A study by a leading mobile phone insurance website has revealed that
the majority of broken handsets become damaged within the first 3
months of users owning them. Furthermore, 51% of the mobile phones given
as gifts at Christmas time 2012 have been broken in some way, lost or
stolen already.
In a bid to find out how long into the ownership of a mobile phone
handsets most commonly become broken, a mobile phone insurance website
in the UK has carried out research to discover more.
www.MobileInsurance.co.uk
polled 2,579 mobile phone owners in the UK, each over the age of 18,
and asked them questions about their handsets. All respondents had
experienced a broken handset in the last 2 years. The site noted an
increase in the number of claims made for phones less than 4 months old,
which prompted the team to conduct the poll.
When asked ‘When your handset, either past or present, became broken
for the first time, how long had you had it for?’ the most common
answer, for 37% of respondents, was ‘3 months or less’; suggesting that
handsets are most likely to break or go wrong in the first 3 months of
owning them.
All respondents were then asked if the phone that they were currently using had been a Christmas
gift, to which just less than a quarter, 23%, said ‘yes’. These people
were asked if they’d experienced any problems with their handset in the
short time since Christmas; for example, it had become broken in some
way, or was lost or stolen. 51% of them said ‘yes’, that it had; further
emphasising the point that most handset owners experience issues within
the first 3 months of ownership.
As respondents were only asked to take part in the poll if they’d
experienced a broken handset in the past two years,
MobileInsurance.co.uk asked: ‘Was your handset insured at the time of
the problems you experienced, such as a break, loss or theft?’ To this
question, less than 1 in 10, 9%, said ‘yes’. Furthermore, when asked if
they were aware that most insurance policies could only be taken out on
handsets that were less than a year old, 65% of those taking part said
‘no’, they thought they could insure a handset at any time.
Jason Brockman, Director at MobileInsurance.co.uk, said the following about the study:
“To see that more than half of handsets given as gifts at Christmas
are already broken, or have already been lost or stolen, is a big shock
indeed. Most people are usually careful with their handsets in the
initial weeks, wanting to keep their shiny new toy in tiptop condition.
After a little while though, phone owners tend to get careless.
“Most people assume you can insure a handset at any stage of owning
it, but it’s difficult to find anyone willing to offer an insurance
policy on a handset that’s over a year old. Get insurance out early,
when you first get your phone, to insure you’re covered in all scenarios
and at all times. Don’t leave these things to chance!”
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