Damaged or lost phones cost New Zealanders $7.58m a year

The data comes from 35,899 contents insurance claims from State Insurance.

Damaged and lost mobile phones cost New Zealanders an average of $7.58m (NZ$13.5m) every year, State Insurance reveal.

The figure is based on the 35,899 contents insurance claims State received for mobile phones over the past two and half years – adding up to an average of 33 every day.

According to State’s claims data, they are the item New Zealanders are most likely to make a contents insurance claim for.

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Meanwhile, a national survey conducted by the State and Ipsos found that New Zealanders tended to own phones valued between NZ$1,000 to NZ$1,600 but only 43% have it insured under a contents insurance policy.

The same survey also found that 35% of respondents had repaired or replaced their phone at least twice in the past five years, and 8% at least three times.

Gen-Z is the generation most likely to find themselves phoneless. 62% of 18–24-year-olds have had to repair or replace a mobile phone in the past five years due to damage, loss, or theft.

Comparatively, only 42% of the general population have found themselves in the same situation.

The more mature New Zealanders were least likely to have lost or damaged their phone. Only 24% of those 70+ years of age had repaired or replaced a mobile phone in the past five years due to damage, loss, or theft.