‘I had spent over €200 on phone insurance that proved to be absolutely useless’

Justine Halpin had her phone stolen at a house party at the end of 2014 and got a new iPhone in early 2015. "My previous phone was stolen and uninsured so I said I wouldn't make the same mistake. The only place I could buy insurance was at the point of sale in the phone shop, and I did feel under pressure as I signed up to cover at a cost of €15 a month".

She says she didn’t mind paying the €15 “because it gave me real peace of mind”.

Fast forward 18 months to May 2016 . Ms Halpin was studying for exams when she dropped her phone onto a hard floor. “It smashed into several pieces, it wasn’t just the screen that broke. I called the company and explained what happened, and they told me to send my phone off for examination I did send the phone off, and then a few weeks later I got it back with a simple note saying the company doesn’t cover this type of damage.”

Ms Halpin says the letter contained some diagnostic information she “didn’t really understand” but no other information. She sent off the phone a second time and then a third time, but her claim was repeatedly rejected. “I didn’t understand why. I briefly considered hoaxing them and saying it had been stolen as I thought that would be covered, but I figured it might be bad karma so I didn’t.”

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She went back to her mobile provider - which had sold her the insurance in the first place but was told it no longer dealt with that particular insurance company “so I was effectively on my own”.

Ms Halpin says she now feels like she “completely wasted all that money I was paying €15 a month for 18 months which means I had spent over €200 on phone insurance that proved to be absolutely useless when the time came to make a claim. I was student at the time and didn’t have a whole lot of money so the €270 would have made a big difference to me.”