Another holiday season has passed, leaving behind fun party stories, a couple new pounds waiting for the New Year’s fitness resolution, and, of course, presents!
What did you get? Maybe you became the happy owner of a new iPhone with chatty Siri, or a slim iPad?
But what if something were to happen to your new life-saver gadgets? The reasons to protect your iPhone and iPad are fairly obvious – these are quite expensive devices with a retail value of up to $649. We actively use them, often dozens of times every day; the best pre-requisites for them to get damaged, lost, or even stolen. Things happen.
If you think something bad is quite unlikely to happen to your device, then think again. According to SquareTrade Research, there is a 1 in 4 chance that you will accidentally damage your iPhone within the first 2 years of owning it.
Who Offers Protection for IPhones and IPads?
There are many ways to protect your favourite devices. Here is a brief overview. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, which we have considered in our analysis.
- Original Warranty: This is included with your new device, but don’t expect too much – it only covers issues resulting from manufacturing defects.
- AppleCare: An additional manufacturer warranty from Apple, offered for a fee (more).
- Credit Cards: A mostly unknown, but powerful way to protect your purchases. Usually includes protection against damage, loss, and theft, with a solid extended warranty protection. The best part? You may already have it for free!
- Retail Insurance: Extended warranty offered on top of the original manufacturer warranty. Offered by the retailer where you purchased your device (e.g. Best Buy).
- Dedicated Insurance from Ensquared: One of the first insurance providers for the iPhone and iPad on the Canadian market, covering such insurance cases as for example theft, loss, manufacturing defects.
- Dedicated Insurance from Seccuranty: A relatively new insurance provider in Canada for the iPhone and iPad. Offers a wide range of protection packages similar to Ensquared.
- Your home insurance: Often your Home insurance may cover some cases, but in the long run a claim could result in higher deductibles. Coverage can vary strongly from provider to provider and so we did not include this protection in our analysis.
How to Best Protect Your IPhone
Comparison for iPhone: The overview below shows key aspects of each protection type, including associated costs. We considered that risk coverage can vary, as well as deductibles and the length of coverage.
InsurEye suggests: If you don’t want to spend on additional protection, make sure you pay for your purchase with a credit card that has Purchase Security and Extended Warranty features. These account for over 80% of Canadian Credit cards. Not sure if you’re covered? Check out our free InsurEye Credit Card Navigator and see which features are included on your card!
If you are willing to pay extra to protect your electronic gadgets, Seccuranty gives you the most coverage and flexibility when choosing a package. Full protection for 2 years costs $149, just $19 dollars more than Ensquared, but includes the Extended Warranty and has lower deductibles.
How to Best Protect Your IPad
Comparison for iPad: Similar to the overview for the iPhone, see below for a perspective on iPad protection options. Please consider that some risk coverages can be different from the protection for iPhones. Also, pricing and deductibles may look different.
InsurEye suggests: If you don’t want to spend on additional protection, the same recommendation for iPhone works for iPad as well. Make sure to pay for the purchase with a credit card that has Purchase Security and Extended Warranty features. These account for over 80% of Canadian Credit cards. Not sure if you’re covered? Check out our free InsurEye Credit Card Navigator and see which features are included on your card!
If you need extensive protection for your favourite electronic devices, both offerings from Ensquared and Securranty look similar at a first glance, but Securranty offers better value by covering warranty, accidental damage, and theft/loss cases for $149. You would need two separate packages from Ensquared to protect your devices against the same risks ($99 and $139), totalling $238. There are also lower deductibles for those who choose Securranty.
Hopefully you will never need protection for your lovely iProducts, but if you do want to play it safe, you’re now equipped with a helpful insurance perspective for iPhones and iPads, reflecting multiple protection options.
Comments? Questions? Insight? We would love to hear from you!