Technology is a wonderful thing which allows us instant global communication, something which is still amazing and marvelous to me even though I accept it as a part of daily life in the world today. Being able to marvel at the simple or common things is a gift I wish more people had. One thing that most people do have, however, is a mobile phone.
I see the mobile phone as the single most incredible piece of technology invented to date, and I am not alone in this view. While there is more advanced technology in other products, the mobile phone has pervaded society and allowed for more innovation, communication, and structurally basic changes in the way we do things than any other invention of recent history, and perhaps all of history.
Yet even with the advances in shatter-resistant glass, moisture-repelling coatings, and other protective measures that are put into these devices, untold hundreds or thousands lose, break or have their mobile phones stolen every day. Toilets, pools, and rivers swallow them down, quick-handed bandits grab them from counters when you turn your head, and college students can't remember where they were the night before to even try to retrace their steps to find their missing phone. Having such an advanced device that is so portable is why carrying mobile phone insurance on your cellular plan is something you can't afford not to do.
Few realize the cost that goes into producing these tiny computing marvels until they are stuck in a situation where it is destroyed or missing and they have no option but to purchase one at the full retail value. Smartphones these days average $500-600 USD, with some hitting the $1000 level. While the subsidized price of the phone (when you sing a new contract with the carrier) is much less, this price is only available at intervals determined by the carrier itself. In between these milestones in time, there is no subsidy in price.
Many refuse to carry mobile phone insurance because of the premium and deductible prices, but the math does not work in their favor, particularly in the case of smartphones. A quick calculation of $7 per month for 24 months plus a deductible of $100 (these are realistic numbers in the US) is a cost of $268 dollars over the normal 2 year time frame. In comparison to the retail price of a low-end smartphone of $400, this is a bargain. When taken in comparison to a higher-end phone, insurance is an expense you should not avoid.
