PS5 Insurance: Should you buy insurance for the PlayStation 5? Is PS5 extended warranty worth it?

If you've just bought a brand-new, $499 PlayStation 5 console, paranoia could certainly set in over whether your PS5 will continue to work properly, or if it just breaks altogether.

To ease these concerns, various outlets and websites offer individuals insurance for their technology products that will cover a variety of different circumstances in which your PS5 could potentially break in.

So, is it worth buying, or is it just a big scam? Here's the rundown:

What is PS5 Insurance?

When you buy a new games console, whether in-person or online, you'll often find the store employee/website asks you if you want to pay a bit extra for insurance, which also goes by the name extended warranty.

The payment method for these types of coverage varies by retailer. Sometimes, a one-off payment is all that is required, whereas often annual or monthly subscriptions will require regular, but smaller payments. These prices can vary depending on the retailer and the type of coverage.

It's also worth noting that the PlayStation 5 console, like most tech products, comes with an automatic 12-month warranty included, as PlayStation confirms here.

READ MORE: All the latest PlayStation 5 news!

Should I buy an extended warranty for PS5?

Right off the bat, a monthly or annual warranty for your PS5 is currently a waste of money, given your PlayStation 5 will already be covered by Sony until one year after your purchase. So, for those who bought a PlayStation 5 on the November 12/19 release date, Sony will cover your PS5 until then.

As a new product, the PlayStation 5 could be liable to some particularly egregious faults in the post-launch period. If you want some peace of mind that even if you are unlucky enough to suffer from these issues, you won't have to splash out on a new console, then we'd buying coverage could be for you.

However, this is not to say that your PlayStation 5 will break. Sony is a respected and established brand worldwide, selling millions of game consoles each year for quite some time now. The chances of any major issues remain pretty low- much lower than the average consumer perhaps may expect.

If you do decide to buy extended warranty coverage for your PS5, we'd recommend you ensure it is from a trusted and reliable retailer, such as Argos or GAME in the UK, or Best Buy in the US. It's also crucial that you actually read the terms and conditions for your coverage before agreeing to anything, as quite often the terms are pretty specific and could end up missing out a crucial element of protection- such as theft or accidental damage.

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Some retailers even let you buy insurance specifically for your controllers!

But is it a waste of money? There are certainly arguments to be made that buying any insurance for a games console worth under $500 is unnecessary. The FTC's 2012 guide to Extended Warranty and Service Contracts goes into some of the points in detail.

It's often the case that these Extended Warranty contracts may not cover your specific fault, leaving you with a broken console and less money. Even when a company agrees to fix your console or send you a new one, they often have 'deductibles', alongside shipping fees that could quickly rack up into a large amount of money. As a result, some consumer advocates often recommend putting any extended warranty money into a savings account, and then using that if/when you need to replace or fix a broken device.

Overall, it's hard not be suspicious of salesperson's trying to sell you coverage for the PS5. If you have the money to do so, or are incredibly worried about your console being damaged, it could be worth investing, but otherwise it might not be worth it.

READ MORE: The best PS5 games coming in 2021