by Erich Heinlein

Created on: January 21, 2009   Last Updated: May 24, 2009

Buying insurance on anything is worthwhile if you know you are going to have it for a period of time. Unless you are with Cricket you know you are going to have that phone for probably the next one to two years because you probably just signed a contract to keep your service for a year or two. The big question isn't should you get it it's when should you get it. The key question to ask the cell phone provider is if my phone breaks and it is out of warranty and have to get another one can the fee be waived upon payment of the Protection Plan? If the answer is yes then there is no need to get it upon the initial activation of service. After all, more than likely there is probably a warranty of some sort on the phone anyway. But again that is a question you should be asking upon initial activation.

If these questions are not asked, just like any other Internet, TV or phone provider it's pretty much a guarantee at some point you are going to get burned. I'm not one for add-ons but this one particular thing is worth it. But at the same time when you do buy out the Protection Plan there are some things you need to get in writing, namely what the plan covers. If the agent you talked to get it added says that it can't be provided it can probably be found at the company web site.

When is the cell phone insurance most beneficial? The obvious answer is when it goes bad. But it could more more likely to if you have more advanced features on your phone. The reason for this is because there are certain features on the phone which could become defective and you may end up having to pay for at some point. But either way you could either use the insurance a lot or it could be a waste. Anytime you deal with a big phone, TV or Internet company it is a possibility you could have a horrendous experience, but that is another article for another day.

The Protection Plan is basically a bet between the cell phone company and the customer as to whether or not the phone is going to break, just like any other insurance. The cell phone company doesn't think anything will go wrong but by adding the plan you are saying it is possible and don't want to have to pay for it nor do I want extra charges regarding phone or any other type of equipment replacements on my bill.

The Protection Plan can also be viewed as a gamble, but you could also say the same thing about home and car insurance. You can never have a fire, have somebody break into your home and never have a wreck. So why don't we pay those extra couple bucks a month and buy that Protection Plan?

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