Orange insurance

[oscar21]

I signed up for a new phone with orange a few months ago in the Orange shop, at the time I was asked if I wanted phone insurance and it would be £6 per month. I said yes of course. WhenI got my bills I noticed that the £6 had not been taken off, I did mean to ring them and query it but just never got round to it, now the phone has been damaged. However when I looked at my contract, sure enough the insurance option is ticked and £6 per month has been entered into the box. Before I ring them where do I stand with this, after all its them collecting the money via direct debit every month, who am I to know how and when they collect the insurance money. With my O2 (CPW) phone its via a seperate CPW direct debit, and is not shown on the phone bill.
Its hard enough trying to get anything out of Orange in the first place, never mind this.

[path_finder]

You have several options on how to get the best solution.

Firstly you could ring customer services and ask them to add insurance to your account without mentioning the fact that your phone is damaged, this can be done on the IVR without speaking to an operator.

Secondly you could call customer services and say that you had requested insurance at the point of purchase and offer to fax them the contract as you were under the impression that you had been paying for it.

Thirdly you could call them, report your phone damaged and take the emergency insurance which incurs a penalty charge.

[buzby]

Since many insurance deals preovide an element of free (unpaid) cover, it would be reasonable to assume that as it's on your contract you'll be paying for it sometime. I wouldn't go the IVR route to try to 'add' it. That implies skulduggery - your paperwork says you bought it, you asked for it and you can prove it. Make your claim with impunity! (PS - if it is water damaged, it might not be covered!).

[bed32]

If you asked for the insurance and have the paperwork to prove it then work on the assumption that you have the insurance and go ahead and make a claim. Leave it for them to worry about whether or not you've actually paid for it.

The good news is that FOS can now investigate issues relating to mobile phone insurance so Orange will need to play by the rules on this one.