Stolen mobile phone – am I covered by my travel insurance?

Imagine jetting off overseas without your dearest friend, your mobile phone? Inconceivable! But what happens when a phone as loveable as yours catches the attention of a pickpocket or career crim? Can you count on your travel insurance to bail you out with a replacement?

Fact: mobile phones – especially those with selfie cameras – make travelling more fun. They’re also damn handy and a vital travel safety tool, in our books. Little wonder most Australian travellers won’t take off without theirs.

The downside to bringing you phone on holiday is that it’s a juicy target for thieves working the tourist traps and beyond. Phones are small, well some are, and thus easy to nick. We’re also in the habit of having them in our hands a lot, so the risk of having a flashy mobile phone spotted is pretty high, as is the dastardly possibility of resting your precious phone on a table top or taxi seat, only to leave your little mate behind. Tragic!

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to fall victim to phone theft whilst overseas. So vigilance is obviously key. So to is having a backup, like having important documents printed and stashed away for in case your phone develops legs.

Is your travel insurance going to lend a hand?

Equally important is knowing whether the travel insurance you’ve forked out for is actually going to man up and help you cover the costs of replacing your device. The good news is, proper travel insurance policies typically cover lost or stolen ‘personal items’ up to a certain value – and mobile phones, along with tablets, laptops and cameras, fall into this box.

There are conditions of course, I’ll get to that in a minute, but first, here’s what your insurer should be able to do for you.

What’s covered?

Whether you’ve lost your phone, bags and gear, had them stolen or accidentally damaged, both Travel with Jane’s basic and comprehensive travel insurance cover pays up to $5,000 to either replace, repair or pay you the cash value of the items lost, in total.

Out of that total, all mobile phone devices, including Android phones, iPhones and Windows phones are covered up to $1000 each.

Cameras, laptops and tablets are covered up to $3,000 each, while personal items like clothes, shoes, cosmetics, books and so on are covered up to $750 per item lost.

You can claim if…

Phone stolen? To claim, you need to have reported the theft or permanent misplacement to police, a transport carrier or travel operator, within 24 hours. Keep a copy of the police report!

As with all insurance claims on stuff, you need to be able to prove that you owned the mobile phone in the first place. Receipts and phone contracts will do the

You’re not covered when…

We can’t cover you if your phone was stolen from an airplane cargo hold. Ditto if the loss, theft or damage occurs in the cargo hold of your train, bus – you name it – we can’t process your claim. This includes jewellery, and laptops, cameras, computers, phones and their accessories. Basically, we need you to be sensible about where you put your precious stuff, and the cargo hold ain’t as safe as keeping valuables on your person.

Same with accidently leaving your phone or luggage behind at a hotel after check out, or on a plane, rental car or other mode of transport. As well as bags left in the car during daylight, unless in the boot, or left in the car overnight, even if left in the boot.

Insurance won’t cover damage due to ordinary wear and tear, weather

How the claim works in real life

The claims process differs from one insurer to another. We’ve tried to make ours as simple as possible with an online claim form that lets you send extra info like police reports and receipts, without having to lift the phone or lick a postage stamp.

Once your claim has been approved, we work out how much to pay you based on:

The devil is in the detail, so if you’re still not sure about how travel insurance takes care of stolen mobile phones take note of some important rules and exceptions by having a read of your policy PDS. You’re also more than welcome to give us a call on +61 2 9333 3968 or email claims@travelwithjane.com. We’ll sort you out!