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Mobile insurance market takes off by over 700pc due to high handset prices

Paul Lipscombe
May 24, 2018

As consumers hold onto devices for longer mobile insurance sees a stark rise. 

The tendency for consumers to hold onto devices for more than two years has been earmarked as the main reason for a 700 per cent rise in the popularity of mobile insurance policies according to insurers and analysts.

The mobile insurance industry has grown from just three per cent of customers with insurance plans to 28 per cent in the past 10 years and is on track to be worth £12.95 billion by 2019 according
to Finaccord.

Protect Your Bubble director James Brown says: “In our experience the higher the value of the handset, the more inclined someone is to search for an insurance solution.

“Insurance has made it more important to deliver a valuable product that can be well used and a provide a great service to customers.”

Pointing towards less need to upgrade devices so regularly, Supercover business development manager Michael Brigden said: “Phone contracts are one of our biggest outgoings, people can be spending £50 a month on a phone contract but if that phone breaks, that £50 a month is worth nothing.

“The more these contracts are worth, the more likely insurance is going to get bigger because people just won’t want to take the risk of paying for damage.

Innovation

Meanwhile analysts also agree higher prices has pushed consumers to keep smartphones longer but also cited a lack innovation as another reason people are protesting their handsets.

IDC senior researcher Francisco Jeronimo said: “The life cycle of a smartphone is longer now as people are spending more and want to see a return on their investments.”

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