How I Made a Cellphone Insurance Claim with the Platinum Card^®

Imagine getting a drink on the first day in a foreign country, celebrating your arrival and then waking up with no recollection of events. I can’t think of a worse way to start a trip, but unfortunately, this exact thing happened to my husband.

After spending a couple of months in Argentina last year, my husband and I planned to spend a month in Viña del Mar, a coastal town outside of Santiago, Chile. We had booked an Airbnb, and then a last-minute cruise deal to Antarctica slightly derailed our plans. Instead of going to Chile together, I headed to Antarctica solo, and my husband headed to our prepaid Airbnb in Viña. We often travel separately, so going in two different directions wasn’t out of the ordinary for us.

Upon his arrival, my husband went on a walk in the neighborhood to get familiar with a new town and found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time.

You see, when we’re not globetrotting all over the world, my husband works as a bartender at a craft beer bar, so he’s always interested in trying local brews. He found a pub and had a couple of beers. He then went to another bar, and that’s where his memory started getting fuzzy.

Unfortunately, criminals have been known to drug and rob U.S. citizens, especially in that particular Chilean town, and he found out the hard way.

I’d like to clarify that, thankfully, my husband was not physically hurt. However, he regained consciousness the next morning somewhere on a beach with no money and no cellphone in his possession, which completely broke my heart into a million pieces when I found this out. Luckily, he didn’t have a lot of cash on him to begin with, but because everything in our lives is tied to a palm-sized device in our pocket, losing a smartphone is kind of a big deal. In an instance, he lost access to personal banking, Google Maps and social media.

At the time, I was paying our phone bill with American Express Platinum Card^® (see rates and fees). So, once the worst was behind us, I knew that I could make a cellphone protection* claim against theft.

Here’s everything you need to know about making a cellphone insurance claim with American Express and my experience with AIG Claims.

How Does Cellphone Protection from American Express Work?

Cellphone protection is an automatic perk that comes with select American Express-issued credit cards, including American Express Platinum Card^®. It covers your device against damage or theft for up to $800 per claim (with a limit of two approved claims per 12-month period). A $50 deductible per claim applies.

So, if your phone is damaged or stolen, you can submit a claim for the reimbursement of either repair costs or the price of the replacement device. It’s worth noting that cosmetic damage isn’t eligible for coverage. Having said that, cosmetic damage doesn’t include a cracked screen, so if your phone’s display ends up in pieces, you can file a damage claim.

Although you don’t have to enroll in this benefit, it kicks in only if you pay your monthly wireless phone bill with an eligible American Express card. Coverage starts on the first day of the month following the month in which you made the first bill payment with your eligible card. Should you cancel the card or switch payment methods, coverage will also last until the end of the month in which you stopped paying the bill with said Amex card.

What Isn’t Covered by Amex Cellphone Protection

As mentioned, cosmetic damage, such as minor scratches, dings and chips, isn’t eligible for cellphone protection with American Express. Basically anything that doesn’t affect the phone’s functionality and is just an aesthetic damage wouldn’t be covered. Accessories are excluded, except the phone’s standard battery and antenna provided by the manufacturer.

Additionally, loss isn’t covered, either. So, if your phone ends up missing under mysterious circumstances and no police report has been filed, it’s not eligible for a claim.

Amex Cards That Include Cellphone Insurance Benefits

If you hold and pay your monthly wireless bill with the following American Express cards, you are eligible for cellphone protection benefit:

• American Express® Business Gold Card (see rates and fees)
• Business Centurion® Card from American Express
• Centurion® Card from American Express
• Corporate Platinum Card®
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card (see rates and fees)
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card (see rates and fees)
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (see rates and fees)
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (see rates and fees)
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (see rates and fees)
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (see rates and fees)
• The Corporate Centurion® Card from American Express
• American Express Platinum Card^® (see rates and fees)
• American Express Platinum Card^® Exclusively for Morgan Stanley
• American Express Platinum Card^® for Charles Schwab
• American Express Platinum Card^® for Goldman Sachs

How to File a Cellphone Protection Claim with American Express

You must report a claim as soon as reasonably possible within 90 days of the incident. There are two ways to file a phone insurance claim with Amex: by phone or online. To file a claim over the phone, dial 1-833-784-1467. To file a claim online, visit this page. Once you provide the details for your claim, you’ll be given an insurance case number.

