If you’re paying for insurance for your cell phone and if that insurance is supposed to cover any damage, you’d think they wouldn’t have any problem covering the replacement of a damaged screen.

The person in this story learned the hard way that filing a claim for a damaged screen came with a time limit, but that wasn’t about to stop them from getting their phone repair covered by the insurance company.

Let’s see what they did.

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.

This phone damage should be covered.

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.

There was a problem.

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.

She had an idea.

Fine, I thought. Let’s try some pre-emptive 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.”

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

The representative finally understood the situation.

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. 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…

That was a smart move!

Threatening to destroy the phone would cost the insurance company more than just replacing a screen.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

It can backfire for customer service reps to bend the rules.

This person would’ve played it differently.

Here’s a similar story about auto insurance.

This person’s mom was determined to get insurance to cover her phone damage.

Insurance companies aren’t as sneaky as their customers!

At least, not this time.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.