[Husef2]

My treo is with Cingular. I love this phone but I am thinking about returning it. I want to insure my pda phone but of course cingular doesn't cover it. I can't put it under a home or renters insurance because I don't have either one since I am a student. I am worried that if something happens (equip failure/lost/stolen) to my treo after the 30 day trial, there goes 400 down the drain.

[mediasi]

Hmmm... I have VZW and they do offer insurance - I think it's like $5 a month and I definitely went for it. I'm surprised Cingular doesn't offer insurance on it.

Pamela

[Husef2]

Exactly. Verizon and Sprint offer insurance for the treo and Cingular does NOT?! Anyways, I really want to keep cingular because not only is coverage really well for me, but I have it on a family plan so for $50/month that includes unlimted PDA internet and a whole lot of extra roll over minutes :-) Sad thing is.... I can't believe cingular won't insure it.... (sighs)

[2000 Man]

1. Search
2. State Farm Personal Articles Policy. You don't need any other insurance with them and it's only $30/year for your Treo, plus there's enough room on the policy to add some other stuff like laptop, etc.

[grndslm]

1. Search
2. State Farm Personal Articles Policy. You don't need any other insurance with them and it's only $30/year for your Treo, plus there's enough room on the policy to add some other stuff like laptop, etc.

DANG....that's much better than Sprint's.....maybe I'll have to drop lock/line insurance and give State Farm a call. Anybody else done this?? Had negative or positive experiences as opposed to lock/line?

[rlanza1054]

Insurance from most regular insurance companies will only cover thief or lost. They do not include a damaged phone in most cases.

The Sprint insurance is like getting an extended warranty from what I understand.

I'm paying $30 per month and $10 for internet on Sprint. Beats out Cingular.

[Rawson819]

1. Search
2. State Farm Personal Articles Policy. You don't need any other insurance with them and it's only $30/year for your Treo, plus there's enough room on the policy to add some other stuff like laptop, etc.

Would you happen to know if there is a deductible on this policy and if so how much is it?

[heberman]

DANG....that's much better than Sprint's.....maybe I'll have to drop lock/line insurance and give State Farm a call. Anybody else done this?? Had negative or positive experiences as opposed to lock/line?

My Allstate agent told me NOT to get insurance on my phone, for this reason:

First, I lose my phone, and get an insurance replacement. (I save a few hundred bucks)
Second, I flood my home and make an insurance claim (I save a few thousand dollars.

Now, since I have made two claims on my homeowners insurance, my policy may get cancelled, or my rates will go WAY up. In my agent's opinion, it is more cost-effective to just pay the cost of the insurance rather than make a homeowners claim.

But since I switched to Sprint, I don't have to worry about it anymore. $5.00/month for their insurance coverage is a great deal.

[2000 Man]

Would you happen to know if there is a deductible on this policy and if so how much is it?

$0 deductible and full-coverage against everything. Theft, loss, water damage, accidental drops, etc.

A PAP policy can't affect any of your other insurance rates, plus you don't even need to have other insurance with State Farm.

[daneyb]

Sprint Has A 50 Dollar Deductible. I Had A 6601 And Dropped It. It Only Fell Like A Foot Onto Carpet But The Screen Shattered. So They Told Me That I Was Only Allowed 2 Claims In 2 Years. So I Had Them Send Me A 650 Since It Looks Much More Durable. And I Know I Will Actually Drop It. I Figured My Chances Were Better Of With The 650. Also Sprint's Warrenty I Think The Division Is Called Lockline But They Dont Send You A New Phone You Get A Refurbished One.

[santas]

I've heard some people have used this successfully

http://www.safeware.com/index.htm

[grndslm]

$0 deductible and full-coverage against everything. Theft, loss, water damage, accidental drops, etc.

A PAP policy can't affect any of your other insurance rates, plus you don't even need to have other insurance with State Farm.

Umm....I'm sold!!

Calling Sprint to cancel today!!

