So you think your phone's insured...

'If you have home contents insurance, your mobile phone is covered as standard in and around your property. This means that if it is stolen in a burglary, or damaged by fire, floods, leaking water or extreme weather, you are insured,' says David Eldridge, household claims manager at Norwich Union. 'For example, if during the recent earthquake your mobile was damaged by bricks or masonry falling through the roof into your home, then you would be covered. Equally, if your bath or shower leaks and your phone is damaged by the overflowing water you are also insured.'

To cover your phone outside the home you would have to take out additional personal-belongings cover as an extension to your home insurance. This covers all items such as mobiles, iPods, cameras and Blackberrys for 'all risks and perils' anywhere in the world. 'This means that your phone would be covered for any mishaps in the home and would also be covered if say, you were out clubbing and lost your phone or were on holiday and it was stolen or damaged by a freak wave,' says Eldridge.

Norwich Union offers personal belongings cover from around £15 a year for £2,000 worth of cover as an extension to its home insurance, with a single article limit of £1,500. However, home insurance will not cover calls made fraudulently if your handset were lost or stolen, and these could add up to hundreds of pounds. Some standalone mobile phone insurance policies will cover these. In the case of Phones4U, the policy covers calls up to the value £10,000 before the phone is reported to the network provider as lost or stolen.

If your phone is stolen, you need to contact both your network provider, so that it can put an instantaneous lock on your Sim, and the police for a crime reference number. If your insurance is with someone other than your phone provider, you will also need to contact your insurance company.

If you do take out insurance and it is with someone other than your network provider don't forget to cancel it at the end of your phone contract or you will carry on being charged.

Mobility checks

· Block access to your phone by setting up a Pin number that must be entered when it is turned on.

· Bar outgoing calls to international numbers if you are unlikely to make any.

· If you are a high-value customer coming to the end of a contract, network providers will often offer to replace a lost or stolen handset rather than lose your business.

· Be careful of free insurance offers when you take out a phone contract. These usually last for only two or three months and if you forget to cancel, the cost will be added to your monthly bill.

· Back up all your contacts and pictures; they cannot be replaced if your phone disappears.