Iphone 5 and insurance claims

Is it true that with the iphone 5 you have a different process with insurance claims compared to other phones?
Like instead of going to asurion or whatever for exchanges, you have to deal directly with Apple?

and is it worth it to sign-up for apple's insurance thing for 100 a year? Do you have to sign-up at time of purchase or can you think about it later?

The "Apple insurance thing" is AppleCare+ (AC+) and it’s available for iPhones and iPads. It’s $99 for TWO years coverage. Coverage includes the following:

• Extends the manufacturer's 1 year warranty to 2 years.
• Extends telephone Apple's 90 day telephone support to 2 years.
• Covers accidental damage, water damage and almost everything except loss or theft.
• Includes replacement device with same model/storage capacity for up to TWO events in the coverage period for $49 each.

You can get it at the time of purchase or within 30 days of purchase from Apple. If AC+ is not purchased at the same time the device is purchased, Apple may require an inspection to extend coverage.

Is it worth it?

This is an incredibly subjective issue. Your iPhone comes with the basic AppleCare coverage - a 1 year warranty against manufacturing defects. The warranty includes 90 days of phone support (call Apple for assistance with issues/questions, NOT 90 days on the phone).

The AppleCare+ (PLUS) coverage extends the coverage (including the telephone support) for a full 2 years, and also covers accidental damage (breakage, water damage, etc) for $99. The catch is that typically, an "in warranty" replacement due to physical damage (breakage, water damage, etc) for $229. The AppleCare+ will allow you to replace your device TWICE in the coverage period for $49 per incident.

Neither plan covers loss/theft of your device.

So the question becomes one of "how clumsy are you?" If you tend to be accident prone and drop your phone a lot, it may be a good investment for you. It means that for $200 ($99 + $49 + $49), you can replace your phone twice for about the standard charge of replacing your phone once. If you buy it and never use it, then you have wasted the $99 price of the coverage...

Bottom line: Some buy it, some don’t. How accident prone are you?

source: forums.imore.com