New figures released by a leading mobile phone insurance website in the UK have revealed that the average cost of replacing a mobile phone in the UK is now almost 6 times the amount it was 6 years ago; rising from £75.00 in 2007 to £430.00 currently. Despite this, mobile phone insurance costs have fallen.
With the majority of mobile phone owners still failing to take out an insurance policy for their handset, despite how costly the phones of today are, a leading mobile phone insurance website in the UK has released figures that demonstrate just how much the cost of a mobile phone replacement has gone up in the past six years.
MobileInsurance.co.uk looked back through historical data from the site and further back through claims data from the insurance underwriters, to see how the cost of replacing a mobile phone today, on average, compares to around 6 years ago; before Smartphones were commonplace amongst phone owners.
According to the data gathered, the average cost of replacing a mobile phone in January 2007 was approximately £75.00; with the BlackBerry Pearl and Nokia 6070 being some of the most popular handsets of the time.
As of today, January 2013, the average cost of replacing a mobile phone is £430.00; almost 6 times higher than the amount in 2007. With handsets such as the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III amongst the most popular choices for phone users, the cost of purchasing a phone is markedly higher than it was six years ago, before the iPhone had been released.
However, when MobileInsurance.co.uk looked back through the cost of a mobile phone insurance premium, the team found that in January 2007, a policy would cost around £8 per month on average. Despite the cost of mobile phone replacement increasing, the average policy today is £4 per month.
Although the average cost of a mobile phone replacement has increased six-fold, around 90% of mobile phone owners still forgo an insurance policy for their handset; meaning they are left to cover the cost if the worst happens and their mobile is broken beyond repair, lost or gets stolen.
John Lamerton, Managing Director of MobileInsurance.co.uk, said the following: “Let’s face it, £4 per month to insure your mobile phone is nothing. You probably wouldn’t even notice that coming out of your bank each month and are likely to spend more on a single visit to Starbucks! Despite this fact, the majority of people still don’t bother getting a policy.
With the average cost of replacing a handset now almost 6 times the amount it was in 2007, it seems daft not to insure your handset. It’s around £48 for the entire year to cover your phone, but if you accidentally leave it on a bus and you don’t have a policy, you’ll be looking at a bill of at least £400.00 in some cases. Unless, of course, you’re still the proud owner of a Nokia 3210, in which case you’ll pick one of those up very cheap!