Two thirds of mobile owners would make a false claim on their insurance

July 2, 2010 - PRLog -- According to a new study by the UK’s leading mobile phone comparison website of 1,942 mobile phone owners, just fewer than 1 in 5, 18%, admit to intentionally damaging their phone to claim on their insurance policy.

www.rightmobilephone.co.uk asked almost 2,000 contract phone owners ‘do you have a mobile phone insurance policy?’ and 71% of the respondents said that they did. Whilst 18% of the total respondents admitted they had already broken a phone to claim on their policy, the actual figure for those that would consider making some sort of false claim was 66%.

The respondents that admitted to damaging their phone on purpose to claim through the insurance were asked to elaborate as to their reasons why.

22% said that their phone was either scratched or looked worn, which prompted them to break it intentionally so they could claim to get a brand new handset.

Although insurance policies usually work on a like-for-like basis, meaning customers can only get a replacement of the phone they initially had, nearly two thirds, 64%, of the people who had broken their phone intentionally actually thought they could get a more up-to-date or different handset after claiming.

Of those who would consider making some sort of false claim, 26% would be prepared to say their handset was lost or stolen in order to get a second phone, which they could either keep for themselves or sell to make money. This is despite the fact that a crime reference number is needed from the police in order to claim through insurance providers.

Neil McHugh, co-founder of http://www.rightmobilephone.co.uk, said;

“When taking out a contract mobile phone, sales staff will almost always offer some kind of insurance policy to go with the handset. Most people seem to go for the idea, judging by the statistics here, but we were surprised to see just how many had taken advantage of the policy in the past to make a false claim.

“The fact that a fair few would be prepared to say their phone was lost or stolen to get a second phone is quite alarming, but perhaps it calls for stricter guidelines to be brought in to prevent customers taking advantage of insurance companies.”

LINK http://www.rightmobilephone.co.uk

ENDS

For more information, or to arrange interviews with Neil McHugh, please contact Shannon Haigh of 10 Yetis PR Agency on 01452 348211 or email shannon@10yetis.co.uk
Editors notes

http://www.rightmobilephone.co.uk was launched in November 2007 to help consumers save time and money by providing a trusted comparison platform for customers to purchase from.

The site has become the UK's most comprehensive and user friendly mobile phone comparison engine, with 600,000+ mobile phone offers combined with user friendly consumer reviews, ratings and video.

Users can review and compare over 800 handsets with images, specifications and video with unique users reviews, opinions and ratings provided by handset owners and compare over 2000 + pay as you go offers and tariffs from all major networks.