Should you insure your mobile devices (phone, tablet, computer...)?

Verified 08 April 2021 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Insurers offer contracts to compensate you in case of damage to mobile devices (smartphone, tablet, etc...). Such contracts may cover a wide range of mobile devices. But you need to analyze your needs carefully before signing them, because the guarantees offered may already be present in some of your contracts. In addition, there may be warranty limitations or disclaimers.

Risks covered

Insurers offer specific contracts that can cover all of your mobile devices.

These contracts generally guarantee theft or breakage, and cover a wide range of devices: mobile phone, touch tablet, laptop computer, GPS, camcorder, portable player.

Such contracts must comply with the general rules of insurance contracts, in particular as regards the withdrawal period. They can be purchased from an insurer, a bank or a telephone company.

FYI  

a false statement to obtain the replacing your phone is a crime ofswindle.

Limitations and exclusions

The terms of the contract must be carefully checked, as there may be cases of exclusion of warranty and cases of limitation of warranty.

Warranty Disclaimers

Where there is no guarantee, the insurer pays no compensation.

The insurer may provide for a guarantee exclusion for certain types of equipment, for example, equipment that is too old or that has been bought second-hand.

The exclusion may also apply to certain types of claims, for example if the contract provides that only flights involving violence or break-in will be compensated. Thus, a pickpocketing, by a pickpocket or during a stampede may be excluded from compensation. Similarly, the contract may provide that the guarantee will only work if the aircraft is broken as a result of an accident caused by a third person. In this case, the mobile device that escapes from your hands and breaks will not be guaranteed, unless the fall is caused by another person.

Warranty Limitations

Where there is a limitation of coverage, the insurer pays compensation, but it is reduced.

The contract may set intervention limits according to the following main elements:

  • Number of claims (e.g. 2 claims per year)
  • Intervention ceiling per claim per period (e.g. €400 per year for telephone)
  • Geographical limit (e.g. coverage limited to France)

If you have insurance multi-risk dwelling, your contract may already cover mobile devices against certain risks and under certain circumstances. So we have to check the extent of coverage.

For example, in most cases, coverage is limited to the use of devices inside your home.

In addition, the guarantee against breakage is often limited to an accident caused by a foreigner element.

Likewise, the Theft Warranty generally only covers theft with break-in.

Finally, in the event of compensation, the insurer may reduce the purchase value of the appliance in proportion to its lifetime.

If your vehicle is insured by a contract "all risks", you may already be covered for theft of your mobile device in the car.

However, in many cases, the pickpocketing or door robbery is not included in the guarantees.

In addition, the theft of the aircraft is not systematically covered by the theft guarantee of the vehicle. Sometimes the insurer offers a special guarantee called vehicle content to cover the theft of the devices in the car.