New York: A new consumer data released today shows that mobile phone insurance is an A+ back-to-school "must have” in United States, as parents surveyed replace more than one mobile phone per child each year.
According to cell phone protection firm - Asurion, forty-eight percent of high school and college-age students required a replacement device in the last 24 months. The majority of broken or misplaced mobile phones occurred at school (27%), while incidents at home (24%), outside (15%) and at friend's houses (14%) proved similarly dangerous for a student's favorite mobile life-line.
Students lead active lifestyles, as shown in the laundry list of ways their mobile phones crossed over to the dark side, including running/playing (35%), near water (18%), cleaning (18%), sports (17%), watching sports (10%) and yard work (2%).
"Parents purchase mobile phones as a way to maintain direct contact while their kids are away from home," said Taylor Gibbs, a recent college graduate, guest blogger at Gotta Have My Mobile , and public relations representative at Asurion. "As kid's lifestyles become more active, the risk of losing or damaging their phone increases dramatically. Since asking kids to leave their phone at home is not an option, parents should consider insurance through their wireless carrier as a way to ultimately protect their pocketbooks."
Fifty-percent of students and forty-three percent of parents surveyed believe a replacement device costs less than $200; however, in reality, replacement devices such as the Apple iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S III cost more than two and three times that, totaling $650 and $550 respectively.