[MacUser]

1. Search
2. State Farm Personal Articles Policy. You don't need any other insurance with them and it's only $30/year for your Treo, plus there's enough room on the policy to add some other stuff like laptop, etc.

Did you do this through a local agent or online? I called 2 State Farm agents from the phone book and they treated me like I was bothering them.

[2000 Man]

Local agent. I've never had any other policy with State Farm.

[lawilson2]

Did you do this through a local agent or online? I called 2 State Farm agents from the phone book and they treated me like I was bothering them.

I would suggest walking in vs calling. You'll get a better response. They do not make much money on those policies so they don't publicize them. Perhaps they have to legally offer them, who knows. I have the plan, and it covers my Treo, laptop, and digital camera, because I carry these with me daily.

[Geckotek]

My Allstate agent told me NOT to get insurance on my phone, for this reason:

First, I lose my phone, and get an insurance replacement. (I save a few hundred bucks)
Second, I flood my home and make an insurance claim (I save a few thousand dollars.

Now, since I have made two claims on my homeowners insurance, my policy may get cancelled, or my rates will go WAY up. In my agent's opinion, it is more cost-effective to just pay the cost of the insurance rather than make a homeowners claim.

But since I switched to Sprint, I don't have to worry about it anymore. $5.00/month for their insurance coverage is a great deal.

As mentioned before, one does not affect the other, but this is only true if Allstate has a PAP type policy. If your agent was going to cover it under homeowners, then his advice is wise. I would look into the State Farm PAP because this is a completely separate policy that does not affect your homeowners insurance in any way.

Just an update on my end, I got a written quote for about double what was verbally quoted over the phone. The reason? They have a specific price for covering cell-phone equipment that is much higher. I think it was $5 per $100 per year. So about $30/year for the Treo alone. But if you do the math, this is still by far better than lockline.

Lockline
$60/year
$50 deductible
Used replacement

SF PAP
$30/year
$0 deductible
Cash in hand to buy whatever replacement you want

No brainer.

If you're not a customer, it may be hard to get their attention on this one. It appears this policy is one of those "perks" of being a customer kind of thing. I doubt the agents see much money on it. It'll be like trying to buy a used Ford Fiesta on a Mercedes lot. Most salesmen may act a bit annoyed to deal w/ you; but I hope you find a good rep that's not like this.

[johnnytk36]

I went in to my local State Farm agent yesturday and got insurance on my treo 650 and my er-4 headphones for $32 dollars a year. I do have my car insurance with them so I already knew the agent which made it eaiser. It shouldn't be to hard to get it without knowing them already if you get a good agent though. I was in and out of there in 20 minutes.

[yzfdave]

$0 deductible and full-coverage against everything. Theft, loss, water damage, accidental drops, etc.

A PAP policy can't affect any of your other insurance rates, plus you don't even need to have other insurance with State Farm.

From my understanding this is not entirely true. If you ever wanted to open a new insurance policy with state farm (or another company), I believe they can see that you have made a claim before and could raise your rates because of it. Similar to your credit standing how other companies can review your credit information, other insurances can view your insurance claims and then make a decision fromt here. In this way, you claiming your phone IS affecting your other policies.

I've been meaning to call my state farm agent and clarify that, especially now since I just received my treo this week.

[zorz]

It does take an effort to find an agent. I live in NYC and contacted about a dozen agents by phone, no one was willing to write a stand-alone PAP policy. Finally, I found one lady who immediately agreed and visited her in Brooklyn. The policy is in effect now.

As for the sharing of claims history, I agree it may happen. Hey, major apparel chains even started to share reports on store return abusers and deny otherwise legitimate returns...

[Geckotek]

There is most definately a system of sharing claims history between insurance agencies. However, this is not what we were discussing. Your insurance carrier cannot affect your Homeowners Policy because you made a claim (or two or three) on your Personal Articles Policy. But if you decide to change carriers......guess you might have an issue. But again, the amount and nature of the claim is also taken into consideration I believe.