[Green314]

Always wait until the end.

It's not often that a refund Is Issued whilst an Investigation Is still In progress.

You've got nothing to lose by waiting for their response, so to play It safe, wait until you receive confirmation that It's been finalized. As such, they'll have no reason to reference your claim, hence you can do as you please with your phone.

Thanks for your response. Out of interest, is it possible for them to know that I am using the phone and subsequently block it in some way?

I don't have any proof of this so this is just my opinion.
At the moment I think only Apple might do it, since it has a better control over their devices. Perhaps PIXEL by Google too, but I'm not sure.
With all other brands I think they can't / don't want.