lose it”. Now, don’t get me wrong, but aside from water damage (and the Z1 is waterproof), I don’t know how else you’d break these things? So it sounds to me like the insurance company is nothing more than a scam.

Has anyone had any experience with protect your bubble? Or any other similar company? Is there anyone that might be better? I don’t want to pay £8pm and then the day I break my phone or something and it stops working, they say “sorry sir, we don’t cover cracked screens”.


tl;dr: Are protect your bubble a scam? Are there any decent gadget protection companies?

[sharpy24]

That sounds pretty fucking stupid imo, dropping and smashing your screen has to be the most common problem...bit bizzare they dont cover 2 of the 3 most common problems :/

[Giraffe]

Covers against theft and loss as well?

[Stissy]

Originally Posted by sharpy24

That sounds pretty fucking stupid imo, dropping and smashing your screen has to be the most common problem...bit bizzare they dont cover 2 of the 3 most common problems :/

I know. I thought the same.

Originally Posted by Giraffe

Covers against theft and loss as well?

Theft yes (but I assume it’s only covered if you can provide a police crime reference number)

Loss no, as stated in the first post.

[Manu]

I work in an electronics repair company. Cracked screens are rife, as an example for every 100 iphones we get, an average 90 of them are cracked screens. Every ipad I get is cracked, I never see any other faults.

I don't see the point in giving 8 quid month for such bullshit, spend your money on a padded case instead. Get a nokia bar phone or a blackberry, these rarely break.

[Stissy]

Originally Posted by Manu

I work in an electronics repair company. Cracked screens are rife, as an example for every 100 iphones we get, an average 90 of them are cracked screens. Every ipad I get is cracked, I never see any other faults.

I don't see the point in giving 8 quid month for such bullshit, spend your money on a padded case instead. Get a nokia bar phone or a blackberry, these rarely break.

I think you’re right mate. It sounds to me like protect your bubble (and other similar companies) are nothing more than modern day scam artists.

Out of interest, where do you work?

[D4MJT]

Honestly, are people really this shit at life? lol

Get a decent case, and don't be a clumsy bastard. Then ring your house insurance company and find out if your cover includes accidental damage to electronics items outside of the house or not. If not, find out what it costs to cover them. It'll be cheaper than paying some dodgy outfit £8 a month plus to cover your phone in case it gets robbed.

Your house insurance can easily cover your phone, and also laptops, tablets etc, there's no need to have a thousand insurance policies for different things.

[matt_vtr_15a]

Great Matts think a like.

Exactly as the above, I had my phone stolen in Barcelona, got the IMIE blocked immediately and went to the police station to get a crime ref number.

Got home and claimed thru my house insurance policy which I knew covered me. I'm with AVIVA and had no issues whatsoever. A good home insurance policy will cover you for a lot of things.

I have no need for insurance on any of my electronic items, as there well covered with the house insurance.

My missus pays £5 a month to insure her phone, it's just broke and there using any excuse they can not to pay out despite her paying the £50 excess before they'd even look at it. Biggest con and waste of money going.

NEVER had insurance on my MacBooks, iPads, phones etc. and never had any issues as i'm not a clumsy fucker.

Apart from being pick pocketed in Barcelona but those fuckers are Ninjas.

[Ryancoyle]

It's on there website?

http://uk.protectyourbubble.com/gadg...insurance.html

Drops
Accidental Damage
From shattered screens to cracked covers we protect you. In 2013 we repaired more than 1100 items each month.

Accidental demageLiquid Damage
Want to see how long it takes water to kill a high end smartphone?

Loss and theftTheft
826,000 mobile thefts happen each year (2011/12 Crime Survey for England and Wales). Are you comfortable walking around with the equivalent of £500 in your pocket?

Mechanical breakdown
Breakdown
We’ll cover you if your mobile malfunctions after the manufacturer’s warranty expires.

Unauthorised callsUnauthorised Usage
We pay for calls and data used up to the cost of £10,000 between when your phone is stolen or lost and when you blacklist it with your network. Just please do this within 72 hours.

Optional losOptional Loss
Ever accidently forgotten to take it with you? For an extra £1.50 per month we protect against loss.

Worldwide coverWorldwide Cover
We know your mobile goes with you anywhere in the world? So our cover does too for up to 180 days a year.

[Manu]

^^^ scare mongering bullshit sales tactics.

Originally Posted by Stissy

Out of interest, where do you work?

French electronics and reverse engineering company called SBE. Really, cracked screens are the number one problem, the second is water damage, the third one is damaged/missing buttons and that's about it. Internal parts breaking down on their own almost never happens, apart from design flaws such as what's been seen recently with the apple recall on iphone 5 batteries.

As above, don't be clumsy, buy a decent case and you'll be fine. Most cracked screens are because of people either dropping their device, or sitting on it. I cracked my previous phone screen because of a tight jeans pocket, hence why not bothered again and got a bar phone.

[Manu]

Originally Posted by matt_vtr_15a

My missus pays £5 a month to insure her phone, it's just broke and there using any excuse they can not to pay out despite her paying the £50 excess before they'd even look at it. Biggest con and waste of money going.

fuck me, most phone repairs shops' average charge is £60. 5 quid a month x 24 months (average contract), do the maths, add the excess and see how much you've been ripped off. That's right, not far off the price of a brand new phone.

