When you’ve bought something using your card it will be protected against loss, theft or accidental damage.
Credit card Purchase Protection is a feature that many Australian credit card holders now enjoy. It is a complimentary extra on many cards, often accompanied by other “shopper’s insurance” policies such as extended warranty and guaranteed pricing schemes.
If you have purchase protection you can enjoy peace of mind when making purchases with your credit card. However, you need to read and fully understand the terms and conditions so that you know what is included and what is not, and any other attached conditions.
What does purchase protection entail?
Purchase protection offers you 90 days (or occasionally 120 days) of insurance on most new personal products purchased with your credit card. The insurance normally covers you against loss, theft and accidental damage. There are qualifying circumstances and certain goods are exempt from protection.
The provider may either provide a replacement or repair for the product in question, or refund the purchase price.
Are there different types of purchase protection?
The various providers have different terms and conditions for their cards, stating which purchases qualify for cover and under what circumstances the benefits will be provided. Some providers also have specific eligibility criteria that must be met, such as the minimum price paid for the product. Others may include restrictions on purchase location. Read the fine print to fully understand the purchase protection offered by your provider.
Retain proof of purchase
When making purchases with credit cards that are eligible, it is important to keep your receipt. You will need it in most cases to make a claim. This is only one of the documents you may be required to provide to support your claim.
Where to make your claim
Keep in mind that the credit card provider is not itself the insurer, merely offering the complimentary policy in conjunction with a partner insurance company. Therefore, in the case of a claim, you will need to contact the insurer linked to the card directly instead of contacting your credit card provider.
Compare the cover
To compare the purchase protection offered by competing cards, keep the following details in mind:
Most gold, platinum and black cards will come with complimentary purchase protection insurance, usually as just one policy in a suite of shopper’s and travel insurance cover. You may even find purchase protection included in some cards with a very low or zero annual fee.
Credit card purchase protection is a complimentary insurance policy attached to a credit card, providing a period of cover against loss, theft or accidental damage for most new items purchased using the credit card.
There is no cost for credit card purchase protection. It is a complimentary insurance policy attached to some credit cards.
No. Most (but not all) personal (i.e. non-business) gold, platinum or black cards will have purchase protection included. Some lower-level cards also have this type of complimentary policy.
In most cases cover is extended for a period of 90 days from the purchase date, but a very small number of premium cards offer 120 days of cover.
Typically, the item must be new, and intended for personal use (which means that purchases for business purposes are not covered). Some types of items are usually excluded. The exclusion list may include animals and plants, cash, traveller’s cheques, tickets, perishable items, motor vehicles, antiques, computer software and services.
The amount you can claim for a single item is limited to the actual purchase price you paid using your card, after deducting any compensation you can receive by other means, such as a warranty on the item or a claim against a transit company. There may be a fairly low individual limit (such as $2,500) for an item classified as jewellery, a watch or fine art. Additionally, there may be an annual claim limit, such as $100,000.
It usually doesn’t matter whether you bought the item in a physical store or on the internet. Some policies may exclude goods purchased overseas.
You need to lodge a claim directly with the card issuer’s partner insurance company, not with the card issuer, and this must normally be done within 30 days of the loss, theft or damage. Details on how to make a claim may have been supplied in a printed booklet sent by the card issuer when you first opened the account. Alternatively, you can usually find information about the claims procedure online, as a link in your card’s web page.
You will need a receipt or other written proof of purchase of the item with your card, showing the date and amount paid. As well as this you must prove your loss, and a police report may be necessary. In the case of a claim for damage, the damaged item must be retained for inspection if required.
The insurer will have a dispute resolution procedure, set out in the purchase protection policy documentation received with the card, or available online.
