Mobile phone insurance cover has become so ubiquitous these days that it’s as easy to get cover from your bank as it is from your service provider or even a third-party insurer like Mobile Phone Insurance Direct.
But does ease and accessibility mean that you’re going to get the best service for your money? Well, to help you make an informed decision when it comes to choosing your next insurer, we’ve compared mobile phone insurance from Lloyds against our own services, so you’ll have all the information to make the right choice for you and your device.
Taking out a home contents policy is an effective way of ensuring that your phone is protected against damage, theft, or loss inside of your home. The majority of insurers will offer some form of gadget cover, which will extend to most of your precious electrical devices, including your phone. One of the main benefits of choosing home contents cover is that it will automatically include every phone in your home, whereas with a third-party insurer you’ll probably have to take out multiple policies to cover everyone.
Lloyds Bank, as you’d expect, offer home contents insurance, which will protect any valuables inside your home from theft, accidental damage, and fire or flood. Whichever level of cover you choose, your gadgets worth less than £2,000 each are covered in the home as standard up to the contents limit. While this may be perfectly suitable for some customers, it simply will not be enough for others – especially as the phone is not covered outside, where most accidents are likely to take place. On top of this, if you claim for your phone on contents insurance, your premiums will go up across the entire policy, whereas if you have your mobile insured with a third-party, you don’t have to worry about that.
One of the main advantages of insuring your device with Mobile Phone Insurance Direct is that we understand how much your mobile means to you. Should you make a claim with us, whether it’s for a theft or damage, we’ll fix your device or find you a near-identical replacement as soon as possible, so you never have to go too long without your mobile. However, contents insurance with Lloyds only refunds the cost of the phone, which leaves you with the hassle of having to find a replacement yourself.
One of the main ways that customers secure mobile phone insurance, outside of their provider or a third-party, is through their bank. The majority of banks will offer some form of mobile phone insurance in their higher-tier accounts, which usually charge a monthly rate to access. Like with home contents insurance, you cannot simply take out mobile phone insurance – you have to purchase a whole package which happens to include phone insurance in it.
Lloyds is no exception. In order to receive Lloyds mobile phone insurance, you need to have one of five non-standard current accounts, all of which differ in price. The lowest of these is the Select Account, which costs £11.95 per month, and the most expensive is the Premier Account, which will set you back £28 each month. Despite the differences in cost, every account offers the same level of mobile phone cover, so if you simply want insurance for your device, the cheapest option is the best value for money.
Despite it being slightly convoluted to get, mobile phone insurance from Lloyds does offer quite a lot in its cover. If you take out a policy with Lloyds and make a successful claim, you will receive a replacement or repair of up to £2000 in case of theft, loss, damage, or breakdown. The best part is that, regardless of your account level, the policy covers you all over the world. So, when compared to MPID’s cover, you could theoretically get a cheaper deal with Lloyds. For example, if you took out a Select Account with Lloyds for £11.95 a month, you could get basic, worldwide cover on an iPhone 13 Pro Max 512GB for that price, whereas it’d cost £13.59 for Essential Cover with Mobile Phone Insurance Direct. However, Lloyds only allows 2 successful claims within 12 months, whereas MPID offers Unlimited Claims.
Furthermore, Lloyds excess contributions are £100 for all devices. If you make a claim on an iPhone, you’ll have to pay an excess of £100, regardless of the age and model of the device. MPID excess depends on the age, make and model of the device so if you own a cheaper device, our excess starts at £40 which is significantly less than the £100.
While getting phone insurance through a premium bank account may be the cheapest and easiest option of some people, the reality is that, when you claim, you’ll always be dealing with a bank that sometimes does mobile phone insurance. However, if you opt to cover your device with MPID you know you’ll be dealing with experts in mobile insurance from start to finish.
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