Buying a cell phone is no longer as simple as going to the store and picking one from the display. Like cars, there are now numerous options to choose from, including insurance coverage.

Many cell phone providers in the DeKalb area recommend buying insurance but only if the phone is worth the extra monthly cost.

Curtis Andrews, a retail sales associate at Verizon Wireless, 2387 Sycamore Road, said it is important for consumers to understand most cell phone companies contract out their insurance plans to independent companies and do not profit from the extra charge.

At Best Buy, 2074 Sycamore Road, store associate David Gonzalez said insuring an expensive phone is quite important.

He said he lost his own phone, worth $350, and without insurance, was forced to pay the same amount again to get his phone back.

Many of the Sprint phones Best Buy offers are near $400, so Gonzalez recommends insurance for them.

On the other hand, some Cingular phones the store offers are not quite as much, and so in some cases, it does not make sense to insure them, he said.

All cell phone insurance plans require a monthly payment of about $5, and deductibles on the phones range roughly from $35 to $50. Matt Welch, an associate from US Cellular, 2474 Sycamore Road, said it is just like car insurance.

Gonzalez said purchasing insurance is all a matter of calculating what the long-term cost will be and from there, gauging the financial sensibility of the decision.

Although similar in concept to car insurance, insuring a cell phone is relatively much more expensive. It would be like spending nearly the value of your car each year to insure it.

Cell phone insurance is only worth purchasing if it will not end up costing more than the value of your phone, Gonzalez said.

If a phone is worth less than $100 and insurance is $5 per month with a deductible of $50, the amount of money saved by insuring it is very little. If the phone is damaged late in the year, or beyond a year, it is actually more expensive.

For example, if a phone breaks on the 13th month of the contract, adding together the monthly charges with the deductible equals $115, a loss of $15.

When a person purchases a phone along with a contract, he or she is eligible for rebates that reduce the cost of the phone. If the phone is lost, a person is still bound to the contract, and when a replacement phone is purchased without insurance, it will be at full retail price, Andrews said.

Many customers are choosing phones with extra options, such as cameras, color screens and flip-open phones, so it is of course sensible to purchase insurance on these more expensive phones, Andrews said.

Commonly purchased cell phones

– Sony Ericsson P900: $599-$669

– Sprint VM-A680: $149-$339

– Nextel i730: $149.99

– LG VX6000: $29-$49

*Note that prices vary with activation fees

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com