Expert: DebiN - 7/1/2010

Question
I have a police report from my phone being stolen but i found out i have no insurance, But do you noe if the store will give you the same phone back again or if i at least pay a deductible for the same phone for providing proof of a police report to them?

Answer
Cell phone carriers will only replace your phone if you have insurance. Just like with homeowner's insurance, if your home is robbed, you pay the insurance company a deductible and then they replace what you lost (or the value thereof). If you don't have insurance, you can't get anything replaced. With a cell phone, if you have insurance and pay $3.99 or $4.99 a month for it, then if your phone is lost or stolen, you pay $50.00 (deductible) and they replace it. You don't need a police report or anything else. Your paying that money every month is what finances the replacement. If you don't have insurance and you lose your phone, there's no money that has been paid to cover it, therefore, unfortunately, you will have to pay full price to replace your phone if you are still under contract for 2 years. If your contract is up, then no worries with paying full price for the phone, but you do have to sign a new contract. When you get a new phone, I would strongly recommend getting insurance (you have 30 days to do this when you get the phone, after that, you cannot get insurance at all). It's typically $3.99 or $4.99 a month with a $50.00 deductible if you have to replace the phone, but especially after losing your phone, I would say it's worth it. Filing a police report is honestly unnecessary. The police can't do a thing about a stolen phone nor can they locate it. Just make sure that you have called your carrier to suspend your service until you get a new phone so that the thief can't use your minutes or rack up charges on your phone. I hope this helps.