Credit card purchase assurance & extended warranty

When people look at their credit card benefits, they typically focus on things such as travel medical or rental car collision/loss damage insurance. It's no surprise, since those types of coverage can be essential.

But have you checked if your credit card offers purchase assurance and extended warranty as benefits?

What are purchase assurance and extended warranty insurance?

They help protect your purchases, as long as you paid for the items in full using a credit card that includes those benefits.

You should be able to avoid paying for repairs or replacements when your purchases are covered. You just need to know how your insurance works and the steps for making a claim.

How purchase assurance works

If your credit card includes purchase assurance, new purchases made with the credit card are covered against loss, theft or damage on most new items for 90 days from the date of purchase. There's usually a lifetime maximum of $60,000 when making purchase assurance claims, but hopefully you never need to make claims anywhere near that amount.

The nice thing about purchase assurance is that it's applied automatically to your purchase. However, it doesn't cover things such as cash, coins, tickets, art, pre-owned or used items, perishables, automobile parts and more. 

For more information on what's covered under purchase assurance, refer to your credit card certificate of insurance.

How extended warranty works

Extended warranty is one of the best credit card benefits out there, but many people forget they have it. When you make a credit card purchase that includes an extended warranty, your manufacturer's warranty is typically doubled up to one additional year. That means if the manufacturer's warranty is one year, your extended warranty will cover you for up to two years from the time you made the purchase.

To qualify for your extended warranty coverage, you need to charge the full purchase price to the card with the extended warranty benefit. Similar to purchase assurance, there's usually a maximum lifetime amount of $60,000 when making extended warranty claims through your credit card.

Making a claim

When making a claim, you need to notify the insurer as soon as possible, but before you do that, you want to make sure you have the right documentation. Generally speaking, you'll need two pieces of information: 

• A copy of the purchase receipt for the item the claim is for 
• A copy of your credit card statement that shows the purchase

Finding the original receipt can be tricky, since many people toss it out right away. It's a good habit to either get digital receipts or take a picture of your receipts in case you need to make an insurance claim later.

Finding the credit card statement that shows your purchase is easier than you think, since most credit card providers allow you to order previous statements in digital form.

Depending on what type of claim you're making, you may also be required to provide a police report or send in your damaged insured item.

Once you've submitted all the documents, and it's been verified that your eligible item is covered under the policy, the insurer will provide instructions on how to proceed with any repairs or issue you a cheque for the full amount you paid.

A potential money saver

Although making a purchase assurance or extended warranty claim requires a little bit of work and some planning from the start, the money you get back is usually worth the effort.