A poll by a mobile phone insurance website in the UK has revealed the lengths some mobile phone users go to in a bid to try and upgrade their handset; with a tenth admitting to have sabotaged their handset in the hope of getting a better phone instead of a repair on their existing one.
It would appear that many mobile phone users in the UK are taking advantage of mobile phone insurance policies and trying to stretch their rights to the limit, as a recently conducted poll by a leading mobile phone insurance website in the UK has revealed that a tenth of mobile users have attempted to sabotage their handset in the hope of an upgraded device.
MobileInsurance.co.uk conducted the poll anonymously after noticing a trend of rising claims that coincided with big launches of new handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5. Suspicious about the authenticity of the claims, the site polled 1,327 mobile phone owners and questioned them about their experience with mobile insurance.
All respondents were mobile phone users with an insurance policy for their handset. When asked, 'Have you ever claimed on a current or past mobile phone insurance policy?' 46% of those taking part said 'yes'. When looking into the main reasons for claiming, 'accidental breakage/damage' was the main reason, with 62% of those having claimed doing so for that reason; closely followed by 'stolen/lost handset' with 31% of the vote.
When asked if they'd ever attempted to break a phone or claim it was lost or stolen, to try and get an upgrade instead of a repair/replacement handset, 1 in 10, 11%, of those taking part said this was something they had done. Just a quarter, 26%, of those who had tried to con their insurer said they had managed to get their hands on an upgrade.
Of those who hadn't successfully conned their insurer, 68% said their insurer had grown suspicious and 32% said they had eventually backed out of doing so.
John Lamerton, Managing Director of MobileInsurance.co.uk, said the following about the poll: "We receive a number of enquires for claims that we think to be slightly dodgy, so it's no surprise to see that people do try to con their insurers into giving them an upgrade instead of a repair or replacement. It's risky business though and, more often than not, you'll be offered a repair or a replacement of your existing handset and it's rare to actually get an upgrade. There are only a few circumstances under which an upgrade is granted."