It’s worth noting that coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company, and not American Express itself.

Additional Documents Required to File a Cellphone Protection Claim with Amex

Once you initiate a claim, you’ll have to provide supporting documents, including:

• Completed claim forms
• American Express statement for the month before the incident occurred. It needs to clearly reflect the wireless bill payment under the charges summary.
• Billing statements from your cellphone company for the current month
• Copy of the police report filed within 48 hours (in case of theft)
• Proof of eligible device (either an original purchase receipt or a screenshot from the billing page listing the make and model of the lost or damaged phone)
• Receipt of purchase for a new phone (in case of theft)
• Receipt from a repair shop (in case of damage)
• Copy of the insurance claim submitted to your homeowners or renters Insurance policy for the damaged or stolen cell phone (if applicable)

You can submit all the additional documents by email within 120 days since the incident. Make sure to include your insurance case number on the claim form and in your email communication so that it gets processed quickly and correctly.

My Experience with Amex Cellphone Protection Benefit

Because I paid my wireless bill with the Platinum Card, I knew I qualified for the cellphone protection benefit. (Since then, I’ve switched my billing information to the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, which also offers phone insurance.) The Amex phone insurance covers everyone listed on the billing statement, which meant my husband’s phone was eligible for the claim. The real challenge was getting a police report filed.

For some reason, the local police station in Chile wouldn’t take my husband’s report of theft. Unfortunately, street crime has become increasingly common in Santiago, Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, but the police don’t take reports from foreigners. You have to be a resident to file one.

So, I messaged our Airbnb host, who is obviously a local resident, and asked her to accompany my husband to the nearby police station, where he’d been the day before, to file a police report on his behalf. Timing was of the essence here because it had to be filed within 48 hours since theft occurred. She agreed, and he was able to obtain a copy of the police report. It was in Spanish, but he did get one.

I called the AIG cell phone protection line about a month after the theft occurred. The agent on the phone was sympathetic and helped me get the claim started. Following our phone call, I received an email with my case number, claim forms in pdf format and a list of additional documents I was required to send.

I replied the same day and provided all that was requested. The only thing I didn’t have was renters insurance since we didn’t own or rent a place in the United States. Two days later, I received a follow-up email asking for a copy of the receipt of purchase of the replacement device and for proof of other coverage, so I replied stating that we’re travelling long-term and don’t have a homeowners or renters insurance policy.

Four days later, I received an email from AIG Claims, saying that a payment in the amount of $800 was issued in relation to my claim. I couldn’t believe how quickly it was resolved. A check was sent to my mailing address in Utah, and my mom deposited it to my bank account shortly after.

Both phones (the stolen one and the new one) cost $899, so once the $50 deductible was subtracted, I qualified for the full amount (up to the $800 limit). How did we get a new phone in Chile? Well, that one was easier to execute than filing a police report in a foreign country.

A friend of mine was scheduled to travel to Chile a few weeks later, so I asked my mom to buy a new phone from our mobile service provider and mail it to my friend before she departed. She then brought it with her to Santiago, and that’s how my husband received a replacement phone with a SIM card that had his number attached.

Final Thoughts on the American Express Cellphone Protection

Crime can happen to anybody, anywhere, and I’m incredibly grateful that my husband wasn’t physically harmed in this unfortunate incident. He lost a night of his life and some photos that hadn’t been backed up to Google Photos, but luckily, not much else. Thanks to the cellphone protection benefit on the American Express Platinum Card, we’ve been able to recoup most of the other losses.

Hopefully, you never find yourself in a similar situation, but if you do, remember that paying your wireless bill with the right card gives you complimentary insurance coverage so you don’t have to pay out of pocket for a new device.

*Coverage for a Stolen or damaged Eligible Cellular Wireless Telephone is subject to the terms, conditions, exclusions and limits of liability of this benefit. The maximum liability is $800, per claim, per Eligible Card Account. Each claim is subject to a $50 deductible. Coverage is limited to two (2) claims per Eligible Card Account per 12 month period. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.