Amex Purchase Protection: Everything you need to know

April 25, 2025: American Express Purchase Protection can cover the replacement cost of your purchases if they are accidentally damaged, stolen, or lost for up to 90 days after your date of purchase. Here’s what you need to know about Amex purchase protection.

What does Amex purchase protection cover?

American Express purchase protection covers the replacement cost of an item if it is damaged or stolen within 90 days of your purchase.

Depending on your card, you’ll have either the standard-tier of Amex purchase protection or the premium tier of purchase protection.

• The standard tier covers losses up to $1,000 per covered purchase and $50,000 per eligible card.
• The premium tier covers losses up to $10,000 per covered purchase and $50,000 per eligible card. This tier also covers items that are lost or misplaced.

In either case, the maximum Amex will pay to replace your item is also limited by the amount you actually charged to your card.

How to get Amex purchase protection coverage

For an item to be covered under Amex purchase protection, you simply need to buy it with your Amex card that has the purchase protection benefit. You can use your Membership Rewards® points associated with your card to pay for your purchase, but you won’t be eligible for coverage if you use any non-Amex points (like frequent flyer miles, shopping portal rewards, or hotel points) to pay for your item.

There’s no need to register and coverage is automatic for eligible items.

Save your receipts. While it’s not a requirement to get coverage, it can be a good idea to save your receipts for items you want to have covered—you’ll likely need to submit a copy of your purchase receipt if you ever make a claim.

What items are excluded from coverage?

Like most insurance benefits, Amex purchase protection excludes some items from coverage.

Generally, exclusions include things that are customized, hard-to-replace or perishable. Your guide to benefits will have a full list of exclusions, but you can expect items like artwork, gift cards, software, plants/animals, land/buildings, and medical devices to be excluded. Items intended for resale are also not covered.

If you have questions about whether a specific items is excluded, the best thing to do is to check out the Amex benefit guides directly or call the benefit administrator.

Our take: What we think of Amex purchase protection

Amex purchase protection coverage is top-notch. I prefer Amex purchase protection to similar coverages from other issuers.

Some other cards’ consumer insurance protection has a longer coverage period, but in my view what makes Amex purchase purchase protection stand out is Amex’s reputation for having an easy claims process and quick pay-outs.

Admittedly, I have more experience using return protection and extended warranty. When I’ve used these benefits with other issuers, I’ve occasionally had to pay to ship an item back to the benefit administrator. And sometimes this makes those benefits worthless—if the shipping cost is greater than the cost of the item, there’s really no benefit. Amex has never asked me to pay for shipping if they want me to return an item to them.

When I’m purchasing consumer electronics, furniture, or any other expensive items that might get damaged or stolen, I will typically give up rewards in order to use a card that has the trifecta of Amex consumer insurance benefits: Amex Purchase Protection, Amex Return Protection, and Amex Extended Warranty.

Cards that offer Amex purchase protection

These cards offer the standard tier of Amex purchase protection, which provides $1,000 of coverage per occurrence:

• The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
• American Express® Business Gold Card
• Blue Cash Preferred® Card
• American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card
• Plum Card®
• Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card
• Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card
• Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card
• Gold Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card
• Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Business Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Amazon Business Prime Card
• Lowe’s Business Rewards Card

And these cards offer Amex premium purchase protection, which provides $10,000 of coverage per purchase and adds coverage for losing your item:

• American Express® Gold Card  
• The Platinum Card
• Business Platinum Card®
• Delta Reserve® Credit Card
• Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

How to file an Amex purchase protection claim

Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to file an American Express purchase protection claim.

Step 1: Start your claim through the online claim center

You should initiate your claim as soon as possible after you notice that an item you purchased with your card has been broken, was stolen, or is lost. American Express states that you must provide a notice of claim within 30 days of your loss, or as soon as reasonably possible. But there is little reason to wait to submit a claim—the sooner you file a claim, the sooner you will get paid.

There are three ways to start your claim:

• Through the American Express online claim center. (This is our recommendation.)
• By calling 1-800-288-6855.
• By calling 1-303-273-6498 collect if traveling internationally

Accessing the online claim center

The easiest way to start your claim is by going to https://americanexpress.com/onlineclaim. If you are not logged into your account, you will be prompted to log in. Once you are logged into the American Express website, clicking the link above should take you directly to the online claim center. Here’s what the online claim center looks like:

Alternatively, you can access the online claim center through your online account portal by click on “Rewards & Benefits” at the top of the page. Depending on the width of your screen, it may be under a dropdown menu labeled “More.” Once you’ve selected “Rewards & Benefits,” select your card from the menu with the card icon at the top right of the screen. Then select “Benefits” from the secondary menu. Scrolling down on that page will show you a summary of each of your card’s benefits. Find the panel for “Purchase Protection” and click “Learn more.” On the next screen, you’ll see a “File a Claim” link which will take you to the online claims center.

Step 2: Select your card and benefits in the online claim center

Once you’ve clicked “File a Claim” in the online claim center, you’ll be prompted to select your card and select which benefit you’re filing a claim for. First, click on your card from the list. If you don’t see your card on the list, click on “Add Another Card.”

Next, select the date you purchased the item. For purchase protection claims, this is the date you purchased or ordered the item, not the date you received it.

On the next screen, you’ll choose which benefit you are claiming. For an Amex purchase protection claim, choose “Purchase protection.”

Step 3: Complete the claim forms online

The next screens will request information about the specifics of your claim, including details about the item you are claiming, the specifics of the type of loss you’re seeking reimbursement for, and your contact information. Be prepared to provide the following with your claim:

• The date of your loss, the type of loss, and the country, city, and state of the loss.
• Basic information about the item or items you are claiming, including model number and serial number if applicable.
• Purchase information, including receipt, date, amount and place of purchase
• Your personal information, including your email-address

First, you’ll enter the basic information about your loss and what happened to your items.

Next, you’ll add the items you are claiming, one at a time. You can add up to 25 items per online claim form.

For each item you add, you’ll be required to provide some information about the item, including:

• Name/basic description of the item
• Purchase date
• Item type and description
• Merchant (where you purchased the item)
• Manufacturer (who made the item)
• Item cost, including taxes, but excluding shipping fees, in U.S. dollars.
• Model number and serial number of the item if applicable.

Finally, you’ll provide information about yourself before you finalize your claim.

After you’ve provided all of the requested information, you’ll be required to review the information you submitted and read an acknowledge the Amex fraud disclosures.

If you see the message below, you’ve successfully submitted your claim!

Step 4: Provide additional information

In most cases, American Express will contact you and request that you provide additional information about your claim. This will usually involve filling out a paper claim form and submitting a copy of your purchase receipt. It could also include a request to describe the item’s condition, provide more information about the specifics of your loss, or provide additional documentation like photos of the item.

Step 5: Amex evaluates and hopefully pays your claim

Once you’ve responded to any additional requests for information from American Express, Amex will review your claim. If everything is in order and your claim is valid, Amex will provide payment for your purchase protection claim.

Where to find your card’s Amex Purchase protection benefit guide

Amex publishes a benefit guide for each card that offers purchase protection with the full details on the terms, conditions and limitations that apply to your specific card. You can find your card’s benefit guide on the Amex website at this link.

Bottom line: Amex purchase protection can cover damage or theft for 90 days

The reality is that most of the time, you’re not going to use this benefit—you’re likely not going to break or have an item you buy stolen within the first 90 days. But if you do, you’ll be glad you used your Amex card to buy it.

Frequently Asked Questions