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I have an android phone with Sprint which I dropped and cracked the screen. I have insurance, and they've already sent me a new phone. However, my old phone is rooted and has CyanogenMod on it. Will they charge me for the full cost of the phone (instead of just the deductible) when they find that my phone is rooted/has CyanogenMod on it? I don't see why they would, because which ROM it had wouldn't prevent the screen from getting cracked, but I want to know if I'll have to flash it back to factory stuff before sending it back to Asurion.

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Let's think about the cost/benefit here; 10 minutes SBFing back to stock could save you the full cost of a phone if it is in fact an issue for the carrier/insurance place. On the other hand, if you SBF back and they don't check/care, then it doesn't matter anyway. – shambleh Aug 3 '11 at 19:58
@shambleh What does SBF mean? Also, I don't have any backups of before I rooted/flashed CM7 (the tutorial I read didn't say to make one) so I'm following this post: android.stackexchange.com/questions/7396/… Would that be good enough? – Che Aug 3 '11 at 20:18
From reading that post, it looks like it should be good, but do some additional investigation. To clarify, SBF files (the file type may be native to Motorola phones while RUU may be what HTC calls them [all: feel free to clarify]) are files which allow you to get your phone back to the stock state. A few Google searches may be in your best interest on how to do this for your phone type so you are armed with some additional knowledge. There may even be some vids on YouTube that go through the process. – shambleh Aug 4 '11 at 1:46

2 Answers

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In most (all?) cases, rooting voids your warranty. I would assume that in jurisdictions with sane laws, physical damage clearly caused by the dropping would still be covered; they can't reasonably claim that the rooting caused the damage or would prevent them from fixing it.

That said, most jurisdictions don't have sane technology laws, and most carriers seem to jump at any chance to screw people over for money. If they find out it's rooted, I would expect them to try to charge you the full cost. So unroot / flash stock if you can.

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4  
I doubt they're going to even look. If it's salvageable, they'll probably send it out for a refurb. If so, it'll get wiped. – Al Everett Aug 3 '11 at 19:41
Agreed. I should have expanded on my if. – Matthew Read♦ Aug 3 '11 at 19:45
up vote 0 down vote

I have rooted every phone I've ever had and they never charge you for rooting it. As already commented, I doubt they even look. Here are some examples:

  1. I used to have Assurion and they never charged me for a rooted phone.
  2. I bought a phone one time, rooted it and returned it. Never heard a peep from them.
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