Ensquared Phone Insurance VERSUS SquareTrade

[n2_gordon]

There is no doubt that SquareTrade has been around as sellers of phone protection for a long time. They have built up a following and created brand recognition that is important for their ongoing momentum. Ensquared with its roots as a comparison Site has more than made up the years with smart structuring, smart partnerships and smart people who understand this business. Thus enabling Ensquared to close in on the gaps left bare by Square Trade. Some of these gaps are as wide as the Grand Canyon and in fact it is evident that the years have blunted the SquareTrade outlook on this business and complacency is eroding their market share

Examples are as follows: Square Trade still offer no Lost & Stolen options meaning that no matter how you look at things they are going over the heads of more than 50% of the potential market. Accidental damage and extended warranty is the long and short of their offer - and even then it is affected by a HUGE serious shortcoming: Their claim limit is a set number that does not go above $599 at best (on most expensive Android phone) and goes as low as $299. What this means in basic terms is that the subscriber can only claim until the claim limit is used up. It reduces every time you claim by value of the replacement. Well aint that a thing! If you damage an upmarket Droid irreparably that claim will easily match $599 in one go; smaller claims may go into the claim limit perhaps 1.5 times - rarely twice in our view. Therefore to call it a two year warranty is confounding. It really is a warranty that covers you for the claim limit and may in effect last only for 1 claim on one day. If it occurs in the second month then "poof" goes the remaining 22.

So why do SquareTrade claim it is a two year warranty? Because technically by adding on the extended warranty part, which only kicks in after year 1 it does extend into year 2 even if the accidental part of the deal is gone. But what good is Year 2 with extended warranty if in fact the accidental damage protection expired early in Year 1? It leaves you the Droid subscriber naked for drops, spills, lost and stolen protection all for the so called extended warranty cover: Essentially cover for factory default after manufacturer's warranty drops off.

Really SquareTrade offers a disjointed program with small pieces of different items; leaving out others; and unlikely to have the timing right at all. Net result if you understand this: Impractical cover on accidental damage that is excessively limiting; no Lost & Stolen whatsoever. The only full item is extended warranty that is a second year thing anyway.

Ensquared in contrast has no such claim cap. Over a two year period you get three claims each standing in their own right and unconnected to previous claims; each claim covered by our underwriters up to $1000. Looking at it another way: Square Trade has $599 claim limit for two year term on accidental damage on premium Droid for $144 and $50 deductible; Ensquared on its Android program for pure accidental damage plus Lost and Stolen offers aggregate $3000 claim limit over two years for $99.99 also with average $50 deductible. The only thing Ensquared do not add to its offer is extended warranty. Is this worth sacrificing $2400 claim value on damage and excluding Lost and Stolen from your protection? Absolutely not. In summary: Lack of choice and the the claim limit sans Lost and Stolen is SquareTrade's archilles heel. And a huge big heel it is. All the years in the business cannot hide from the fact that Ensquared offers a superior product range for more benefits and far higher $ coverage.

[n2_gordon]

Verizon is backed by Asurion and as such has a sound insurance program with competitive premiums and deductibles. It is a very viable option as long as you bear the following in mind.

1. The only way to get Verizon Insurance is to take their contract PLUS their device. Bring your own device (say bought on eBay) or through an unlocked dealer and you are out. Both items must be acquired through Verizon
2. Prepaid devices are excluded. Only monthly contract plans qualify
3. You literally have 2 weeks to decide to take on the Verizon wireless insurance from date of activation. If you forget, or are not informed when activating or any other delay that takes you out 15 days or longer, then you are closed off from Verizon Insurance
4. On replacement 95% of the time you are going to get a refurbished device and in fact it may not be the same model, just similar
5. Deductibles on the high end Droids can go well over $100

Alternatively with Ensquared:

1. They insure any Droid no matter where it was bought and no matter where you contract it. The two do not have to go together
2. Ensquared are happy to insure Prepaid devices
3. You have 90 days to insure - a far distance from 14 days as seen with Verizon
4. 90% of the time replacement is a brand new device
5. Deductibles on the high end Droids cannot go higher than $75

Both Verizon and Ensquared cover Accidental Damage, Lost & Stolen. Ensquared $99 prepaid 2 year program with 3 claims offer the best value in this arena when looked on monthly (just over $4 per month), but Verizon monthly rates at around $4 per month are extremely sharp when looked on in an isolated way. However, with Verizon you must check on the deductibles to get a true measure of value (deductibles take way value from premiums). Ensquared deductibles are always low. I would say it boils down to the comparison above to determine where you are more comfortable

[stilh2omom]

A verizon rep told me I could buy one insurance policy and it would cover all three of the phones (which are all Incredible 2's) I just purchased for myself and kids. He said the policy wasn't tied to one phone, so if something happened to any of the three phones, I could file a claim under that one policy. After one claim was made, however, I don't think any other phones would qualify at that point. Is that true? Does ensquared offer the same?

[CTownDroid]

Thats the first I've heard of one policy covering multiple phones. I think you were giving mis-information. We have three phones and three insurance premiums. You may want to check into that before your 15 days are up to purchase the insurance.

[n2_gordon]

Hi

This is the first I have heard of such a policy. Every policy I have encountered from Asurion is specific to one device. If Verizon have come up with one policy for all devices it certainly is new to the business. However, suppose it is correct, the implications are as follows. If after one claim is made it falls away not allowing any further claims then in fact the policy is flawed. After one claim on only one device all other devices are then left uncovered. In contrast, Ensquared covers you per device and offers you 2 claims per year on each device. This means in making comparison: Verizon charges you a Premium of approximately $84 per annum to give you one claim on any one of three devices after which the policy becomes defunct. Ensquared charges you a Premium of approximately $180 on three devices whereby you receive 2 claims per device over a year making it an aggregate 6 claims spread equally over three devices. So the question is: Is $84 for a single claim on any one of three devices and then lapsing worth it, or for just over $90 premium more you can cover all three devices independently of one another for two claims per device. In the Verizon policy, one device could be claimed on and the full policy rendered dead after 1 day (if just one claim were made). In case of Ensquared it is probable that all 3 policies will see through the year and keep you well covered on each device irrespective of claims on any any one of the other two. You are buying peace of mind, not gambling on fastidiousness of each device owner to keep the policy alive as I see it. I cannot verify but I believe information provided (i.e. 1 policy covers 3 devices) is not correct but anything can be true in this world. At Ensquared we don't see such an arrangement as good value so we don't offer anything like that. If you in fact acquire our 2 year program per device you get in fact an aggregate of 9 independent claims for 3 devices at even better value.