Worthless insurance rip off

[Tombailey1]

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.

[Minkey1]

@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. 

[Chris_B]

@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.     

[Tombailey1]

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.

[Tombailey1]

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.

[Tombailey1]

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

[Chris_B]

@Tombailey1  That’s what Apple charge.  

[Tombailey1]

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.

[Minkey1]

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.

[bristolian]

---

@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...