How Do I File a Phone Insurance Claim for Comcast?

Comcast is one of the biggest and most notorious cable and Internet providers in the US. Through Xfinity, they provide many telecommunications products and services to millions of Americans, and also offer protection plans for many of these devices or services.

But although they ostensibly offer insurance coverage to make things easier on the consumer, figuring out how to file an insurance claim (or determining if you even qualify) can be difficult. Furthermore, things are made complicated since Comcast doesn’t provide the insurance protection itself: it uses a third-party insurance company. This guide will break down everything you need to know to file an insurance claim with Comcast or Xfinity. 

Where Does Your Coverage Come From?

As mentioned, Comcast provides insurance coverage for its mobile protection service through a company called Assurant. This is a common third-party insurance provider, so you have to visit their website to file a phone insurance claim and get details about your actual insurance coverage.

Things become a little more complicated if you are looking for online help as an iPhone owner. The Xfinity Mobile Protection Plan, in this case, includes AppleCare: the proprietary maintenance and tech support service maintained by Apple. You can technically try to file a claim through this channel, but you’ll likely just be redirected to Assurant under the details of the insurance agreement.

What Damages Can You File For?

The Xfinity Mobile Protection Plan is the aforementioned insurance option you can benefit from if you’re a Comcast customer. There are a few key differences depending on whether you have an Apple or Android device.

Apple customers get:

• AppleCare services, which is specific technical support and hardware service with genuine Apple parts. Certified repair or replacement also comes from Apple, so your insurance claim will route you straight to the experts
• Coverage for accidental damage. These include damages like drops, cracks, and spills. The protection covers you for anything that isn’t covered under the manufacturer warranty, although it also requires a service fee and deductible
• Hardware service, which is any mechanical or electrical breakdown. Basically, if there’s an issue with the iPhone that you didn’t cause, it’s covered.
• Loss of theft is additionally covered under this protection. This also requires a service fee and deductible.

Android customers are covered from:

• Accidental damage, described above.
• Loss or theft.
• Hardware service.

It’s essentially the same protection package with the exclusion of the AppleCare access. This isn’t much of a dealbreaker considering you’d need to get many of the replacement parts or phones from their proprietary manufacturers anyway. Ultimately, the two coverage plans are mostly similar, although you’d definitely be smart using the AppleCare help if it applies. Specific help for certain products is always better than generic technical advice.

For whatever reason, both of these plans are not available for any customers living in New York.

How Do You Start an Insurance Claim?

You can start an insurance claim for your Comcast stuff in one of two ways. In either case, you have to be the Xfinity Mobile primary account holder, file the claim within 90 days of the incident, have all the identifying information for the device and your account numbers on hand, and be prepared to pay a service fee or deductible. Note that Wisconsin residents enjoy a grace period of up to one year after an incident to file and associated claim.

To file a claim by phone:

• Call 855-884-9771. This will connect you with an Assurant Care Specialist
• They’ll ask for identifying information in order to verify that you’re a legitimate (and the primary) account holder
• They’ll also ask for the ID information for the phone in question, or for the other gadget or piece of equipment
• Then they’ll set up an appointment if it’s determined that a repair specialist should come out to your home. Alternatively, they’ll send you a replacement or give you instructions to send the device into a repair shop for long-distance repair

iPhone users can call 1-800-MY-IPHONE and bypass the Xfinity part of the equation entirely to speak to one of the AppleCare Advisors on hand. This may be faster if you want to take advantage of the AppleCare benefits described earlier. 

To file a claim online:

• Go to Assurant’s website
• Next, you’ll be asked to enter your phone number and other identifying information
• Submit a claim and you’ll either be called or engaged through a chatbox. It’s at this point that the agent will collect more information and determine the best course of action

What Do You Do if the Insurance Company or Cable/Internet Provider is Denying Your Claim?

Ultimately, being able to file an insurance claim is one thing. Having both the insurance provider or your greater telecommunications provider think that your claim is worthwhile is another. It’s far too common that customers, even though they are still within the limits of the warranty or believe that their damage qualifies, are denied insurance coverage. This is more often than not a problem with customer representatives being unhelpful or a blatant attempt by the company to avoid having to pay charges for something they promised.

In either case, it’s not your fault and you do still have options to pursue an effective resolution. FairShake can help. In a nutshell, your contract with Comcast likely has a clause that prevents you from taking them to court over things like this.

But that contract doesn’t prevent you from filing a small claims court lawsuit or taking Comcast to consumer arbitration. In either case, we can provide the legal expertise and grunt work needed to make an airtight presentation and ensure that you get compensation for your difficulties.

At FairShake, we’re dedicated to helping people push back against big companies like Comcast, especially when it comes to breaches in legal promises like insurance coverage. If you’re having trouble filing an insurance claim for something legitimate, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can start by filling out one of the forms below and one of our experts will be in contact shortly.