topic Worthless insurance rip off in Contracts & Billing

Worthless insurance rip off

Tombailey1 — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 21:09:12 GMT

My son dropped his iphone 11 on monday and smashed his screen. No other damage to the phone. Called ee this morning to claim on insurance to be told they cant repair the phone (without even seeing it) and it will need replacing. The repair excess would be £25 but for replacement id have to pay an excess of £100. I took the phone into the ee shop in peterborough who stated that this was 'normal'. The phone is still working which i demonstrated to the shop assistant but he continued to state that the phone needed replacing. Called the insurance while i was there who then informed me i could take the phone to an apple store to get it repaired. The nearest apple shop is 45 miles away so this really doesnt work either. I have ended up having to purchase a replacement. This was not made clear when i purchased the insurance and it creates a mockery of being insured. I have never had this happen in the past. They are simply using small print to trick the customer into purchasing the insurance. I have been with ee for multiple yrs now and have 4 phones with them. I am shocked by their lack of care. As soon as these contracts end we will move them all away from ee. Their insurance is pointless.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Profile closed — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 21:17:03 GMT

@Tombailey1

Sorry about your troubles.

Have I got this right? You bought the insurance without reading the terms, you declined the option to save £75 by travelling to the nearest Apple Store, and rather than pay the £75, you declined to use the insurance cover altogether and opted to buy a replacement phone instead?

OK.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Chris_B — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 21:20:00 GMT

@Tombailey1 To have it fix by Apple it’ll cost you £219 if you don’t have Apple care and they would change the screen as that’s the cost of a replacement screen for that device by Apple. So £100 for a replacement device that has nothing wrong with it and has a new battery within it seems a bargain to me.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Tombailey1 — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 22:00:25 GMT

No minkey - I bought the insurance over the phone. Not sure if i ever recieved the paperwork. Phone insurance usually does not come with clauses that require you to take the phone to an apple shop. The policy was bought via ee. EE should take the phone and repair. Its a poor product.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Tombailey1 — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 22:03:49 GMT

I dont agree - excess should be £25 for screen replacement. Thats the point of the cover. That was what i thought id bought with the policy.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Tombailey1 — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 22:06:03 GMT

The £219 is a crazy cost for apple to repair. You can buy a reconditioned iphone 11 for that on amazon

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Chris_B — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 08:26:56 GMT

@Tombailey1 That’s what Apple charge.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Tombailey1 — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 08:52:07 GMT

If i spend 2+ hrs of my time (assuming they fix it while i wait), diesel to nearest shop and apple deem the problem to be repairable then it should be £25. My issue is having to take the phone to apple to get it fixed. This has got to be the most common event. They should just make it clear when you buy the policy that the excess is £100. Its so dodgy they are able to do this and it must be at best on the fringes of the law.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Profile closed — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 09:19:00 GMT

An Apple Store just before Xmas? I wouldn’t dream of it.

I’d pay the £100 and get the brand new phone. He’ll have backed all his stuff up to iCloud, right.

No brainer to me.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

bristolian — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 09:40:13 GMT

@Tombailey1 wrote:

They should just make it clear when you buy the policy that the excess is £100. Its so dodgy they are able to do this and it must be at best on the fringes of the law.

I'm not an Apple user, but checking "the legal bit" at the bottom of https://ee.co.uk/mobile/insurance with "iPhone" selected at the top..

This ultimately leads through to https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/fix-problem/full-cover-and-damage-cover-with-applecare-services which lists the iPhone 11 as...

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Tombailey1 — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 11:29:09 GMT

Yeah - to me this is just deliberately complicating a policy to confuse customers. There are other insurances out there that dont do this (i know ive previously had them). I would expect the person selling the insurance to ensure this is acknowledged at the point of sale. If i was aware i would have gone elsewhere for my insurance as to me this clause negates the policy.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

bristolian — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 11:51:03 GMT

Apple is well known for charging more than comparable products that do (pretty much) the same thing in most cases!

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Chris_B — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 12:54:21 GMT

@Tombailey1 Did you read the policy fully and understand it before you agreed to it ? It now only after the fact you believe it negates the policy.. Thats agreeing to something and when it doesn’t suit claiming it’s wrong even though you did agreed to the policy.

As for the £25 access are you sure about that? Because that seems awfully low. It’s £25 if you have Apple Care Plus a part of your insurance policy.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Tombailey1 — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:17:44 GMT

Hi chris_b - i bought the phone insurance over the phone. I asked about the excess at the time but was not informed about the requirement to take your phone to an apple shop. I previously had cover on other devices none of which have ever required me to take devices anywhere. This policy is awful and needs to be made clear at the point of sale.

The £25 excess was shared with me by ee when i called them whilst in the ee shop.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Profile closed — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:53:17 GMT

I had a 33yr career in General Insurance. I’d never buy this type of cover. It’s wholesaled to non insurance outlets and reliant on non insurance people fully explaining the cover to customers whose interest starts and ends with “I’m insured”.

The retailer mark up means that value for money is often poor. Instead I’d ensure that my portable possessions were covered for Accidental Damage under my Home Insurance.

But if I did buy it, I’d read the policy. Always better to do it at purchase rather than at claim.

Re: Worthless insurance rip off

Tombailey1 — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 13:51:28 GMT

Yes - but my issue is a broken screen requires a replacement unless you go to an apple shop.