topic Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved in Credit Cards

Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 01:24:47 GMT

Just wanted to share a personal experience of the cell phone insurance perk.

I have the Barclays Uber credit card which has the free cell phone insurance benefit. There are a few cards that offer this perk (like AMEX Propel, US Bank Platinum, Chase Ink, etc) but my experience is based on the Barclays Uber card, although I guess 'card benefit services' is a common platform for all the aforementioned cards.

In any case, I have a Samsung note 8 and I have been using Uber card to pay my monthly cell phone bill for almost a year. On March 1st week, my display got badly damaged as the screen shattered. I gave it to an authorized Samsung dealer for diagsnotics and the solution was to replace the entire display assembly. And since my note 8 is a curved display, my total repair charge came around $260 + taxes.

I submitted the required documents for the insurance via the 'card benefit services' portal. Finally, after a few back and forth document requirement procedure, they approved me today morning. Now, I am getting reimbursed for $235 (as there is a $25 deductible).

I just want to share my experience that the claims process was relatively straightforward and it is a wonderful perk! As a courtesy for getting the reimbursement, I am spreading the word, lol!

In conclusion, if you have a receipt that the phone is yours along with the monthly payment with the aforementioned cards, then the insurance is easy to avail. The best thing is to do prevent damage to your phone, but if there is a damage, it is not the end of the road. Uber, Propel and US Bank Plat are no annual fee cards. And pretty much you are getting free phone insurance for a $25 dedutible. Take that Apple Care and Samsung Care!

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 02:34:15 GMT

On the down side you have to pay the bill with the Uber card, getting what 1%? If you use e.g. cash + you get 5%. Depending on that spend and exactly when you break your phone, the higher cashback might be better.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 02:51:01 GMT

Interesting,

So its an extra 4% for every monthly payment.

And even if you keep an average of $60 bill per month for a phone line, its an extra $29 per year.

You are right. It depends if you are breaking your phone and the timing of the damage.

I guess for most folks who are prone to damaging their phones, a phone insurance that covers for damage is worth more than the $29 you would get with the 5% utility card. But I maybe wrong.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 04:31:38 GMT

It’s a good benefit for Android phones but iPhone, you can’t beat AppleCare+. $29 for broken screen up to twice, $99 for any other accidental damage and no claims hassles.

You have to pay upfront or monthly but it is well worth the cost.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

digitek — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 10:40:13 GMT

AppleCare is $300 for Apple XS and that is for only 2 years of coverage... That price includes loss and theft protection, because it's actually extra for this plan (standard on Uber card), without that it's still $129...and it still has higher deductible's ($29/$$199) than the free insurance on the no-AF Uber credit card. Verizon and AT&T plans are roughly $10 a month with $30/$199 deductibles. These numbers are all per phone, too, so the more phones you have on your bill the more sense it makes to have it covered by your CC cellphone insurance.

Uber Visa is pretty much a 2% non-cat/%5 eating out card up to $5k since you get a $50 credit when you spend $5k on it.

There is no card with cell phone protection that also has a cellphone category above 2%. I do have US Bank Cash+ so could save myself 3% on my bill over the Uber and then use that to buy insurance but it is not equal at all. In my situation it is definitely cheaper to lose 3% on my bill and pay with Uber than to use Cash+ and pay for a plan out of pocket with the extra 3%.

The cellphone insurance on the Uber card is a really good benefit on a really good card already. It has low deductible ($25) and high claim limits ($650) and includes damage, loss and theft for no extra fee. There isn't another card out there that has better cell phone insurance, it's even better than the Ink Preferred which carries an annual fee. I think the Visa cards that have this all use the same back end insurance provider for it, or at least it's the same one for the two cards I have with it.

Cell phone insurance is kind of a new CC benefit that can be used easily and saves a few bucks each month, also happens to be on a card with 4% off food/bars and no AF, no FTF and an extra 1% back at $5k annual spend.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 12:20:29 GMT

I would rather pay for AppleCare+. Xfinity Mobile gives me AppleCare+ with theft and loss through Assurant for $12 a month and considering how much Apple charges for out of warranty damage... yeah, not worth the hassle of filling out a claim and having to be reimbursed and all that. AppleCare+ isn’t really something that you just don’t budget for when you get an Apple product anyway so for all intents and purposes it might as well be considered part of the purchase price.

$29/$99 isn’t bad when you look at the $175+ that Android owners have to contend with for insurance deductibles which was what I was getting at about the Uber benefit being great for Android phones. I had to pay that stupid deductible a few times back in the day even for things that should have been covered by warranty because I kept getting refurb units from Sprint that were broken as well. Don’t get me started on how much I don’t miss dealing with warranty issues with Android and Windows Mobile 5 devices... I haven’t even had to use AppleCare yet but just knowing how hassle free it is compared to dealing with carrier insurance or phone manufacturers with Android or WM 5 makes it well worth the price to me.

