The writer of this article considers herself a prudent and responsible consumer who takes care of her stuff. She uses a laptop (still in perfect working condition) that she’s had since 2012, and usually sees her cellphone contract through without a hitch. She has to admit to being extremely frustrated at not insuring her smartphone on two occasions in the past, though.
A smash-and-grab at a robot in Joburg’s inner city in 2016 saw a criminal that knew his stuff make off with her phone of barely six months. The phone was visible to would-be smash-and-grabbers because the writer has a less-than-keen sense of direction, necessitating the use of mobile GPS in any area outside of a roughly 5-kilometre radius around her immediate surroundings. Extreme circumstances require supernatural abilities, and the writer would eventually find her way back to the highway and back home… with a broken passenger window and a thunderstorm in tow. It wasn’t the best day.
But then there was the year 2009. A mere decade ago, but a watershed year in many ways, and the Oppikoppi music festival had a huge role to play. It was her first Oppi and she’d never felt so free before. The dust on everyone’s brows was a constant reminder that we are all connected, and it wasn’t just the music. There was a sense of kinship in the air that only people that have been to Oppikoppi will understand.
It was wonderful in every sense of the world, and the writer felt changed by it all. That had to be the reason why she wasn’t too concerned when she couldn’t find her trusty Samsung D900 in her tent when the festival ended. Turned out, an industrious Mister or Miss Sticky Fingers had helped him or herself to the red flip phone that she would only miss when she got back home and also wanted the pictures from the few days away that her fellow festivalgoers were sending to each other via Bluetooth.
The bottom line is this: as with all types of insurance, the value of the product only becomes apparent in the unfortunate circumstance of having to use it. Considering the fact that smartphones are increasingly capable of a variety of complex tasks, they are becoming more and more essential to the daily running of our lives, our work life included. That also means that they come at increasingly steep price tags. Losing your phone today means having to replace it at great cost – money that you might not always have lying around in case of emergency.
Agora Tec provides three types of insurance to consumers, each at a highly competitive price that will keep you connected, no matter the reason for the brief radio silence.
Comprehensive cellphone insurance from Smartcom will provide cover in case of theft, device loss or damage, and offers a device replacement from as little as R29,95 per month. Accidental device damage, from just R10,00 per month offers a repair service in case of accidental damage to your phone, and a replacement if the device is beyond repair.
Having to replace a laptop or tablet due to accidental damage, theft or loss may turn out to be even more costly than replacing your phone, but starting from only R63,00 per month, Agora Tec’s comprehensive insurance for laptops and tablets is an affordable way to avoid the hassle of having to replace an indispensable item.
To find out more about insurance for your devices from Agora Tec, simply fill out this form, and we’ll get back to you. Because even if losing a phone may make for a good story, it really doesn’t have to be an inconvenience.