If you are facing an unfortunate circumstance and are pacing up and down to find a solution to the problem, it is extremely satisfying when you receive a reward for it. Let us consider this example. Imagine you are en route to attend a business meeting in New York, where due to unforeseen circumstances; your flight has been delayed by about 12 hours. Generally, we would exhaust all options available to get on to any flight that might travel to New York. But the thought of getting compensated for the delay is something that can crack up a smile on anybody’s face.
Many premium card holders are not fully aware about the kind of benefits they enjoy holding that plastic cash. Most premium card holders enjoy the benefit of a complimentary insurance covers that also reimburse them in case of flight delays, accidents, online frauds or even in cases like loss of passport. Depending upon the service provider, in this case the bank or the card company and the type of card you hold, you can receive a cover varying from Rs9000 to about Rs 3 crore. As mentioned earlier, the insurance cover depends upon the card companies’ policies and the incident for which you are required to insured. For example, an in built air accident life cover provided by the ICICI Bank Platinum Identity Card, provides a cover of Rs1 crore whereas in order to take care of your medical expenses of up to Rs 20 lakh, the American Express Platinum Card will surely do the needful.
You can also avail the card protection cover, if in case your credit card gets stolen. All you need to do is, get in touch with the customer service representative of the respective bank and file the complaint. However it is mandatory that you report the incident up to 12 hours before the incident. You can get an insurance cover if your credit card has been stolen or lost or has been swiped without your authorization. In order to avail the benefits offered by other covers, you will need to submit various documents in order to submit your claim. Documents that will be required are copy of the FIR if the case pertains to baggage loss, death certificate or flight tickets.
Apart from the benefits provided by these covers, it must be understood that there is a certain time lag involved from the time the complaint is made and till it is reimbursed. The claims are usually settled within a period of 1 week to a month, depending upon the claim in question. However there have been cases where the settlement has taken place after about 3 months due to the delay in the submission of the documents by the card holders thereby delaying the entire settlement process.
What should be understood is that although these premium card offer lucrative insurance covers and packages, it is certainly important for you to go through the terms and conditions in order to get the complete knowledge of the hidden expenditure or policies. For example, Mr. Sharma’s baggage was delayed in the Delhi Airport after he arrived from Paris. And upon filing a claim for the delay, his plea was rejected since the policy clearly stated that the insurance claim will be settled if the baggage has been delayed in outbound flights, i.e. if the baggage had been delayed in Paris, then the claim would have been settled.
But unlike any other debt, credit cards must be dealt with prudence. Borrowing a loan like a personal loan or any other form of debt to repay the debt on your credit card is not an avenue you would want to venture into. On the whole it must be understood that, premium card insurance covers should not be used as a sole insurance protection scheme, but as an add-on. It should practically be used to protect your account against theft or misuse and only if your credit limit is high.