Mobile phones can get stolen, lost and suffer physical damage – manufacturer’s warranty does not normally cover these things. Users are then left with very few choices – either lodge a police complaint and wait for the phone to be returned (which happens very rarely), or simply buy a new phone. According to Norton Mobile Survey 20012, about 43 percent Indian users lost their mobile phones or it was stolen.
Well, Nokia has come up with a solution to the problem – it has entered into a partnership with New India Assurance, a public sector general insurance company, to provide mobile phone customers a handset insurance plan, safeguarding the devices against the before-mentioned risks.
The plan also covers Nokia phones against third party threatening to use violence resulting in damage or theft of device. It also covers loss of device due to housebreaking and theft by violence.
The insurance cover is valid for one year from the date of purchase.
The handset insurance plan starts from a premium of Rs. 50, and costs 1.25 percent of the purchased handset’s value. Users can avail the insurance plan while purchasing their handsets from Nokia-branded retail stores across 10 cities including Delhi and National Capital Region, Jaipur, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi.
New India Assurance and Nokia have also partnered with an IRDA licence insurance broker, who also provides value added services such as free pick up and drop to Nokia customers. These services can be availed at an additional fee of Rs. 50 per device regardless the price of the device. To get report claims with NIA, customers need to contact the call centre managed by the insurance broker.
“The mobile phones has today emerging as the consumers most preferred personal device and users are consistently increasing their investment in new technology. As India moves from being a volume to a value market, consumers are willing to pay more for their mobile phones,” says Kannan Gopalakrishnan, Director, Retail, Nokia India.
“We believe with the changing consumer landscape and the growing penetration of smartphones in India, this plan is sure to see strong uptake amongst our consumers.”
In view of rising number of mobile phone theft cases in the country, Nokia’s insurance coverage for handsets is definitely a welcome move, considering the affordable premium rate. Hopefully, other mobile companies will also provide such coverage to the Indian consumers.
Source: Business Standard, The Hindu