Buy / Upgrade Phone Instead of Insurance Claim

[oonker]

Is it possible to buy / upgrade a phone for $100 instead of making the $100 insurance claim? My phone (GS3) was destroyed by a snowblower after falling out of my pocket yesterday. I was wondering if it is possible to get a new phone for the $100 2yr price (extending my contract is not a problem) instead of having to file a claim for the same price for a lesser phone. I have a family plan and my brother is next in line for the upgrade, so I would prefer not to use the upgrade for this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Ann154]

Is your line eligible for an upgrade?

[oonker]

Not until August, but I was told since we have the family plan we can use whichever upgrade comes sooner. But, like I said above, my brother is next to get an upgrade. He's getting sick of his iPhone 4s haha

[rcschnoor]

You will not get a phone equivalent to the GS3 for $100 from Verizon UNLESS you use a discounted upgrade. You could get a used one from a site such as swappa.com for less than the full retail cost you would be paying at Verizon, though.

[rcschnoor]

You could, however, look into getting a new phone with Verizon's Device Payment Plan if you qualify. This would not change your contract end date or your eligibility for a discounted upgrade in August.

[oonker]

Thanks, I'm going to stop by the store after work. Just wanted to know what my options were before getting there and wasting a bunch of time.