You must have heard of it. cell phone insurance. If you didn't hear about it from the seller when you went to buy your model, you've probably already seen an ad on the internet (if you haven't already looked for one). And yes, they do exist and can be a way to have guarantees in case of damage or theft of the product. However, when choosing which cell phone insurance to take out, you need to analyze a few points to know which one is best for you and your budget.

First steps

For those who are unfamiliar with the subject, perhaps the first question that comes to mind is: why take out cell phone insurance? And to answer it, it will be necessary to prepare an overview of the subject, starting with the price of the products. Last year, Apple announced its iPhone 12 line of phones, the most expensive so far. Its basic model costs around R$5800, while the Pro version reaches R$7900. These prices are close to the models in the Samsung Galaxy S21 line.

There are even superior versions of cell phones that can cost as much as a used car or a new motorcycle. This makes them worth as much as a good. And if these devices are lost, it is difficult to replace them, after all, they are not cheap. Now, add to this another very common issue, especially in big cities: violence.

Cell phone theft statistics

According to data from Secretariat of Public Security of the State of São Paulo (SSP), in 2020 alone, 127.513 police reports were filed for theft. Of these, 24,7% were cell phones, which represents a total of 30.603 devices stolen last year. This gives an average of 83 smartphones stolen per day.

Rafael Sales, a 30-year-old developer, says that the violence in São Paulo was the reason he decided to take out insurance. “In the past, I had a cell phone stolen, but I didn’t have insurance,” he said in an interview, adding that the ease of getting an insurance plan from the website where he bought his new device (Submarino) was the second factor that led him to sign up for the service.

If these arguments serve to make you think about the possibility of taking out insurance for your cell phone, then you need to know a few things about the plans before rushing out to get one to call your own.

What does the plan cover?

One of the first things to consider when considering cell phone insurance is the coverage it offers. Insurance for vehicles, homes, and other assets offers coverage for damages that can occur, such as accidents, fires, and others. Since cell phone insurance should be no different, when choosing yours, check whether the plan offers coverage not only for theft, but also for physical, electrical, or water damage. However, this extensive coverage for accidents and damages does not indicate a complete plan. The main reason why people seek cell phone insurance is complicated. This is because there is a difference between robbery and theft.

Fernanda Vessoni, 25, is a designer who hired Porto Seguro for her iPhone X. In an interview, she said that the coverage for physical damage, caused by electricity or water, is very interesting, since “the repairs [in these cases] can be very expensive”. However, she pointed out that the coverage is not complete, since it does not apply to losses and “only covers theft. It does not cover robbery, which is very common in São Paulo”.

Difference between qualified and simple theft

As Fernanda pointed out, insurance companies use a legal difference between robbery, qualified theft and simple theft when drawing up plans and not all of them provide support for cases of qualified or simple theft. But what is the difference?

Robbery is when the victim is aware of what happened because the criminal is visibly approaching, with or without violence. Theft, on the other hand, occurs without the person being aware of it. Qualified theft is when theft leaves damage that can prove the criminal act, and simple theft is when theft leaves no clues and is difficult to prove. For example: if you usually keep your cell phone in a locker at work and you noticed that the locker was broken into and your cell phone was no longer there, then it is qualified theft; now, if you had the device visible in your pocket and the thief reached for it and you only realized when you needed to use the device, then it is simple theft.

It is important to be aware of this difference. If you live in an area with a high rate of theft and you feel at risk, it is better to look for a plan that offers coverage for these cases.

Fees and deadlines

Other aspects to keep an eye on when purchasing insurance for your cell phone are: grace period and deductible fee. If you are not familiar with these terms, know that they are important for your decision. Starting with the grace period, it means a period in which the user cannot activate the insurance for damage or theft that happens to their device. Something like a trial period with variable duration. Some plans do not have a grace period, so if the user needs to activate the insurance the day after paying for it, it is possible; in other cases, they will have to wait for this period to expire.

The deductible fee is an amount that must be paid in order to activate the insurance. This means that, when the user has their device stolen or damaged by an accident covered by the plan, they will need to pay a fee to have the device repaired or replaced. Not all plans charge this amount, however, when it is charged, it is usually around 20% of the value of the product or repair. In other words, if you took out insurance for your Samsung Galaxy S20 that you bought for R$3600, you will have to pay approximately R$720 to recover the item under the insurance or an amount equivalent to the cost of the repair to fix it. This is even if you pay the monthly insurance premium.

Cell phone insurance option

Once you know all this, it's time to look for an insurance plan for your cell phone and see which one meets your needs and fits your budget. The prices will vary according to your device and, in some cases, bureaucratic information about your profile. To help you understand the prices and possibilities, I got a quote for an iPhone X 64 GB that costs R$3699.

There are a large number of cell phone insurance companies. They range from small companies specialized in the field (CiClic, Pier and others), to plans from mobile operators (Vivo, Tim, Oi, etc.), from the brand itself (such as Samsung Care Plus) and from the websites where you buy the device (example: Americanas, Submarino and others) and large insurance companies, such as Mapfre and Porto Seguro.

With the cell phone used for testing, the lowest prices were from telephone operators and small companies, around R$70. For large companies, the price goes up to R$142. Some have a 30-day grace period and do not charge a deductible fee. Among large insurance companies, the process is more bureaucratic and requires information about address, gender and financial situation in order to be approved. The others are simpler to sign up for.

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