According to SuperCover Insurance, iPhone owners smash their old iPhone on purpose when a new model is announced in order to get a free upgrade. SuperCover also says that 40% of all claims are suspicious. Is the iPhone that addicting?SuperCover recently said that it saw a 50% increase in the number of damaged iPhone claims at about the time Apple announced the last upgrade to the iPhone 3GS in 2009.

"While most customers take out insurance because they value their iPhone, we started to notice increases in claims as new and upgraded iPhones were launched," said Carmi Korine, director of Supercover Insurance. "For short periods around new model or upgrade launches, claims to replace lost, stolen or damaged iPhones go through the roof."

Apparently SuperCover's customers can't wait for their contracts to become eligible for free (or cheaper) upgrade prices. Korine indicated that they've received destroyed iPhones that were obviously smashed with a hammer (SuperCover was able to count the hammer blows).

"Very badly damaged iPhones draw attention because they turn up in a state that even being driven over by a car or dropped from a tall building will fail to achieve," Korina said.

Korina added that iPhones are actually somewhat difficult to damage, which means customers have to consider extreme measures if they truly want to break it and hope for an upgrade to a newer device. Luckily, SuperCover said that false claims are pretty easy to spot, and noted that as many as 40% of claims made by iPhone owners are "suspicious." SuperCover didn't indicate how it handles suspicious claims.

Apple hasn't announced a new version of the iPhone since June 2009, but many expect that it will introduce a new model within the next few months. Should SuperCover be worried?

[Via Tom's Guide]