Lost or stolen phone

If your phone goes missing and you are with Three, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone, EE or O2, you should only have to pay a maximum of £100 for any unauthorised use outside of your allowance – if you report your phone as missing within 24 hours.

If you are with Vodafone and you miss the 24-hour window but report your phone as missing within five days, you should only have to pay up to £500 for unauthorised use outside of your allowance.

Treat your phone as carefully as you would your bank or credit cards.

Take care when using your phone in public and don't let it out of your possession. Make sure you put a passcode on both your handset and SIM to make it harder for thieves to use.

Follow these steps to keep your phone safe and prevent unauthorised use:

• Make a record of your phone's IMEI number, as well as the make and model number. The IMEI is a unique 15-digit serial number which you will need to get the phone blocked. You can get your IMEI number by keying *#06# into your handset or by looking behind your phone battery.
• Think about barring calls to international and premium rate numbers to make your phone less useful to thieves.
• Some mobile insurance policies provide cover for unauthorised use, so check the terms and conditions of your existing policy, or when looking at a new policy.
• Download an app which can trace your phone if it is lost or stolen, or wipe details from it remotely.
• Register your phone with Immobilise, a database which helps the police to identify the owners of property, such as phones, that they recover.

Ofcom's guide to keeping your smartphone secure is a useful source of advice on how to protect yourself from phone crime.

• Contact your provider as soon as possible, ideally within 24 hours. They can then bar your SIM to stop calls being made on your account and can also stop anyone else from using your phone by blocking its IMEI.
• You can also request a replacement SIM (with your existing phone number on it) without also having to buy a new contract for calls and data. Your provider will be able to tell you the cost of the SIM, but typically it will be zero or low.
• You are also free to purchase a replacement handset from a retailer other than your mobile provider, including retailers that specialise in selling reconditioned handsets and devices. Buying a handset without a contract is likely to be more affordable than buying a new contract.
• If you have mobile phone insurance, let your insurer know as soon as possible.
• If you activated findmyiphone/Android Device Manager on your phone, you may be able to locate your phone and erase content remotely.