£50k bill for Scottish parliament's stolen mobile phone without insurance

A mobile stolen from the Scottish parliament building has highlighted the need for mobile phone insurance after thieves racked up a £50k bill.

28/11/2006 10:11:09

A thief has run up a bill of over £50,000 on a mobile phone that was stolen from the Scottish Parliament, bringing the importance of mobile phone insurance to the fore. The phone, used as a general staff phone, went missing in 2004 when the parliament moved to its new Holyrood base. However, the theft only came to light earlier this year when a bill of £50,525 was discovered and the mobile phone operator, Vodafone, highlighted the excess use to the Scottish authorities. A report by the Scottish parliament watchdog, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, brought the loss and the huge phone bill to light.

When buying a mobile, consumers are often offered mobile phone insurance from the dealer as part of the contract package. However, these deals have received criticism for not offering customers the best levels of insurance cover or the best value. Industry experts advise customers to shop around more carefully for mobile phone insurance to get good value on both price and cover. Policies can provide cover for the handset itself as well as calls made by a thief. However, different policies offer very different levels of protection.

One option, recommended by the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA), is to add any mobile phone, especially if it is an expensive model, to a home contents insurance policy, which can prove cheaper than some specialist phone policies. BIBA also warns that a mobile phone left unattended in public may not be covered by some policies.

Figures from the Home Office show 1.3 million mobile phones were stolen last year, or one every three minutes. 1.6 million mobiles were simply lost by their owners.

The government is now working with the mobile phone operators to ensure that any phone is blocked within 48 hours of being stolen so thieves cannot run up massive bills, saving a claim on a mobile phone insurance policy.

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