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iPhone 4 insurance

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  1. #21

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    I think it is ridiculous that HK contents insurance plans don't cover phones. Any other insurance plan I've had overseas did as part of contents. The fact is, there are only three things I own in HK worth insuring - my laptop, my wife's engagement ring and my iPhone - and of those, only the laptop is covered (I hope).

    Believe me, I don't want anything happening to any of them - i.e. I would never deliberately "lose" one - and the chance of anything happening to any of my other contents is utterly negligible. So if those few things I own that are worth covering aren't covered, what am actually I paying for?

    I'll tell you what, I would gladly pay more to have those covered - why don't they at least give you the option like in most other countries?


  2. #22

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    Why do you think they're worth insuring? Can you not afford to replace your iPhone? If you can then unless you somehow think you can beat the insurer's actuaries you will pay out more in insurance premiums than you will get back in payouts. If this were not so then insurance companies would not be profitable businesses.


  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Why do you think they're worth insuring? Can you not afford to replace your iPhone? If you can then unless you somehow think you can beat the insurer's actuaries you will pay out more in insurance premiums than you will get back in payouts. If this were not so then insurance companies would not be profitable businesses.
    You have nothing insured then?

    In the UK, phone insurance can be a matter of a couple of pounds per month. It is well worth having. I lost two phones in five years and the pay outs exceeded the amounts spent on premium - so under your terms I beat the actuaries.

    This is irrelevant to the real point which is he wants to insure the risk. Only someone filthy rich and with no grasp of reality would not miss the loss of 5000 dollars.

    Sent from my GT-P1000 using GeoClicks Mobile

  4. #24

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    I've owned many cellphones through the years, and never lost or had one damaged that normal warranty did not cover. IMO a special cellphone insurance is a waste of money (even if it's a few quid a month)


  5. #25

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    They are in business cause the Iphone/Ipad are must have symbols for those who have been drinking too much of Steve Job's kool-aid. Amazing how one CEO of a company in HK that I know has an ifone and ipad. The guy is totally computer illiterate, has no apps on either device and uses the iphone as a regular phone, the ipad as a device to calculate numbers on, think touch screen calculator.

    To him its a status symbol, to me he's a complete and utter moron who inherited the company from his great grandfather who had business sense and acumen but alas it was not passed down in the genetics from his father...


    Quote Originally Posted by aliendavid1:
    3. Apple/providers are in business because of lost/stolen phones.

  6. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by luckycat:
    You have nothing insured then?
    I have fire insurance on my property because it's a condition of the mortgage. Otherwise, no. Although I do take out travel insurance from time to time if visas require it or if going to the US (where even a minor issue would cost more than I can afford).

  7. #27

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    As luckycat says, I would certainly miss the $6500 it would take to replace my iPhone (which is not a status symbol but and essential part of my life). Sure, my warranty will cover me out to 12 months but, hey, that's up in a month or so. Aside from that, the $40,000 it would take to replace my wife's engagement ring would be a serious hit to my livelihood.

    I know these things are easy to lose and expensive to replace, but that's what graded premiums are for. I've had both the engagement ring and the iPhone (in one form or another) each for 5 years straight and never lost or damaged either, so and if other countries can handle the "complicated" mathematics involved in calculating risks and premiums, why can't Hong Kong?

    You know the problem here is they have no "no claims bonus" where you actually have an incentive for not claiming.


  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by MyCsPiTTa:
    I know these things are easy to lose and expensive to replace, but that's what graded premiums are for. I've had both the engagement ring and the iPhone (in one form or another) each for 5 years straight and never lost or damaged either, so and if other countries can handle the "complicated" mathematics involved in calculating risks and premiums, why can't Hong Kong?
    Perhaps precisely because HK people understand the maths and realise that on average in the long run they must pay more to insurance companies than they get back, and hence there isn't a market for separating fools from their money here?

    Rationally, you should only insure against things which are very unlikely to happen to you but which if they did you could not afford to pay the costs. You should never insure against something which you are certain (or almost certain) is going to happen.