Tile is reportedly priming to launch a subscription service called Premium Protect that will provide a kind of insurance for its users. For clarity, Tile is effectively an IoT company. It sells minuscule tracking devices that allow users to keep tabs on everything from car keys to backpacks. Or laptops. Or whatever else they want to attach the device to. It connects via Bluetooth and works via a companion app.
Now, the company wants to offer up to $1,000 of insurance for items users are tracking. That’s on top of previously offered premium services. Including cost-free battery replacements and 30-day location history for tracking.
So what can and can’t Tile Premium Protect …protect?
To get started, users will need a subscription, first and foremost. Then they’ll need to log-in and upload photos of the items they want to protect. Those would be the items they’ve attached their Tile fob to. They’ll also need to name the item. That will, upon approval, register the item.
Once registered, the items will be protected with coverage worth up to $1,000.
That doesn’t mean there are no caveats though. Users can protect just about anything, thanks to Tile’s partnership with Cover Genius. But they can’t register prescription or non-prescription drugs, for example. Firearms, pets, antiques, and similar items are among the other objects that won’t be protected.
The service should also work for products that come with Tile pre-installed.
Once registered, users will have to wait to file a claim too. In fact, they’ll have to have been a subscriber for at least 30 days first. And they’ll need to wait for Tile to try — and fail — to find the item over a period of seven days. The Tile device in question will need to have had a working battery when the item went missing. That’s before they even file a claim.
After that, Tile says it will take three to five days before claims are approved and payment received.
How much does this service cost and when is it going to be available?
Once Premium Protect becomes available, it’s understandably going to cost a bit more than the current premium offering from Tile. That other service costs subscribers $29.99 per year or $2.99 per month. The new Premium Protect-branded random item insurance from Tile will cost $99 per year.
Tile will launch the insurance-like IoT service sometime this fall.