It is fascinating how far mobile technology has come; we now carry around more technological capability in our hands than we used to send the first man to the moon.

Mobile phones have taken over our lives with the vast majority of us looking at our phones first and last thing at night.

It comes as no surprise then that we feel a sense of panic when we misplace or damage our precious phones.

To help you get connected again as fast as possible, we have gathered some essential tips for when you need to claim on your mobile phone insurance:

1. Honesty is the best policy – when it comes to claiming on any type of insurance policy, don’t be tempted to lie, even if you did lose or break your handset in an embarrassing situation (such as up the back end of a cow – yes this was a real claim!) Claims investigators will spot fibs a mile off and your claim just won’t go through.

2. Don’t exaggerate – if you make the damage to your handset sound worse than it really is, you’ll be caught out and your claim won’t be successful.

If you’re trying to claim for a replacement handset, when actually a quick fix is all that’s needed, you’ll be left disappointed. This all goes back to being honest.

3. Act quickly – if your phone is lost or stolen, you should report it to the police immediately (not by calling 999, but your local station’s number). You’ll also need to inform your network provider so it can stop unauthorised calls and texts by putting a block on your phone.

You don’t want to end up paying a huge bill that the thief or founder of your phone ran up!

Most insurers only cover the first £100 of unauthorised calls and texts. On that note, if you have a smartphone or a phone that has a pincode feature to access the phone, use it.

Any hurdle left in place for criminals should be used. Some phones, like ones from Apple, also allow you to locate your phone if it has been stolen and put a block on it.

4. Up-to-date policy – it may sound obvious, but make sure you have a mobile phone insurance policy in the first place. Also, if you already have a policy, make sure it’s up-to-date in terms of what handset you have and what is covered.

5. Be clear – when claiming, ensure you provide as much detail as possible. For example, if there’s a fault with your phone or you’ve broken your handset, describe how it happened, what isn’t working or, indeed, what’s fallen off – this will all allow