13 Million Brits Have Had Smartphone Damage in the Past Year

LONDON – December 15, 2020

Brits who have dropped their smartphones on the pavement or into a  swimming pool are far from alone. A new survey by SquareTrade, an Allstate company, found that 23  million Brits have damaged a smartphone at some point, with 13 million having a mishap in the past 12  months.

The SquareTrade Mobile Mythconceptions Study looked at the common causes of smartphone damage, along with consumers’ attitudes toward repairing and replacing their phones. It found that while Brits believe only 40% of smartphone owners have had an accident that required repair, 51% have actually  had damage that needed repairs. 

In the past year, damaged screens (36%) led the list of most common types of smartphone damage.  Damaged corners and sides (12%) were second, with battery failure coming in third (11%). Other study  highlights:  

• Mythconception versus reality: Sixty-eight percent of people in the U.K. think smartphone repairs  cost £150 or less. In reality, an uninsured iPhone 12 screen repair costs £266.44 on average, and an  uninsured Samsung Galaxy S20 screen repair costs £229 on average. 
• Repair or replace? Sixty-one percent of owners have avoided fixing a broken smartphone because of  high repair costs, while 32% avoided repairs due to worries about low-quality work. Most often,  people choose to upgrade phones instead, with 60% saying they would buy a new phone rather than  get a damaged phone fixed.  
• Don’t be seen with a cracked screen: Fifty-six percent think being seen with a cracked screen is  unprofessional, and 42% admit being embarrassed by it. Twenty-eight percent have tried to hide  cracked screens in public.  
• Swipe at your own risk: Seventeen percent have cut their fingers on damaged screens.  ∙ Case in point: Seventy-six percent of smartphone owners keep their device in a case. However, 14%  say they have dropped and damaged a phone even when it was in a case.  
• Climate concerns: Forty-seven percent of people say the environmental impact of owning a  smartphone is extremely or very important to them. Although 57% say they know how to recycle an  old or broken smartphone, only 17% typically do so.  
• Old phones stay home: Only 14% sell their old phones. Sixty-six percent have an old smartphone in  their house, and 40% have two or more. Over one-third (36%) say they typically keep old phones as  a backup. However, of those with an old smartphone in their house, 79% have at least one that  hasn’t been used in four or more years. 

“Our survey found that many people underestimate the frequency of smartphone damage and the cost  of repairs. Many opt to use damaged devices rather than seek repairs, suffering through embarrassment  and even bodily harm to their fingers," said Kevin Gillan, Managing Director SquareTrade Europe. "We 
recommend that consumers invest in cases and screen protectors and consider protection plans to help  with repair costs. Considering how much we use our phones every day, it’s worth it.”

SquareTrade is one of the world’s leading providers of protection services, managing more than 100  million active policies globally. For more information on how to keep smartphones safe and avoid hefty  out-of-pocket repair costs with a protection plan, visit squaretrade.com.  

SquareTrade Mobile Study Methodology and Data Sources  

The SquareTrade 2020 Repair Study was conducted online in August 2020 using Rep Data among a  sample of 1,012 adults in the United Kingdom. Data was weighted to ensure representativeness of the  general population. Population estimates are based on midyear 2019 U.K. Office of National Statistics – Estimates of the population for the U.K., England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.