Have you ever read the details of your American Express mobile device insurance provided by your credit card?
Understanding mobile device insurance can be beneficial as the cost of mobile devices rises drastically. This insurance can help save you money over any supplemental warranty coverage provided by the manufacturer such as Apple Care.
I have summarized important details about the mobile device insurance provided by your American Express credit card.
The following credit cards have American Express mobile device insurance:
- American Express Cobalt | Certificate of Insurance
- SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express | Certificate of Insurance
Many glaring omissions; a lot of American Express credit cards do not have mobile device insurance. I was surprised to learn that myself.
Other insurance benefits information for being an American Express card holder is available here:
- American Express Out of Province and Country Emergency Medical Insurance
- American Express Car Rental Insurance
- American Express Flight Delay Insurance
- American Express Mobile Device Insurance
The information listed below is my interpretation of the insurance policy.
When to use mobile device insurance?
Mobile device insurance provides coverage for mobile devices that are lost, stolen or accidently damaged.
Note, this warranty does not provide any additional coverage for manufacturer defect. That is available as an alternate product, offered by most credit cards that also have mobile device insurance.
Coverage Eligibility
The following conditions apply prior to being eligible to use the mobile device insurance:
- Charge the full purchase price to the credit card, or,
- The complete purchase price of the phone was financed with the credit card through a Canadian Wireless provider, or
- Charge any portion of the purchase price that is required to be paid up-front to the account, fund the balance of the purchase price through a Canadian Wireless Provider.
While there are many conditions of the effective date of coverage, between the American Express Purchase Protection Plan and Mobile Device insurance, you will be covered for up to two years after the purchase of your phone.
If you financed the phone through a Canadian Wireless provider, the coverage will begin on the date of the first monthly wireless bill is charged to the credit card. The coverage will end within two years of the purchase date. It is expected that all monthly payments, in full, will be made using the same American Express credit card. The coverage will end on the first date of payment not made by the American Express credit card.
Finally, American Express has a clause that there can only be one claim in any 12 month period, or two claims in any 48 month period, across all your American Express credit card accounts.
Who is covered?
American Express does not stipulate any exceptions to the owner of the mobile phone. As long as the purchase was made on the American Express card, coverage will apply.
Coverage Limitations
The formula to determine coverage limitation is very complex. Every claim is limited to a maximum coverage of $1,000.
However, a complex formula is still used to determine the maximum coverage at the time of incident.
Lost, Stolen, or Accidental Damage Coverage
The coverage for a lost or stolen phone has two parts, a monthly depreciation percentage and a deductible value:
- Depreciation: The depreciation is calculated as 2% of the purchase price, multiplied by the number of months since the purchase date.
- Deductible: 10% of the depreciated value, or, 10% of the repair value.
If you purchased an iPhone 16 for C$1,129, and an insurance claim is made within six months of the purchase date, the calculation will be as follows:
- Purchase Price: C$1,129
- 6 months x 2% depreciation is $135.48.
- The depreciated value of the phone is 1,129 – 135.48 = $993.52
- The deductible is $99.35
- The maximum re-imbursement amount is $894.17
As you can observe, this is a very generous amount for a phone.
If you require a screen replacement on the same iPhone 16, you could either claim the free accidental damage coverage through the credit card, or, AppleCare+ if you purchased that coverage.
The cost comparison between the two is as follows:
- A screen replacement through Apple will cost $365 for an iPhone 16.
- With your accidental damage coverage offered by the credit card, you will pay $0. Making a claim after 23 months, the maximum coverage will still be greater than $400.
- With AppleCare+, you will spend $199 for the coverage, and another $39 as the deductible.
Immediately, it is very clear, your mobile device coverage can have drastic savings if you usually buy any additional coverage from the manufacturer.
Loophole for Lost or Stolen Phones
I have not tested this out, however, if you finance a phone through the carriers, there may be an inadvertent financial loophole if you lose your phone or your phone gets stolen.
If you finance a phone through Rogers, the Pixel 9 is $1,287. However, if you purchase your phone through Google, the cost is only $949. Rogers does this to ensure your penalty for leaving a two year contract is higher than just paying for the retail price of the phone. Instead, Rogers offers a bill credit, for every month you finance the phone. With the promotion for today, you will only pay $480 for a Pixel 9, due to the bill credit available on Rogers.
If you were to lose your Pixel 9, you should get the payout value based on the retail price of the phone to Rogers. This will be drastically more than what you would pay out of pocket, if you take your two year term to maturity.
Claim Information
When making a claim for the American Express Mobile Device Insurance, you should call 1-800-243-0198 or (905) 475-4822 in Canada or the United States.
If your phone is lost, you must notify your wireless provider to suspend your service within 48 hours of the loss. Where theft is involved, you must also notify the police within 7 days of the loss.
If you are making a claim, you must let American Express know about the claim, within 14 days of the event, and prior to any action for repairing or replacing your phone. If you are claiming accidental coverage, you must obtain a written estimate of the cost of repair from a repair facility.
In addition to this, you will also need the following documents to complete the claim formalities:
- The original sales receipt detailing the cost, date and description of purchase;
- The date and time you notified your wireless service provider of loss or theft;
- A copy of the original manufacturer’s warranty (for accidentally damaged claims);
- A copy of the written repair estimate (for accidentally damaged claims);
- If you charged the full purchase price of your mobile device to your card, the card statement showing the charge;
- If all or any portion of the purchase price of your mobile device was financed through a Canadian wireless service provider’s installment plan, proof of wireless installment bill payments charged to the card for up to 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the date of loss and details indicating the cost of the mobile device and amount that has been paid; and
- A police report, fire insurance claim or loss report, primary insurance documentation and payment (if the cardholder has other insurance), and any other information reasonably necessary to determine the cardholder’s eligibility for benefits hereunder.
Conclusion
I am a bit disappointed with the coverage by American Express. The coverage might be redundant for families since there is a clause to limit claims once every 12 months or twice every 48 months. Other than the claim limitation, American Express will cover anything that will happen to your phone outside of manufacturing defects. American Express also provides alternate coverage for extending the manufacturer warranty.
