UK Mobile Device Market 2025: Insurance Attachment Patterns and the Refurbished Collapse
Annual consumer survey reveals brand and channel dominance, product availability gaps, and underserved segments. Part 2 of 2: Insurance attachment patterns (n=1,001)
Key finding: Refurb insurance attachment collapsed 90% year-on-year from 6.0% to 0.6%, whilst the offer rate gap widened from 2.4x to 3.4x—traditional retail achieved zero refurb insurance conversions despite 9.5-12.3% attachment on new devices, confirming product availability rather than demand as the primary barrier.
Last week’s article concluded that the survey results provided further evidence of structural shifts in the UK device market. Average device lifecycles continue to lengthen towards 3.67 years which, without an OEM response, could see new sales drop by 8%. Apple dominates refurbished sales with 56.5% share on the back of a total 43.1% market share. Channel consolidation concentrates refurbed device distribution in marketplace platforms accounting for 46.1% of sales.
These shifts also matter for insurance distribution. In my survey last September (n=500) I established that customers buying new phones were more likely to see an insurance offer than refurbished buyers; when offered, new phone customers showed 40% higher attachment rates and; new device buyers were 2.4 times more likely to acquire insurance cover post-device purchase. The 2024 findings pointed to offer rate as the primary barrier to adoption rather than consumer willingness.
This year’s expanded survey (n=1001) tests whether these patterns remained stable or if there’s change afoot. Did the offer rate gap between new and used devices persist? Which channels achieve the highest insurance attachment rates? How does Apple’s refurb dominance affect the addressable market size? What does the large quality focused refurbished segment mean for insurance distribution?
The Three Gaps
UK Mobile Phone Insurance Market 2025: Key Metrics
- Sample Size: n=1,001 UK consumers
- New Device Attachment Rate: 8.0% (2024: 8.4%)
- Refurb Device Attachment Rate: 0.6% (2024: 6.0%)
- Offer Rate Gap: 3.4x (2024: 2.4x)
- New Device Offer Rate: 35.2% (2024: 38.0%)
- Refurb Device Offer Rate: 10.4% (2024: 16.0%)
- Post-Purchase Acquisition (New): 2.2% (2024: 6.0%)
- Post-Purchase Acquisition (Refurb): 0.0% (2024: 2.5%)
- Existing Coverage: 31.6% of consumers
Source: Finsur UK Mobile Device Market Survey, October 2025
First up, a reminder that the “offer rate” from the survey is the customer perception of being offered an insurance policy. It doesn’t mean insurance wasn’t available but it might mean the customer didn’t see it. So, consumer myopia might be the reason for a significant drop in the refurb insurance “perceived offer rate” which fell from 16% in 2024 to 10.4% this time around. The rate on new devices also fell, but less precipitously, from 38% in 2024 to 35.2% this year. This means that the offer rate gap has widened from 2.4x to 3.4x.
Logically, the attachment rate gap can only reflect this change, and it does. The average attachment rate for new devices in 2024 was 8.4% which has declined slightly to 8.0% this year. The associated attachment rate for refurb devices fell from 6.0% to 0.6%, a 90% year-on-year decline. That’s awful.
Unfortunately, at least according to the survey, there’s even worse news for the post-purchase market. Refurb post-purchase acquisition disappeared entirely, falling from 2.5% in 2024 to 0.0% this year. New device post-purchase sales also declined significantly, dropping from 6.0% in 2024 to 2.2%. If the survey reflects nationwide behaviours, direct insurers will be having a tough year.
Continue reading for:
Channel Performance analysis including offer rates and attachment by retail type
Brand Patterns: Apple’s 11.8% vs Samsung’s 8.2% attachment breakdown
Price Point and Demographic Analysis
Market Implications: the £38m refurb opportunity and £11-27m untapped revenue
Also available as a standalone pdf here.