iPhone insurance - is it worth it?

Should you take out iPhone insurance or not? Many insurance companies offer corresponding policies. We'll introduce you to some cell phone insurance plans, give tips for alternatives - and answer the question of whether an iPhone policy ultimately makes sense.

Alternatives to iPhone insurance

Ugly scratches, water or fall damage or theft: Many mobile phone insurance companies advertise with an all-round package. You can use the following checklist to determine whether you really need insurance.

• First, consider whether your smartphones have often been damaged in the past. If you are generally rather clumsy and your cell phone slips out of your hand more often than not, insurance can in principle come into question.
• You can also protect your cell phone from damage without expensive insurance - for example with bags, sleeves or flip cases. An inexpensive prepaid second cell phone for work or party visits could also be an option.

What mobile phone insurance plans are there and how expensive are they?

If these alternatives are out of the question for you, you should find out about iPhone insurance. However, the offers are rather confusing and difficult to compare. In addition to pure damage to the iPhone, some of them also cover theft or loss of the cell phone. Some offers can be combined with a classic household insurance, others are more guarantee extensions than real insurance policies.

• There are some specialized mobile phone insurance providers, such as "Schutzbrief 24". Here you can choose the optimal tariff, with the largest package costing € 7.95 a month.
• The "classic" insurers with iPhone policies include, for example, ARAG, whose electronics insurance in the premium tariff also covers smartphones and satnavs - but for a whopping € 19.90 per month.
• Lateral entrants such as O2 with their mobile phone insurance (from 7 to 9 € per month) are also bustling on the iPhone insurance market. At MediaMarkt you can protect your iPhone against accidental, impact or water damage as part of the "Plus Guarantee". The tariff is based on the purchase price of the device.
• The website "Schutzklick" works with R + V Versicherung. Depending on the purchase price of the iPhone, you pay around 50 to 60 euros for one year. Theft protection optionally costs you another 10 euros.
• The "friendsurance" service was able to assert itself in the last CHIP test by Handyversicherung. You can insure a current iPhone here for around 6 euros a month and in return you receive a comparatively large range of benefits.

Is iPhone Insurance Worth It?

• In short: rather no. Both the Stiftung Warentest, specialist media such as Focus Online or Süddeutsche.de, and consumer advocates are relatively tough on cell phone insurance.
• The basic tenor: Most policies are too expensive, either cover only a fraction of the original price in the event of damage or offer services that are already included in conventional household insurance.
• Mobile phone and iPhone insurance are therefore generally rather unnecessary insurance - we therefore advise against taking out such a policy.

In the next article we will show if and when it is worth insuring a laptop.