Loss and theft is moot on the Uber plan since you’ll still be out of pocket significantly if you lose a XS Max. A $449 deficit before taxes is higher than any deductible and it’s actually $474 since the plan has a $25 deductible and that’s still assuming you went for the base 64GB.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Shooting-For-800 — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 15:10:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Just wanted to share a personal experience of the cell phone insurance perk.

I have the Barclays Uber credit card which has the free cell phone insurance benefit. There are a few cards that offer this perk (like AMEX Propel, US Bank Platinum, Chase Ink, etc) but my experience is based on the Barclays Uber card, although I guess 'card benefit services' is a common platform for all the aforementioned cards.

In any case, I have a Samsung note 8 and I have been using Uber card to pay my monthly cell phone bill for almost a year. On March 1st week, my display got badly damaged as the screen shattered. I gave it to an authorized Samsung dealer for diagsnotics and the solution was to replace the entire display assembly. And since my note 8 is a curved display, my total repair charge came around $260 + taxes.

I submitted the required documents for the insurance via the 'card benefit services' portal. Finally, after a few back and forth document requirement procedure, they approved me today morning. Now, I am getting reimbursed for $235 (as there is a $25 deductible).

I just want to share my experience that the claims process was relatively straightforward and it is a wonderful perk! As a courtesy for getting the reimbursement, I am spreading the word, lol!
In conclusion, if you have a receipt that the phone is yours along with the monthly payment with the aforementioned cards, then the insurance is easy to avail. The best thing is to do prevent damage to your phone, but if there is a damage, it is not the end of the road. Uber, Propel and US Bank Plat are no annual fee cards. And pretty much you are getting free phone insurance for a $25 dedutible. Take that Apple Care and Samsung Care!

AWESOME!

Thanks for sharing.

I have been using my Uber card for my bill without giving much thought to it.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

digitek — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 17:20:50 GMT

Hey Saeren I can dig on that analysis it looks like it works for you and that's cool. Not a bad deal at all.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 17:37:12 GMT

I agree waith Saeren .. but then again i work for Apple

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

quickstrike — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 18:11:50 GMT

Thanks for the sharing your experience. I think there are a bunch of factors such as how much your monthly cell phone bill is and how many phones are in your plan. Since you're using the Uber card, that likely is the best for a cash back card. When focused on travel, one can argue you can get even more value from points while still having the same kind of cell phone insurance. But if you got positive value out of it, then that's all that matters.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 04:37:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I would rather pay for AppleCare+. Xfinity Mobile gives me AppleCare+ with theft and loss through Assurant for $12 a month and considering how much Apple charges for out of warranty damage... yeah, not worth the hassle of filling out a claim and having to be reimbursed and all that. AppleCare+ isn’t really something that you just don’t budget for when you get an Apple product anyway so for all intents and purposes it might as well be considered part of the purchase price.

$29/$99 isn’t bad when you look at the $175+ that Android owners have to contend with for insurance deductibles which was what I was getting at about the Uber benefit being great for Android phones. I had to pay that stupid deductible a few times back in the day even for things that should have been covered by warranty because I kept getting refurb units from Sprint that were broken as well. Don’t get me started on how much I don’t miss dealing with warranty issues with Android and Windows Mobile 5 devices... I haven’t even had to use AppleCare yet but just knowing how hassle free it is compared to dealing with carrier insurance or phone manufacturers with Android or WM 5 makes it well worth the price to me.

Loss and theft is moot on the Uber plan since you’ll still be out of pocket significantly if you lose a XS Max. A $449 deficit before taxes is higher than any deductible and it’s actually $474 since the plan has a $25 deductible and that’s still assuming you went for the base 64GB.

Just for the sake of discussion.

CASE1. Apple Care

You are paying approx $200 per year just for the insurance. Lets say there is a damage. Its a very easy claims process, but your minimum deductible is $29 (if screen broke) or $100 if phone broke. So in total you are paying between $229 to $300 a year if there is an issue.

CASE2. Credit card perk

You are paying zero money. Lets say you get a damage. You can send it to OFFICIAL APPLE SERVICE CENTER (so that there is no difference in quality of workmanship compared to Apple Care Case 1 ). You only pay $25. So in total you are paying only $25 a year if there is an issue.

The only extra step is the claims process. At least from my experience, it just took under an hour for gathering everything. Wasn't complicated.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 20:54:01 GMT

I get your point but there are more factors that go into the decision to keep AppleCare+ - while I may pay $144 a year for it, that includes full theft and loss coverage, yearly upgrades through my carrier, and other perks plus I wouldn’t have to charge the upfront $329/$599 and get reimbursed.

Like I said, it’s great for Android phones but for my XS Max, I’m going to keep AppleCare+ even if I get this card.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Shooting-For-800 — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 02:45:57 GMT

Free is free.

I like it.

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 03:35:45 GMT

Soon as I'm done gardening I'm getting that Uber card. Been looking at it for a year. My last inq rolls off next month, then I'm looking into a mortgage. So maybe in 3-4 months I can have that card

Re: Cell Phone Insurance benefit - Approved

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 04:37:00 GMT

Exactly!

@Shooting-For-800 wrote:
Free is free.

I like it.