[Brettles1986]

I do iPhone and iPad screen repairs for £50. It makes more sense to find someone local who repairs them than actually pay the insurance cost if you ask me.

Although come to me with a 4S and I will kick you in the balls.

[Stissy]

Originally Posted by D4MJT

Honestly, are people really this shit at life? lol

Get a decent case, and don't be a clumsy bastard. Then ring your house insurance company and find out if your cover includes accidental damage to electronics items outside of the house or not. If not, find out what it costs to cover them. It'll be cheaper than paying some dodgy outfit £8 a month plus to cover your phone in case it gets robbed.

Your house insurance can easily cover your phone, and also laptops, tablets etc, there's no need to have a thousand insurance policies for different things.

I’m outdoors a lot, especially with photography, so a “decent case” isn’t always sufficient as most cases don’t cover the screen (not to mention, it doesn’t protect against loss). I have home insurance with Legal and General, but there is an excess of £100 per claim, along with a premium next year (and the next four years thereafter) for having made a claim.

So in the long run, individual insurance for a phone/ipad works out cheaper - which is probably the reason why these companies exist in the first place.

Originally Posted by Ryancoyle

It's on there website?

http://uk.protectyourbubble.com/gadg...insurance.html

Drops
Accidental Damage
From shattered screens to cracked covers we protect you. In 2013 we repaired more than 1100 items each month.

Accidental demageLiquid Damage
Want to see how long it takes water to kill a high end smartphone?

Loss and theftTheft
826,000 mobile thefts happen each year (2011/12 Crime Survey for England and Wales). Are you comfortable walking around with the equivalent of £500 in your pocket?

Mechanical breakdown
Breakdown
We’ll cover you if your mobile malfunctions after the manufacturer’s warranty expires.

Unauthorised callsUnauthorised Usage
We pay for calls and data used up to the cost of £10,000 between when your phone is stolen or lost and when you blacklist it with your network. Just please do this within 72 hours.

Optional losOptional Loss
Ever accidently forgotten to take it with you? For an extra £1.50 per month we protect against loss.

Worldwide coverWorldwide Cover
We know your mobile goes with you anywhere in the world? So our cover does too for up to 180 days a year.

This is completely different to what they told me over the phone. It would be interesting to hear from someone who has had experience with this company to see what happens in the event of a claim.

Originally Posted by Brettles1986

I do iPhone and iPad screen repairs for £50. It makes more sense to find someone local who repairs them than actually pay the insurance cost if you ask me.

I’ve just done a quick Google, and I can’t seem to find anywhere that would the iPad I have for under £100? Although this may be a better alternative, if I ever break it.

[D4MJT]

What phone do you have Stissy?

You can also negotiate the cost of your excess / shop around.

I'm outdoors quite a bit, I also cycle and use my phone clipped to my bike as GPS and to record rides, it's dropped in the garage a fair bit etc, I use one of these:

http://www.quadlockcase.com/

I've got the rubber mac cover as well which makes it water resistant and covers the ports, it's saved my phone countless times, great bit of kit for the money.

[Stissy]

Originally Posted by D4MJT

What phone do you have Stissy?

You can also negotiate the cost of your excess / shop around.

I'm outdoors quite a bit, I also cycle and use my phone clipped to my bike as GPS and to record rides, it's dropped in the garage a fair bit etc, I use one of these:

http://www.quadlockcase.com/

I've got the rubber mac cover as well which makes it water resistant and covers the ports, it's saved my phone countless times, great bit of kit for the money.

I have a Sony Z1. I've never heard of Quad Lock. A phone case is probably an idea I should look into.

[Manu]

one of my mates has a rubber iphone case that also protects the screen and makes it water resistant.

[Brettles1986]

Originally Posted by Stissy

I’ve just done a quick Google, and I can’t seem to find anywhere that would the iPad I have for under £100? Although this may be a better alternative, if I ever break it.

Most places push their luck, its a bit of a pain to replace and iPad screen as they are bonded on but the glass is only £25 tops

[Stissy]

Originally Posted by Brettles1986

Most places push their luck, its a bit of a pain to replace and iPad screen as they are bonded on but the glass is only £25 tops

inc the retina?

[Ryancoyle]

Originally Posted by Stissy

I’m outdoors a lot, especially with photography, so a “decent case” isn’t always sufficient as most cases don’t cover the screen (not to mention, it doesn’t protect against loss). I have home insurance with Legal and General, but there is an excess of £100 per claim, along with a premium next year (and the next four years thereafter) for having made a claim.

So in the long run, individual insurance for a phone/ipad works out cheaper - which is probably the reason why these companies exist in the first place.




This is completely different to what they told me over the phone. It would be interesting to hear from someone who has had experience with this company to see what happens in the event of a claim.




I’ve just done a quick Google, and I can’t seem to find anywhere that would the iPad I have for under £100? Although this may be a better alternative, if I ever break it.

Stissy, I work for giffgaff mobile network and we get these types of claims every day. There should be no reason why they can't get this sorted out for you as I've personally sent off proof of usage e-mails to them about cracked / damaged phones.

Hope this helps.

[Brettles1986]

Originally Posted by Stissy

inc the retina?

Don't quote me on this but the retina is the screen quality, the part that breaks is the glass above the screen.