There is now a proposed law that would mandate mobile phone network service providers to offer insurance coverage for mobile phones.
Para?aque City representative Eric L. Olivarez is author of HB 4303 or “The Mobile Phone Insurance Act”.
“Mobile phone insurance may seem trivial at first, but considering the prevalence of snatching, robbery and theft in the country, especially in Metro Manila where almost all people own mobile phones and majority of said owners have high end models, surely mobile phone insurance can be a good cost-saving solution for the public,” Olivarez argued.
Olivarez pointed out the increasing number of people availing of monthly plans for their high end mobile phones and gadgets and, whether they have the phone in the possession or not, they still are liable for the 24 months line rental.
“Getting one’s phone stolen, broken, destroyed or otherwise lost can be such a hassle and can cause unnecessary expenditures on the part of the user,” the author said, adding that “insuring one’s phone is a simple way to protect oneself against the expense and inconvenience of having to replace mobile phones.”
He further pointed out that in many countries, they already required their respective carriers to offer mobile phone insurance to their customers or clientele.
“In the Philippines, however, little is known or heard of this kind of insurance and the benefit of which is not being emphasized enough to help mobile phone users make a well-informed decision regarding the same,” Olivarez added.
Records from January to November in 2009 alone, the National Telecommunications Commission said it received a total of 813 actual cases of missing cellular phones, a figure 10-percent higher compared to the previous year.
In the same year, Metro Manila registered the highest number of cases at 785. The total figure does not even include numerous unreported incidents of cell phone losses.
“The said statistics have been constantly increasing as the years went by, reaching more than 1,500 cases of reported missing phones for the year 2013, with Metro Manila still being the area with the highest cases considering its population and the lifestyle of the people,” Olivarez added.
The bill is now under consideration by the Committee on Transportation chaired by Catanduanes represenative Cesar V. Sarmiento.
