Does Renters or Homeowners Insurance Cover Cell Phones?

Renters and homeowners insurance protect your living space and personal belongings, such as furniture, electronics, clothing, and everyday items you rely on. Since your cell phone is part of your belongings, it’s natural to assume it falls under that umbrella too. But does it?

Well… yes and no. Your phone is only covered in specific scenarios, and not usually the ones you actually need help with.

What Renters and Homeowners Insurance Usually Cover

Both renters and homeowners insurance are designed to protect your personal property from “covered perils” — events like fire, windstorm, theft, vandalism, and certain types of water damage. Your cell phone may be included under the personal property portion of your policy.

For example, if a thief breaks into your home and steals your laptop, jewelry, and cell phone, your insurance could help replace all of these items. Similarly, if a house fire destroys your bedroom and everything in it, your phone would be part of the claim.

In these situations, your cell phone is part of a much larger loss — not an everyday accident.

What Renters and Homeowners Insurance Don’t Cover

Here’s where it gets tricky. While these policies protect your belongings from major events like fire or theft, they don’t cover the everyday accidents you’re most likely to experience.

This includes common phone mishaps such as:

• Dropping your phone and cracking the screen
• Spilling coffee, soda, or water on your phone
• Dropping your phone in a sink, toilet, or pool
• Falling out of your pocket or bag and hitting the ground
• Knocking your phone off a table or counter

So, if your cell phone slips out of your hand and you end up with a cracked screen, or you spill juice on it while you’re cooking and it stops working, renters or homeowners insurance won’t help.

In other words, everyday phone accidents are not covered.

What about Theft outside the Home?

Some renters and homeowners insurance policies offer off-premises coverage, which means your cell phone might be covered if it’s stolen outside your home, like at the gym or from your car.

But you’ll still be on the hook for your deductible, which can be pretty high, and that brings us to the next big issue.

The Deductible Problem

Even if your cell phone is covered under a renters or homeowners insurance, like in a theft claim, you’ll still have to pay your deductible for the policy to kick in. And here’s the catch: Many deductibles range from $500 to $5,000, which can easily exceed the cost of repairing or replacing your phone.

This means filing a claim usually isn’t worth it because:

• You’d pay the entire repair or replacement out-of-pocket anyway
• It could raise your premiums later

When you add up the high deductible and the limited coverage that usually excludes accidental damage, it’s easy to see why renters or homeowners insurance falls short when it comes to protecting your phone. That’s where phone insurance comes in.

Why Phone Insurance Makes Sense

Phone insurance is designed specifically for real-life accidents — the ones renters and homeowners insurance usually don’t cover when it comes to your iPhone or Android.

With dedicated phone insurance, you typically get protection for:

• Cracked screens
• Spills and liquid submersion
• Accidental damage (drops)
• Theft and vandalism
• Power surge due to lightning
• Fire, flood, and natural disasters

Plus, phone insurance costs only a few dollars a month and usually comes with much lower deductibles and faster repair/replacement turnaround, which means less hassle when you need your device fixed or replaced now.

As you can see, renters and homeowners insurance do not cover the everyday phone accidents most people encounter at some point. If you’re looking for an affordable and reliable protection for cracked screens, drops, water damage, and other common mishaps, phone insurance can be exactly what you need.

How to get Phone Insurance?