January 24, 2025 at 7:49 am

Cell Phone Owner Waited Too Long To Report A Cracked Screen To The Insurance Company, But The Company Decided To Process The Claim Anyway When They Hinted At Doing More Damage

by Jayne Elliott

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance/Pexels/Towfiqu barbhuiya

If you buy an expensive new cell phone, you might also decide to opt into the optional insurance policy so you can get a new phone or get your phone repaired if anything happens to it.

If you decide to do this, make sure you read the fine print, because the person in today’s story found out the hard way that there’s a time limit on reporting claims to the insurance company.

Read how this person found a clever way to get the insurance company to help even though the damage technically was no longer covered by the policy.

You’re going to love it!

Insurance Rep Insists on Following the Rules—Until She Realizes the Cost

Back in the mid 2010s, I had my phone insured through a premium bank account.

The deal was simple: pay a fixed excess, and they’d either repair or replace your phone.

The excess was the same whether it was a cracked screen or a full replacement, so it seemed like a solid arrangement.

It seems like this should be covered by the insurance policy.

One day, I cracked my phone screen.

It still worked fine, and I had a holiday coming up, so I decided to wait until I got back to file a claim.

When I finally called the insurance company, the representative asked when the damage had happened, so I told her honestly.

That’s where the trouble started.

Turns out there’s a time limit to report claims.

She explained that I’d waited too long to report the damage.

There was a time limit for claims—around 10 days—and I’d missed it.

I explained that the phone was still usable, and I’d needed it for my trip, but she wouldn’t budge.

Rules were rules, she said, and my claim was invalid.

Her tone was borderline smug.

They got an idea but needed additional information first.

Fine, I thought. Let’s try some preemptive MC.

Me: “What should I do if the phone gets damaged further?”

Rep: “You’d need to call us back and file a new claim. But make sure it’s within the time frame.”

Me: “Got it. And I can’t include the existing screen damage, right?”

Rep: “Correct. The new claim would have to be for unrelated damage.”

The problem could be even worse.

She seemed oblivious to where this was going, so I pressed on.

Me: “So how likely is it that a cracked screen could lead to water damage? If water got in and fried the motherboard, you’d most likely have to replace the whole phone, right?”

There was a long pause.

That supervisor made the right decision.

Then she said she needed to speak to her supervisor.

When she came back, her tone had changed.

Suddenly, they were willing to overlook the missed time frame and process my original claim for the cracked screen…

I expected them to follow through with actually breaking the phone, but I’m glad it didn’t have to come to that.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This reader thought the story would end differently.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

One mom did exactly what the reader above suggested.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

They could’ve made an excuse not to cover the water damage.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

This person would’ve played it differently.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

Here’s a similar story about a cracked windshield.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

If you’re clever, there’s often a way to make the insurance company pay!

The rules only get you so far.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.