A company that insures laptop and smartphones may keep the day foriPhoneowners worry about their pricey handsets getting steal or damaged .

The just - introduced twist costs $ 499 or $ 599 reckon on memory board and has a slippy , rounded design with a glass touchscreen that cover up most of its face . Yet AT&T , the exclusive mobile operator for the phone , wo n’t sell insurance policy for it . And although Apple offer the AppleCare extended warrantee for almost all its computer hardware products , the plan is not yet useable for the iPhone . ( Apple says it will start offer AppleCare for the headphone some fourth dimension this calendar month . ) Some participants on the electric cell - phone siteHowardForumssaid they were disappointed those type of reportage were n’t available .

Now , a third company is think about stepping in . A flood lamp of potential customers have contactedSafeware , The Insurance Agencyabout getting their iPhones insure , said Matt Wagner , executive vice president and cosmopolitan counsel of the Columbus , Ohio , company . Safeware has been in patronage insuring PCs since 1982 and bulge out covering smartphones a few age ago , Wagner said .

Before the iPhone kick the bucket on sales agreement in the U.S. last Friday , Apple ’s secrecy made it difficult to evaluate , he articulate .

“ Now that it is eject , we ’re kind of scrambling to find out if it ’s something we want to get into or not , ’ Wagner enunciate . Availability of office and fixture facility are among the issue the insurance firm is examining .

Safeware ’s portable electronics insurance covers accidental harm , theft , vandalism , power surges and natural disaster in the U.S. and Canada , according to the company ’s WWW site . Coverage includes both the gadget and pre - installed package , and on a received policy there is no deductible . To insure a $ 600 twist similar to a smart phone today , Safeware typically charges $ 85 per year , said marketing manager Mike Cole .

AT&T prices its policies , provided by insurance company Asurion , at $ 4.99 per month . But the iPhone is so expensive that insurance for it would be too pricey for AT&T to market to consumer , the carrier said . For the same reason , AT&T wo n’t sell insurance policy for Palm Treo , Research in Motion BlackBerry and some other high - remainder handsets . Rival Verizon Wireless , by contrast , will insure any phone it sells . Also working through Asurion , it charges $ 4.99 per calendar month with a $ 50 deductible .

The iPhone does come with a one - year Apple warranty against “ defects in materials and workmanship under normal use , ” according to Apple ’s WWW website . AppleCare , when available , will extend that reporting for as long as two additional yr . Apple has n’t suppose how much it will be . Customers will have to signalize up for AppleCare while the initial warranty is still in effect .

To help customer remain connected while the iPhone is being sterilize , Apple can provide an AppleCare Service Phone that can be send from Apple or picked up at the Apple Store . But the loaner does n’t amount gratuitous : There ’s a prostrate $ 29 “ religious service fee , ” plus additional charges if the exploiter does n’t generate it on time after they get their own speech sound back . And as a warrant , AppleCare wo n’t get you a young iPhone if yours is damaged by fortuity or stolen .

Many people would n’t need to take out a separate policy for an iPhone , according to theInsurance Information Institute . Most homeowner ’s or tenant ’s policy would cover larceny or damage to the phone , even if it were steal from their gondola , state Mike Barry , a spokesman for the radical . However , Safeware ’s Wagner say those policies typically do n’t cover a portable electronic gimmick out of doors of the proprietor ’s base or car .

Ironically , while AT&T wo n’t insure the iPhone because it ’s too expensive , the Institute think the iPhone would n’t be worth a separate policy because it is n’t valuable enough .

“ It really would n’t make much economic signified to have a insurance policy take out on an individual basis for the iPhone , ” he said .

Safeware does n’t know when it will decide whether to secure iPhones . But the company is encouraged by grounds of the phone ’s enduringness , such asa series of test PCWorld.com captured on videolast week .

“ That was pretty supporting , seeing it run into the concrete and occur back in one man , ” Safeware ’s Cole said .

Updated at 4 p.m. PT on July 6 , 2007 , to add sample pricing of indemnity .