Cell Phone Comparison Blog

Around 88% of people these days don’t even step outside without having their mobile phones with them. Given that most of us rely on these ubiquitous devices every day losing one can be a disaster.

Increasinglly compact and lightweight mobile phones mean that they are easily lost, misplaced or fall out of pockets. In 2008 around 200,000 mobile phones went into washing machines, around 600,000 were dropped down the loo and 55,000 were left in the back of taxis.

We must also consider the very real possibility that a phone may be stolen. More than 2 million mobile phones are stolen in the United Kingdom every year. This means that 1 mobile phone is stolen around every 12 seconds and this worrying trend is on the increase.

If a mobile phone is lost there is the initial financial headache of replacement. But there may also be phone bills accrued by a thief between the time the phone was stolen and the time it was eventually disabled. There are also the problems that can be caused by losing contact details and other data from the phone.

It is estimated that fewer than 2 in 10 mobile phone users keep their phone SIM card data backed up to a separate device. Although modern phones come with software that makes it simple to transfer data to a computer still people don’t take advantage of this simple facility.

So what can we each do to protect ourselves and our valuable data against loss or theft?

1. The first thing to do is not to make it easy for a thief to steal your mobile phone. Keep it somewhere secure and don’t ever leave it unattended in the car or anywhere else.
2. Make certain you record the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number of your phone. This is a unique number applied to each and every mobile phone that can be used to disable the mobile phone in the event that it is lost or stolen.
3. Most moble phones can be configured to only operate after a PIN has been entered. While it can be a nuisance to have to enter a PIN each time you want to use your phone this simple step will stop a thief from running up significant call charges on your account.
4. Another simple step is to switch your phone to vibrate mode when in a busy public place in order to ensure that nobody else is alerted when your phone rings.
5. You might consider labelling your mobile phone by engraving your name and car registration details onto your phone and its battery. An alternative is to use a system for attaching unique serial number stickers (as provided by trackitback.com) to your mobile phone as this will help identify the phone if it is lost or stolen.
6. It is worthwhile getting into the habit of backing up your SIM card data frequently. As a general rule you should back up your phone data as often as possible which should be every day if you are updating your contacts or appointments every day.
7. Finally, make certain that you have some mobile phone insurance that provides the protection that you need. There are differences between various mobile phone insurance policies so be certain to read the small print and ensure that the policy suits your requirements.

Hopefully you and your mobile phone will not become one of the future lost or stolen statistics.

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You may also like to protect your income with income protection and don’t overlook the need to protect other devices with some useful gadget insurance.

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