Unlike your old phone on Verizon, you can’t purchase protection against accidental damage direct from Verizon. Rather than buying AppleCare, which doesn’t cover accidental damage or theft, we suggest you look into a service that sells extended warranties like SquareTrade or a company that sells iPhone insurance like the Worth Ave Group.

Unlike the direct from Apple warranty, a Worth Ave Group iPhone insurance plan covers much more and it can be purchased at any time during your iPhone ownership, not just the first 30 days. Additionally, the iPhone insurance covers a lot more than AppleCare. This is very important because even though you bought the Verizon iPhone for $199, the actual cost to replace it is closer to $700 when you are not signing a new contract.

The Worth Ave Group provided the following Five Ways iPhone Insurance Beats AppleCare:

• Theft protection: The iPhone 4 is a $700 pocket-sized electronic device…one that you leave on tables at coffeeshops, leave unattended in your car, set down for a second as you turn to do something else. That’s all it takes for someone to steal it…and warranties don’t cover theft.
• Accidental damage: Let’s say that you take extra care with your iPhone and never let it leave your side. What about accidents? Drop it or spill liquids on it…and you can kiss your phone goodbye.
• Repairs: Under a warranty, there’s often a clause that in case of damage not covered, you have to have your phone repaired at pre-approved repair shops. Finding these shops and when they’re actually open for business is a pain – and then there’s the cost of the repair itself.
• Refurbishment vs. replacement: Under a warranty, should something under its coverage go wrong, your phone will be replaced – but often with a refurbished unit. With the right iPhone insurance, you could get a new phone – not just “new to you”.
• Acts of God, small children, animals, fate: Sometimes, the completely and utterly expected happens. Fires, floods, lightning strikes, power surges, extreme humidity, small children and curious pets often strike when least expected. Will your warranty cover that?

One additional way that Worth Ave Group sets itself apart is that you can insure refurbished, used and even jailbroken iPhones with the service.

Insuring your iPhone 4 on Worth Ave Group comes with an $89 annual premium, currently discounted to $80.10 with the promo code WAGRULES. If your iPhone fails while you are covered you will pay a $50 deductible and send your iPhone to Worth Ave Group. Worth Ave Group will then send you a check for $600, minus the $50 deductible. The prices and coverage varies based on the iPhone model you want to insure, but if you are getting the Verizon iPhone 4, those are the base prices.

SquareTrade also covers accidental damage with a deductible and may offer a cheaper plan, currently 2 year’s of coverage is on sale for $81, but keep in mind that SquareTrade doesn’t cover theft.

Keep in mind that your current insurance company for home or renter’s insurance may offer a add-on that would cover the iPhone, but there’s something to be said for going with a company that specializes in offering gadget insurance.

Image via DaveOnFlickr

Five Ways iPhone Insurance Beats AppleCare -Verizon iPhone is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

There were 20,000 iPhone 4 accidents in the first four months of the life of the new phone. 4.7 percent of all iPhone 4 owners have reported an accident compared to only 2.8 percent of iPhone 3GS owners in its first four months. The company is guessing that over 15 percent of owners will report an issue in the first year compared to just under 8 percent for 3GS owners.

As Laptop Magazine writer Dana Wollman suggests, Apple cannot be help responsible for people dropping their iPhone. However, if the iPhone 4 design leads to an increase in breaks, then the court of public opinion may hold the company responsible.

Wollman cited the same article from Ryan Block of gdgt that we cited in our previous report of this issue. He offered evidence that suggests the back glass of the iPhone 4 might have a flaw which is exacerbated by slide on cases with particles of dirt or other objects scratching the glass and eventually becoming a full crack.

iPhone 4 Breaks More than Previous iPhones says Squaretrade Study is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Here are the details:

• $13.99 a month via the iTunes App store billed monthly to your credit card on file with Apple
• Insurance from Asurion
• Deductible for an 8GB 3G is $99
• Deductible for a 32GB 3GS will be $199
• The service will be called MobileProtect

Like the Boy Genius said, this seems steep. Of course a brand new 3GS with 32GB of storage runs $699 without contract. So if you paid the $14 a month for 24 months and paid   the $199 deductible to replace your 32GB 3GS you would be saving only $164.

If you are fortunate enough to have just purchased your iPhone, or you plan to upgrade in June like many people will, you might do better to look into a SquareTrade warranty. It costs only $8 a month for 24 months or $96 for 2 years of coverage. They only have a $50 deductible. I got this coverage on my iPad when I bought it. You have only a short time after purchase to buy the insurance however.

A second alternative is Apple Care extended coverage. It extends your warranty to 2 years from the date of purchase. It must be purchased while under the original one year warranty and it costs $69.

Finally, you might want to check with your Home Owner’s policy. Some things might be covered by it. If not, ask about getting coverage for it. Some companies may let you have computer” insurance on a device like the iPhone for a reasonable cost.

AT&T iPhone Insurance and Some Alternatives is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Of major manufacturers, Asus and Toshiba scored the highest in terms of reliability, with HP coming in dead last thanks to an abysmal failure rate of 25.6% in year 3. Premium brands such as Apple and Sony scored above average with respective failure rates of 16.8% and 17.4%.

What does this mean for your next notebook purchase? Well, it all depends on how you use your notebook. Squaretrade was not able to provide usage statistics of the failed notebooks in their care but my personal experience has been that notebooks which are used in mobile settings have a higher incidence of failure. That’s not to say a laptop used primarily on your couch, like my parent’s Gateway, won’t fail from simple around the house use; just that I see more failures from notebooks that do a lot of traveling.

You can minimize the risk to your notebook by using a protective bag and avoid using it in hazardous locations; like near drinks. Since 10% of the failures where accidental you can greatly improve the odds of your notebook living a long life by carrying it carefully and not spilling a drink onto the keyboard!

Before you purchase an extended warranty on your next notebook you should ask yourself whether or not the extra expense is worth it. In general many of the extended warranties offer limited value on netbooks and other sub $500 computers because they cost so much and add little value. You also need to read the fine print and see exactly what a warranty covers because when you need your waterlogged notebook fixed no one is going to care that the salesman told you water damage was covered if it isn’t in the paperwork. If you want protection without paying for an extended warranty you can save yourself some money, literally, by creating your own extended warranty fund.

Image Credit (Flickr user S Baker)

Crash and Burn: 1 in 3 Notebooks fail within 3 years is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.