Mobile phones are prone to being stolen – it is just an unfortuante fact of life.

Mobile phone theft is rife and is on the increase.  1.3 MILLION mobile phones are stolen each and every year according to research by Continental Research. The figure may be higher - according to Halifax research this figure is over 2 MILLION.

28% of ALL robberies now involve a mobile phone – this is up from the previous statistic of only 8%.  So mobile phone theft is a reality.

For this reason obviously it is a wise move to get mobile phone insurance. 

Mobile phone theft is one of those things that you can and should minimise with sensible use such as not leaving it on display anywhere – whether in a bar, pub, restaurant or in your car – a thief can reach into your car if you are stopped eg at a traffic light.

So get covered with phone insurance

It’s not until you become the unfortunate victim of a mobile phone loss, theft or breakage that you begin to realise one of two things. Either just how important it was that you insured your phone, or you realise just how stupid you are that you didn’t insure your phone.
At the time you buy your phone, the retailer will almost certainly try to sell you an insurance. There are two problems with this. First of all, you will be so interested in the features of your new phone and getting it home to have it up and running that purchasing insurance is an inconvenience.

The second and main problem is that getting your phone insured at the place you buy your phone is probably going to be quite a bit more expensive (and cover you for quite a bit less) than a specialist online insurance.
Over one and a half million phones are lost or stolen every year. In particular, the iPhone is such a great target for theives. The fact that its a superb phone packed with the latest technology makes it very desirable.

But it’s equally desirable to criminals, so if you own such a phone, getting it insured against these risks should be a priority.
Make sure the policy covers you for loss, theft and damage as a minimum.
In addition, better policies should cover you against water damage, the cost of any fraudulent calls made from your phone after being stolen, as well as cover for all of the above when travelling abroad.

Do you own a mobile phone? It’s a pretty good guess that you certainly do because, let’s face it we all have a mobile. If you are one of the more fortunate people who owns a nice spanking new expensive phone you really should consider mobile phone insurance.

It’s amazing the things that can go wrong when you least expect it. Mobile phone theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the UK and it’s not always the fact that you are standing there with your phone in your hand speaking into it for it to be stolen. It could be in your handbag or your bum bag or briefcase, anywhere in fact. It can be stolen as part of another larger theft.

Damage to your phone can occur in many ways. The most obvious is dropping your phone on to the ground or hard surface. One incredible statistic which springs to mind although I don’t remember the exact number involves the number of mobile phones dropped down the toilet each year in the UK.

Now, I’m not sure if you’ve ever managed to drop your phone down the toilet because neither have I. The one thing I do know is that you will be very lucky indeed if your phone works again after being submerged underwater.

Mobile Insurance gives you tremendous piece of mind. I don’t mean you can be blasé about your phone as indeed any of your personal belongings simply because they are insured, however if you are one of those people I spoke of earlier with an expensive phone you will save your self an awful lot of money if anything bad indeed does happen.

Whenever you hear that crime figures are down, you are probably unaware that one segment continues to rise. The theft of mobile phones has always been a huge problem, but the introduction of increasingly sophisticated modern phones has resulted in a huge rise in this particular crime over recent years.

We all know about the precautions we must take to prevent becoming a victim of this type of crime apart from having  Phone Insurance. It’s always youngsters who have their phones stolen, right? It always happens to those less vigilant and carefree, right? Mobile phone theft is always a “mugging” type incident with the phone being snatched straight from your hand, right?

Not so. This is a true story. I can guarantee it’s true because it happened to my wife.

She was in Tenerife and went shopping to the supermarket with her uncle. Her phone was in her handbag as they returned to the car with the trolley. She put her handbag on the passenger seat and shut the door, but didn’t lock it.

A thief opened the door and stole her handbag. Where was she at the time? She, and her uncle were just a few feet away loading up the shopping. Now, it wasn’t even a traditional boot that when raised, obscured the rest of the car. No, it was a door. The thief stole it right in front of their eyes.

Now, if this can happen to a sensible mature woman it can happen to anyone. Once gone, there is little to be done. Police? Rarely interested in this sort of crime abroad because they consider it not worthy of investigation.

As well as her phone, she lost her passport, driving license and all manner of important paperwork. The worst part of losing her phone was the fact that a few of the stored numbers were very important and irreplaceable. As indeed were the pictures of our (then newborn) baby grandson. All gone forever.

To rub salt into the wounds, the phone cost a small fortune to replace. She had no phone insurance and it wasn’t covered on the regular insurance. I would strongly advise everyone to insure your mobile phone. And backup the data on your phone before it’s lost forever.

VISIT HERE FOR MOBILE PHONE INSURANCE

Mobile Phone theft – you know it exists – you know it happens – you’ve probably even heard numerous stories about people having their phones stolen in different situations…

You just REALLY hope it doesn’t happen to you!

The trouble is ‘hope’ is not going to make it not happen.

There are some diligent steps you should take to help avoid having your phone stolen, but in addition to avoiding it, just in case the worst happens, make sure you have a cost-effective full-cover mobile insurance policy.

So what can you do to help avoid suffering from phone theft ?

To be honest, most of these are pretty obvious if you think about it (some are not so obvious) but just because they are obvious, dont stop yourself from doing them.

Also, we have to be realistic: Being overly cautious all your life is going to be pretty boring.  Just take sensible care and enjoy your phone!

1. Choose a secure-ish pocket to always keep your phone in.  The front right trouser pocket is a good option because this usually means the phone is slightly tight against your leg so you would feel anyone trying to pickpocket you.  If you get into the habit of doing this, it also has the added benefit of this;

When your phone is not there your subconscious mind will nag you at the back of your mind and tell you it’s missing.

2. Don’t walk flamboyantly down the street chatting away on it, especially if
a) You have an expensive phone such as an iPhone, and/or
b) You’re in a slightly rough area of town

According to recent Police reports, in 23 per cent of incidents victims were using their mobile phone or had it on display when it was targeted.

3.  Similarly, if you have an iPhone or another recognisable expensive phone, dont use the headphones it came with – that is a big bill-board to potential thieves saying “Hey look, check it out - I’ve got this really expensive phone right here…”

4. As we said, make sure you have phone insurance.

5. Use an ultra violet property marker. Put your post code and house number underneath the battery and on the back of the battery itself

6. Be particularly aware in city centres.  Police reports show phone theft is more prevalent in city centres.

7. Night time is particulary high-time for phone theft.  Surveys show those aged 18 and over were targeted between 10pm and 6am (more phone robberies than other robberies occurred during the early hours of the morning).

8. Keep a record of the unique reference number (IMEI) on your phone.  If supplied with this some networks can permanently disable the handset if it stolen. To get this, dial *#06#.  Most phones will then display the 15 or 16 digit IMEI serial number.

9. Record the model, phone number and PIN number details. Keep them somewhere safe

10. Always use the phone’s security lock or PIN number

11.Register the phone with the Service Provider (if Pay As You Go or Pay Monthly).  If the phone is reported stolen the SIM card can be blocked.

These prevenative measures should certainly reduce your chance of being the victim of phone theft – it wont make you completely safe.  So that is why it is worth covering all bases;

A. Minimise your chances of phone theft, and

B. Have everything in place if you do have your phone stolen. 

That will include backing up everything on your phone – and we mean everything – address book, text messages, photos – everything.  Back it up in such a way that it is really easy to put it all back onto your new phone.  You can store the backup on your computer and/or on a remote service such as zyb.com (which has a free service).

You also need to make sure you will be able to get a new phone again without having to pay massive amounts for a new phone – which is why we recommend you get yourself mobile insurance.