American Express Purchase Protection Guide 2025

When you use your eligible American Express card to make a covered purchase, you can receive protection for up to 90 days against theft, accidental damage and in some cases, loss.

The amount of coverage depends on the American Express card you have, but it will either be up to $1,000 per covered purchase and $50,000 per year, or up to $10,000 per covered purchase and $50,000 per year.

You can also receive coverage for natural disasters of up to $500 per covered event.

Items bought using your eligible card are protected up to the maximum amount. To get coverage, you must purchase the eligible item using a covered American Express card.

Amex purchase protection coverage only applies for 90 days after purchase, and you must notify Amex of the loss by calling or filing a claim online within 30 days of the incident.

Note that not all purchases are covered. Items not covered by Amex purchase protection include:

• Those covered by an unconditional satisfaction guarantee
• Items damaged by alteration or modification
• Items purchased for play (such as sports or recreation equipment) that get damaged
• Animals and living plants
• Antiques, artwork, furs and other one-of-a-kind items, as well as previously owned/used items (But items refurbished by the original manufacturer are covered)
• Consumable and perishable items, such as food, perfume, light bulbs and batteries
• Credit cards, securities, documents, tickets, gift cards and cash
• Rented, leased or borrowed items
• Motorized devices and parts
• Items purchased for resale
• Medical or dental devices and equipment
• Items related to war or acts of war
• Items confiscated by a government, customs or public authority
• Items not reasonably being looked after, such those stolen from an unlocked car
• Damage related to normal wear and tear or a defect
• Items voluntarily or involuntarily discarded

You can start an American Express purchase protection claim online or over the phone. Be prepared to provide the following:

• Your personal information, including your email address.
• Your receipt and other purchase information, including the date, amount and place of purchase.
• Details about the item, such as the manufacturer’s name and model number if applicable.
• Any other supporting documents to help explain your claim. For example, if your item was stolen, you should be prepared to provide the police report.

Once you gather the necessary information, you can initiate your American Express purchase protection claim over the phone by calling 800-228-6855 or online by following these steps:

1. Log in to your American Express account.
2. Go to the claims center page and click the “File a Claim” button.
3. From the online claim form, select the card you want to file your claim with, enter the date of your purchase and hit the continue button. (Note that you can add more items to your claim later.)
4. On the next page, select “Purchase Protection” as the type of claim you want to file and hit “Continue.”
5. Next, you’ll have to review some basic details about filing a purchase protection claim, including which information you’ll need to provide and the terms and conditions.
6. Then supply the requested information related to your loss, such as the date, location and what happened to the item, followed by item details such as purchase date, item type, manufacturer, serial number, cost with tax, and merchant.
7. Finally, fill out the required personal information including your name, address, phone number and email address.

American Express offers purchase protection on most of its consumer rewards cards and business cards. The amount of coverage varies depending on the card.

For example, premium cards with higher annual fees usually provide a higher coverage level, while low and no-annual-fee cards and those with fewer benefits usually offer a lower one.

The annual fees for the above cards range anywhere from $250 for the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card (see rates & fees) to $5,000 (plus a one-time $10,000 initiation fee) for the Centurion® Card from American Express.

The annual fees for these cards range from $0 with Delta SkyMiles^® Blue American Express Card (see rates & fees) to $350 for the Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card (see rates & fees).

Most of the best credit cards offer some kind of purchase protection, but American Express’s purchase protection stands out compared to some of the other top issuers.

Along with providing the benefit on virtually all of its cards, it offers high payouts of $1,000 per item (up to $50,000 per year) on some cards, and up to $10,000 per item (up to $50,000 per year) on others.

Chase, on the other hand, only offers up to $500 per claim (up to $50,000 per account) for most of its cards, including the popular Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card card (see rates & fees). The exceptions are the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® (see rates & fees) and some Chase business cards, which also offer up to $10,000 per claim (up to $50,000 per year).

An advantage of Chase’s protection plan, however, is that eligible items are covered for 120 days from the date of purchase — except for New York residents, which are limited to 90 days.

1. Review your card’s terms and conditions to see how much purchase protection coverage it offers (if any).
2. Know what items are covered before making the purchase.
3. Make all eligible purchases using your covered American Express card.
4. If an item gets damaged or broken, make sure the situation calls for purchase protection rather than trying to resolve the issue with the retailer or filing a credit card dispute (for example, with defective merchandise or an item that never arrives).
5. If you experience a covered loss, theft or damage, keep track of all documentation. This may include the receipt, a police report, photos of damage, a repair estimate and more.
6. File an Amex purchase protection claim as soon as possible. At minimum, notify Amex within 30 days of the loss and submit the signed claim form and all documentation within 60 days.

Be aware that eligible items are only covered for up to 90 days from the date of purchase.