Assurance Wireless: A Free Cell Phone and 200 Free Minutes Every Month

Assurance Wireless is the newest free cell phone service being offered to low income Americans. Safelink by Tracfone is the other available free cell phone service, and while they do offer the program in more states than Assurance Wireless at this time, the Assurance Wireless website states they are adding new areas of coverage in the near future. Current states where Assurance Wireless is available at this time:

Florida
Louisiana
Maryland
Michigan
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia

This service is to help low income individuals and families that may not be able to afford a home phone or cell phone. Most people believe you must be receiving some type of Government assistance to qualify which is not the case. According to the Assurance Wireless website you my also qualify if "your household income is at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines". Now, if you are receiving help from the government and are interested in knowing what types of assistance makes you eligible, here is a partial list:

Food Stamps
Medicaid
Medicare
Cash Assistance
Free School lunch for your child(ren)

To get information for your particular state or to apply for the program you may call them at 888-898-4888 or 888-321-5880 to have them either mail you an application or email you one that you may print out. After you fill out the short application you mail or fax it to them to start the process.

After the application is approved you will receive a letter in the mail confirming your acceptance into the Assurance Wireless program. You will then receive the free cell phone pictured above in a separate mailing. You call them at this point, and you will need the account number assigned to you on the letter and your new cell phone handy so that they can set up your phone with the 200 free minutes as well as assign you a cell phone number.

You can also add extra money to your account if say, you are job hunting and know that 200 free minutes won't be sufficient for the month. You may add money to get text messaging as well. Both additional minutes and each text message will cost you .10 cents each, or you may purchase "packs", for example a 200 text message pack costs $5.00. You can do either by using a pay-pal account, your bank card or by purchasing a Virgin Mobile "top up" card at local retailers and calling the card in. So, what comes with your approved application? The Assurance Wireless website states:

A free cell phone
200 free monthly minutes
Caller ID
Voice-mail
Call Waiting

Also, my sister was able to use a Virgin Mobile flip phone for use on her Assurance Wireless plan. You can find out if they are still allowing this by calling them directly. Also, if you think you may qualify or would like to find out for sure, call them at the numbers listed above or visit their website for more information at AssuranceWireless.com.

Federal Lifeline Informtion
http://www.lifeline.gov/lifeline_Consumers.html
Assurace Wireless by Virgin Mobile
http://assurancewireless.com/Public/Welcome.aspx
SafeLink by Tracfone
https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/home.aspx