How to Claim Insurance on Your Mobile Phones in India?

Nowadays, buying a smartphone, tablet or laptop can cost you a fortune, which leaves a person in a dilema of its safety. Hence, its time to be practical in life and face it that stuff happens. One can forget their phone at the restaurant or accidentally drop it on the sidewalk or it can be stolen. And without insurance, bad luck could cost you big time.

To proving services on the same in India, there are mobile insurances available that can insure phones against loss or damages. The mobile insurance policy covers fire, theft, accident, riot, malicious damage, strike, terrorist activities and other fortuitous circumstances and can provide a fix compensation equivalent to cost of replacement by new mobile of same specifications and capacity, including all taxes and duties.

Please note, even though, mobile insurance covers all these circumstances, there are several exclusions. In fact, there are more exclusions than there are criteria. Mobile phone insurance does not cover the following exceptions.

• Theft from vehicles which are unattended, especially if the windows and doors of the car are safely locked. This attributes the fault on the owner's carelessness.
• The policy cannot be claimed when the phone disappears under mysterious circumstances. This exception creates a lot of ambiguity regarding the coverage of the policy.
• Electronic or mechanical breakdown of phone
• Experimentation or overloading of the phone by the users.
• Theft or damage to phones when the phone is in the possession of a third party.
• Intentional act of the user.
• Damage or loss of the phone due to war, nuclear perils, water or water-borne vehicle.
• Damage due to atmospheric conditions, wear and tear, gradual deterioration, vermin, inherent defect or any damage caused while repairing or cleaning.

The premium to be paid each month will be based on the overall cost of the phone, mostly the terms are to pay Rs 100 as premium for 1 year from reliable insurance companies like the fully government-owned The New India Assurance Co. Ltd., National Insurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company.

At the same time, one should remember these points listed below before claiming an insurance.

Step 1: Retain the purchase invoice of your mobile.
Step 2: Note down the serial number of your phone and keep it carefully.
Step 3: Steps to file a claim.
Step 4: You need to file an FIR within 24 hours in the event of a theft or loss. Ensure that you have filed an FIR not an SDE.
Step 5: Approach the insurance company with the claim intimation and FIR. Attach the copy of your purchase invoice that mentions the make or model of your mobile, with other details such as date of purchase.
Step 6: If possible, attach details of the market value of the model you lost. This would help the insurance company get an idea of the current value of the product and speed up the process.
Step 7: Attach a Hindi or English translation of the FIR, if it's in any other vernacular language. You could approach translators at the local courts for this.