7 Simple Steps to Look After Your Mobile Phone

Statistics show that around 88% of us don’t leave home without our mobile phones. Reliance on these incredibly popular and useful devices means that losing one can result in some serious headaches.

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.

There is also the growing and worrying risk of theft. There are over 2 million mobile phones stolen in the UK every year. This means that 1 mobile phone is stolen around every 12 seconds and this worrying trend is on the increase.

When a phone is lost there is, of course, the initial financial headache of getting a new replacement. There may be significant call charges amassed during the time between when a phone is stolen and when it eventually gets disabled. Then there is the impact of lost data, especially contacts.

It has been found that fewer than 1 in 5 people who rely on their mobile phones go to the trouble of routinely backing up their phone data. 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 steps can we take to help keep hold of our mobile phones?

1. The first thing is to make it difficult for a thief to actually steal your mobile phone. Keep it somewhere secure and don’t ever leave it unattended in the car or anywhere else.
2. Make certain to record the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number from your mobile phone. This is a unique number associated with every mobile phone that can be used to disable the phone if it has been lost or stolen.
3. You can set your mobile phone to only operate after a configured PIN has been entered. This can be a bit of a nuisance but it will prevent a thief from running up substantial bills 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 rule, if you are adding new contacts and appointments or notes to your phone every day you really should be backing up your phone data 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, by following these simple steps you will avoid becoming one of the lost or stolen mobile phone 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.