Early Adopters Scam Insurance to Replace iPhones

Early Adopters Scam Insurance to Replace iPhones

CC-licensed. Thanks magerleagues on Flickr.

A report by a UK insurance company says phony claims for iPhones soar every time a new model launches.

Since the November 2007 launch of the first gen iPhone in the UK to the iPhone 3gs, claims on iPhones increase by 50% during the month after a new model is launched, Supercover Insurance director Carmi Korine said in a statement. Her company estimates that four out of 10 of those increased claims are abruptly-mangled iPhones that owners hope to have replaced with the latest model.

“While most customers take out insurance because they value their iPhone, we started to notice increases in claims as new and upgraded iPhones were launched.

“For short periods around new model or upgrade launches, claims for lost, stolen or damaged iPhones go through the roof.

“The issue appears to be that most iPhone owners can only go for so long realising that they’re a generation behind the latest must-have spec before they resort to extreme measures.”

It might be worth faking the break: Korine notes that although 40% of the claims received after a new iPhone model launch were suspicious the company  rejected about 25%.

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Just don’t be too obvious: the insurer requires that you send in the phone. One over-zealous early adopter claimed the phone had been “dropped” when he or she had evidently driven a car over it.

Via Press Association

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

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Posted in iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S |

  • Poppa

    What do they expect, iPhones are updated between six and twelve months, people are tied into 12 to 18 month contracts, if you sign up now to an iPhone contract there could be a iPhone 4G this summer so break the iPhone to break the contract and get a newer iPhone..

  • Jeff

    @Poppa – “What do they expect?”

    They probably expect people to go out and buy a new phone. Last I checked most people think that paying money for a new product is more ethical than stealing one through fraud. Thousands of people buy a new iPhone every year and then sell their old one.

    So that’s probably what they expect people to do.