Best Credit Cards for Purchase Protection

Credit card purchase protection covers eligible items against damage and theft in the months after you buy them. So, if you have the right credit card and follow the proper protocol, your misfortune could be reversed with a full refund or a repaired/replaced item.

When might credit card purchase protection come in handy? Well, there were 12.8 million cases of property crime in 2019, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. And roughly 1.3 million fires resulted in an estimated $14.8 billion in property damage, according to National Fire Protection Association. So, it’s worth having an extra layer of protection.

But not all credit cards offer purchase protection. In fact, a growing number of credit cards have dropped the purchase protection benefit in recent years. And policies vary widely among those that still offer it. To help you understand what coverage you may already have and whether you need an upgrade, WalletHub compared the 10 largest credit card companies’ purchase protection policies. You can check out our findings below.

Some of the cards listed on this page originate from our partners, but that did not impact our conclusions. Offers are accurate as of Nov 12, 2020.

Best Credit Cards for Purchase Protection

Other Key Findings

Only half of the credit cards from the 10 largest issuers continue to offer purchase protection, and only six issuers have even one card with purchase protection.

Chase credit cards have the best purchase protection coverage.

In 2020, only 23% of cards give purchase protection for up to 120 days – down from 41% in 2019 due to a change in American Express policy.

Items stolen from personal vehicles are the most common type of exclusion from credit card purchase protection (42%).

92% of cards have fully transparent purchase protection policies, while the rest lose points for not disclosing complete benefit terms.

The Coverage You Can Expect

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Detailed Scoring

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Ask The Experts

For more insight into what retailers get from offering purchase protection and how the availability of such coverage affects consumer spending habits, we turned to a panel of leading experts in the fields of consumer psychology and retail studies. You can check out their bios and responses to the following questions below.

1. To what extent are purchase protection plans, which act as insurance against theft or accidental damage, an effective strategy for a retailer?
2. How does a purchase protection plan impact consumer habits?

Methodology

This report is based on public disclosures regarding the price protection policies of the 10 largest credit card issuers in the United States. Information is accurate as of Nov 12, 2020.

Co-branded, student and business credit cards were not evaluated, nor were cards that cannot be applied for online. In situations where policies were incomplete or unclear, we generally contacted the issuer directly, requested verification, and proceeded to update the report as needed. When people apply for some credit cards, there's a chance they could be approved for a different level of benefits than they expect. For example, some applicants may get approved for the traditional Visa version of the card, which has basic benefits, while others could get the Visa Signature version with better benefits. For consistency, we evaluated these cards based on the set of benefits posted for reference along with the card's online application. As a result, it is possible that this report might list a card as not offering the benefit when the perk could be available to people who are creditworthy enough.

Each individual card was scored according to the following criteria:

1. Sign Up – Worth 10% Total

• If there is no sign-up or product registration = 10%
• If there is a one-time sign up requirement = 5%
• If there is an annual sign up requirement = 2%
• If product registration is required for all purchased items = 0%

2. Coverage – Worth 50% Total

A. Coverage & Exclusions – Worth 20%

• For each major category of items excluded from coverage (e.g. jewelry or electronics), we subtracted 6%
• For each minor category of items excluded from coverage (e.g. sports equipment, remote control toys), we subtracted 2%
• Issuers are deducted a maximum of 20% points, even if their exclusions add up to more issuers only lose 20% points

B. Maximum Coverage per Item – Worth 15%

• $2,000+ = 15%
• $1,000 to $1,999 = 12%
• $500 to $999 = 9%
• $250 to $499 = 6%
• $100 to $249 = 3%
• Less than $100 = 0%

C. Maximum Coverage per Year – Worth 15%

• $25,000+ = 15%
• $20,000 to $24,999 = 12%
• $15,000 to $19,999 = 9%
• $10,000 to $14,999 = 6%
• $5,000 to $9,999 = 3%
• Less than $5,000 = 0%

3. Purchase Protection Period – Worth 20% Total

• 120+ days = 20%
• 90 days to 119 days = 16%
• 60 days to 89 days = 12%
• 30 days to 59 days = 8%
• Less than 30 days = 0%

4. Claims – Worth 10% Total

• If filing a claim requires only a product receipt, copies of relevant insurance forms and a filed report for the vandalized / stolen item (if applicable) = 10%
• If filing a claim requires a credit card receipt or card statement, a product receipt, copies of relevant insurance forms and a filed report for the vandalized / stolen item (if applicable) = 5% points
• If filing a claim requires more than a credit card receipt or card statement, a product receipt, copies of relevant insurance forms and a filed report for the vandalized / stolen item (if applicable) = 0%

5. Transparency Score – Worth 10%

A. How easily can one find the info? – Worth 3%

• Information is prominent on issuer website = 3%
• Information is not prominent on issuer website; or it is prominent, but users need to log in to see the full disclosure = 1.5%
• Information cannot be easily found on website = 0%

B. How easy it is to read the info? – Worth 1%

• Information is presented in normal-size font = 1%
• Information is in small-size font = 0%

C. How complete are the policies provided? – Worth 4%

• Full policy provided = 4%
• A couple of key points missing from policy = 3%
• Part of policy provided = 2%
• Benefits briefly described = 0.5%
• No key details provided = 0%

D. How open and transparent are card issuers about the policies? – Worth 2%

• Transparent about policies = 2%
• Not transparent about policies = 0%

Scores are determined based on our opinion of how each purchase protection policy compares to a theoretical ideal policy. An ideal policy is one based on common sense for which a consumer knows all of the most important information without having to delve into the fine print.

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