Do you tend to be a little clumsy when it comes to taking care of your cell phone? Chances are you’ll probably damage or break your cell phone at some point, and with how pricey these phones can get nowadays, damaging your phone can cost over a thousand dollars each time.
Luckily, you can offset the bulk of that financial loss by having the right credit card. That’s right — you can get cell phone protection insurance as a free benefit from certain credit cards.
And for the clumsy cell phone user, this will likely save you tens of thousands of dollars in the long run.
One of the cards that offer cell phone protection is the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which also happens to be one of the most elite credit cards in the world.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of this the CapOne Venture X card’s cell phone protection policies, including coverage limits, exclusions, claim submission processes, and everything in between.
Let’s get right into it!
CapOne Venture X Card Overview
At a glance, the CapOne Venture X card is one of the best ultra-premium credit cards available, even when compared to offerings from Chase and American Express.
In fact, this is probably the card to get if you were to pick just 1 rewards credit card from Capital One.
The rewards you earn are Capital One miles, which we value at 1.8 cents each. They can be transferred to travel partners for award travel, making it an excellent currency to accrue if you enjoy luxury travel.
With the CapOne Venture X card, you’ll earn points according to the following structure:
- 10x miles per dollar spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel
- 5x miles per dollar spent on flights booked through Capital One Travel
- 2x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases
Beyond the ability to earn up to 10x miles on travel-related purchases, you’ll see that earning 2x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases makes racking up points simple but very rewarding.
So when you pay your cell phone bill with the CapOne Venture X card, you can rest assured that you’re getting a return on spending of around 3.6%, which is calculated based on earning 2x miles per dollar.
Since paying for your cellular bill is a requirement to enjoy cell phone protection, you’re actually doubling up on getting awesome rewards and having cell phone insurance.
Why We Like This Card for Cell Phone Protection
Image Credit: Tiko via Adobe StockAlthough the complete details of the cell phone protection policy are available in the guide to benefits (in the Cellular Telephone Protection section), we’ve broken down a lot of the confusing parts into something a little more digestible.
One of the requirements to qualify for this coverage is that you charge your monthly cellular wireless phone bill to your CapOne Venture X card for the billing cycle before the month in which the incident occurs.
Of course, you can’t predict when your phone will be damaged or stolen, so it makes sense to just put your recurring cell phone bill payment on your CapOne Venture X card.
What’s Covered
Your cell phone protection kicks in as long as you’ve paid 1 billing cycle already with your CapOne Venture X card. You don’t need to buy the phone with the card, though, just paying the monthly bill with it will suffice.
If you don’t make your payments on time, however, your coverage will be suspended and will only resume on the first day of the calendar month after the date that your bill was paid with your credit card.
In general, this policy covers damage to, theft of, or involuntary and “accidental parting” from your cell phone. Accidental parting is generally defined as the unintended separation from your phone when its location is known but recovery is impractical to complete.
We’ll discuss what isn’t covered below.
Who’s Covered
Essentially, any device that’s on the cell phone bill is covered, as long as you pay for the full bill with the CapOne Venture X card.
So if you have employees or family members on your cellular bill and you pay the bill in full every month, there’s technically no limit to how many phones can enjoy the coverage.
Coverage Limits
It’s important to note that the protection is supplemental, which means that if you have a separate insurance policy for your phone, the protection from the CapOne Venture X card covers the deductible portion of your separate insurance policy only.
But as long as you don’t have another insurance policy, you are covered for the full, allowed amount.
You can get up to $800 per approved claim or the retail value of your phone (the lesser amount applies) with a $50 deductible for each claim. You can make up to 2 claims for every rolling 12-month period.
That means you can get up to $1,500 every year in cell phone protection.
What’s Not Covered
The benefits guide outlines an inclusive but not exhaustive list of events that are not covered:
- When your phone is lost or mysteriously disappears
- When your phone is stolen from baggage (unless hand-carried and under personal supervision from yourself or your traveling companion)
- Cosmetic damage that doesn’t impact the phone’s capabilities and functionalities
- Damage or theft resulting from abuse, intentional acts, fraud, hostilities of any kind, illegal activities, confiscation by the authorities, wear and tear, flood, earthquake, radioactive contamination, or damage from inherent product defects
- Losses caused by or resulting from a cyber incident
- Rented, borrowed, or prepaid phones
- Cell phone accessories other than standard battery and/or antenna provided by the manufacturer
- Cell phones purchased for resale, professional, or commercial use
Bottom Line: The CapOne Venture X card comes with $800 in cell phone protection per claim, has a $50 deductible per claim, and 2 claims are allowed for every 12-month period. To qualify, the full monthly cellular bill prior to the covered event must be paid using the card.
Additional (Limited) Cell Phone Protection
Another way to enjoy cell phone-related protection beyond the protection policy is to maximize some of the other benefits you get with the CapOne Venture X card.
These come at no additional cost, so let’s walk through them quickly.
Purchase Protection
Certain new purchases (cell phones included) can get an additional coverage period of 90 days beyond the date of purchase for damage and theft.
In this case, purchase protection offers up to $10,000 in coverage per item and a total of $50,000 over the lifetime of the credit card account.
Extended Warranty
Another great way to beef up your cell phone protection game is to use your CapOne Venture X card’s extended warranty coverage when possible. If your phone’s warranty is 3 years or less, you can get 1 extra year of warranty coverage.
With this coverage, you can be reimbursed for the original price of your purchased cell phone. Generally speaking, this extended warranty coverage can reimburse a maximum of $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
It’s also important to note that it covers purchases made inside and outside the U.S.
How To File a Cell Phone Protection Claim
Filing for a Capital One cell phone protection claim online is easy and fast. Image Credit: Card Benefit ServicesAs soon as the covered event has occurred (e.g., as soon as your phone gets stolen), you’ll need to visit the Card Benefit Services website to start the claim process. In fact, you must report the incident within 60 days of occurrence in order to qualify, but the best move is to do it immediately.
Hot Tip: If your claim is due to crime or theft, you’ll also need to provide a police report filed within 48 hours of the event occurring.
If you haven’t already, you’ll want to create an account by entering your email address and your card number.
After that, click this link to start filing a claim. You’ll be asked to enter your credit card number. Be sure to select the option that says I want to file a claim for my damaged or stolen cell phone.
Fill in the purchase date and bill-pay date prior to the incident for the cell phone involved, and click the option that says Cell Phone Stolen/Damaged under the What Happened? area.
Fill in the required product information and incident details, provide the necessary monthly billing statements, a repair estimate (if applicable) from an authorized cell phone repair facility, and any other documents needed to submit the claim.
If your cell phone has been damaged, you’ll need to keep it until the claim has been fully resolved.
Remember that if you have another insurance policy such as AppleCare+, the credit card’s travel coverage only kicks in to cover the deductible from that policy.
After you’ve submitted all of the needed information, the next step is to wait to hear back from the benefits administrator and follow up as needed.
Final Thoughts
The CapOne Venture X card is one of the few credit cards out there that offers a respectable cell phone protection policy.
And while smartphones nowadays can cost well over a thousand dollars, using the cell phone protection from this card can nullify most of the cost, if not all of it.
The other benefit of the CapOne Venture X card is that you’ll earn 2x Capital One miles on your monthly cell phone bill, effectively netting you a return on spending of 3.6%.
Best of all, this cell phone protection covers any other family members or individuals who are on your cellular plan.
The information regarding the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
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