Everyone loves their phone, but more people would miss their mobiles than their pets, according to new research from Lifeline, the insurance division of the Carphone Warehouse.
A whopping 66% of those surveyed said losing their mobile would make them "upset", while only 64% said the same of losing their pets.
In fact, 27% of people went as far as to describe their mobile as "a treasured possession", and 56% admitted their phone was very important to them. The survey also found that women are more attached to their mobiles than men - 69% of women said losing their phone would make them upset, compared to 62% of men.
Anthony Caie from Lifeline commented: "This research proves that people are seriously emotionally attached to their mobile phones and would really miss them if they were lost or damaged. Mobiles don't just contain information it would be inconvenient or embarrassing to lose, such as people's phone numbers or personal text messages - increasingly they hold items of sentimental value, such as photos, videos and music. Phones nowadays are highly valuable and expensive items.
"What we find surprising is that more people don't take insurance against the risk of losing their phone. The most recent British Crime Survey found that 800,000 people had had their mobile stolen in a 12 month period. Our own research found that nearly a quarter of people have had a mobile stolen or lost for good, so there is unfortunately a pretty high chance that this will happen to you. Insurance is the best policy to ensure you are safe, not sorry.
Many people think their mobile phone is covered on their household insurance, but Carphone Warehouse has recently commissioned independent research showing that 84% of household insurance policies don't cover mobiles phones as standard, and an incredible 98% of insurers don't cover you for calls made on your stolen mobile. And when unauthorised calls are made, we find the average bill for our customers is £186, so we strongly encourage all mobile phone users to insure themselves against the worst happening."
In fact, 27% of people went as far as to describe their mobile as "a treasured possession", and 56% admitted their phone was very important to them. The survey also found that women are more attached to their mobiles than men - 69% of women said losing their phone would make them upset, compared to 62% of men.
Anthony Caie from Lifeline commented: "This research proves that people are seriously emotionally attached to their mobile phones and would really miss them if they were lost or damaged. Mobiles don't just contain information it would be inconvenient or embarrassing to lose, such as people's phone numbers or personal text messages - increasingly they hold items of sentimental value, such as photos, videos and music. Phones nowadays are highly valuable and expensive items.
"What we find surprising is that more people don't take insurance against the risk of losing their phone. The most recent British Crime Survey found that 800,000 people had had their mobile stolen in a 12 month period. Our own research found that nearly a quarter of people have had a mobile stolen or lost for good, so there is unfortunately a pretty high chance that this will happen to you. Insurance is the best policy to ensure you are safe, not sorry.
Many people think their mobile phone is covered on their household insurance, but Carphone Warehouse has recently commissioned independent research showing that 84% of household insurance policies don't cover mobiles phones as standard, and an incredible 98% of insurers don't cover you for calls made on your stolen mobile. And when unauthorised calls are made, we find the average bill for our customers is £186, so we strongly encourage all mobile phone users to insure themselves against the worst happening."