How does bank card insurance work?
The policy will protect you if a person loses a card or criminals steal money from it. The insurer will reimburse the client for losses: the stolen will be returned to the account, and the lost card will be reissued free of charge.
But you need to read the terms of the contract very carefully — in particular, what kind of accidents will be considered an insured event and what kind of compensation can be counted on.
Usually the list of insurance claims is much wider.
What risks can the card be protected from?
Most policies compensate for the theft of money from the card if:
When can the insurance payment be refused?
In case you violate the terms of insurance. For example, you do not observe the precautions that are prescribed in your contract with the bank.
In particular, you are required to keep the PIN code separate from the card and not tell anyone its details (to receive a transfer, it is enough to tell the sender only the card number). That is, if you "helped" criminals to find out secret data, there will be no compensation.
No insurance covers cases when social engineers convince you to transfer money to them yourself or provide card details and transaction confirmation codes.
As a rule, the policy prescribes additional conditions that you must fulfill in order to receive insurance compensation:
If the insurer has refused to pay, and you do not agree with its decision, contact the financial Ombudsman. He resolves customer disputes with insurance companies before the trial. But only when your claim to the insurer is less than a certain amount, otherwise you will have to go to court.
If I follow all the rules of the bank and the insurance company, will the stolen money be returned in full?
The insurance indemnity limit is always specified in the policy.
Usually, they offer to enter into the policy all the cards that you have open in one bank. If they are linked to different accounts, then, if desired, you can choose a different payout amount for each card.
At the same time, the amount of compensation usually depends on the type of insured event and even on the circumstances of the incident. For example, in some policies they write that during a robbery at an ATM, not the entire stolen amount will be returned, even when it fits into the insurance limit, but only 60% of it. And if a person withdrew money at night, then he will be paid no more than a certain amount, regardless of how much the criminals took away from him.
All these conditions are prescribed in the contract with the insurance company.
The price of the policy directly depends on the amount of maximum compensation and the set of insurance claims. It can fluctuate a certain annual amount.
So is it worth insuring the card?
As a rule, card protection is actively offered to its customers by banks that act as agents of insurance companies. But in some cases, even without insurance, the bank is obliged to return the money that the scammers stole.
To do this, two conditions must be met:
The more carefully you use a bank card, the less sense it makes to insure it. But if you plan to withdraw large amounts from the card and are afraid of robbers, you can purchase a policy. After all, banks do not return money in case of robbery or theft of cash.
Insurance against cybercriminals can be useful to those who, for example, often download games or make purchases in new online stores. The main thing is to carefully study the terms of the contract before signing it.
If a policy was imposed on you or you simply changed your mind about using it, you can return it within 14 days after purchase. Read more about the refund rules in the text "How to refuse unnecessary insurance".
In any case, whether you apply for a card policy or not, always follow the rules of financial security: keep the full card details and secret codes secret, connect SMS or push notifications about all card transactions to immediately find out about suspicious charges.
The policy will protect you if a person loses a card or criminals steal money from it. The insurer will reimburse the client for losses: the stolen will be returned to the account, and the lost card will be reissued free of charge.
But you need to read the terms of the contract very carefully — in particular, what kind of accidents will be considered an insured event and what kind of compensation can be counted on.
Usually the list of insurance claims is much wider.
Most policies compensate for the theft of money from the card if:
- was it lost or stolen;
- her data was stolen using technical devices, such as a skimmer, an ATM keyboard pad or a video camera that managed to "spy" information from the card and PIN code;
- card data leaked to the network or fraudsters lured them using phishing sites;
- criminals robbed the cardholder after he withdrew money from an ATM.
When can the insurance payment be refused?
In case you violate the terms of insurance. For example, you do not observe the precautions that are prescribed in your contract with the bank.
In particular, you are required to keep the PIN code separate from the card and not tell anyone its details (to receive a transfer, it is enough to tell the sender only the card number). That is, if you "helped" criminals to find out secret data, there will be no compensation.
No insurance covers cases when social engineers convince you to transfer money to them yourself or provide card details and transaction confirmation codes.
As a rule, the policy prescribes additional conditions that you must fulfill in order to receive insurance compensation:
- Report the theft in time. Usually, the exact time when it is necessary to declare theft is indicated: a couple of days or even a few hours. During this time, it is necessary not only to inform the insurer, but also to protest the operation in the bank so that it begins an internal investigation. Do not forget to write a statement to the police, otherwise the insurance company will refuse to pay.
- Block the card urgently. The contract may stipulate that you must block the card within a day or even several hours from the moment of theft. Otherwise, the insurer has the right to refuse compensation, even if the remaining clauses of the contract are fulfilled.
- Collect a package of documents. Before making a decision on compensation, many insurers require a whole set of papers: a copy of the police decision to initiate a criminal case or refusal to do so, a certificate of the results of the bank's internal investigation. If the bank, having studied all the circumstances, reimburses you for the losses itself, then the insurer will not compensate them again.
If the insurer has refused to pay, and you do not agree with its decision, contact the financial Ombudsman. He resolves customer disputes with insurance companies before the trial. But only when your claim to the insurer is less than a certain amount, otherwise you will have to go to court.
If I follow all the rules of the bank and the insurance company, will the stolen money be returned in full?
The insurance indemnity limit is always specified in the policy.
Usually, they offer to enter into the policy all the cards that you have open in one bank. If they are linked to different accounts, then, if desired, you can choose a different payout amount for each card.
At the same time, the amount of compensation usually depends on the type of insured event and even on the circumstances of the incident. For example, in some policies they write that during a robbery at an ATM, not the entire stolen amount will be returned, even when it fits into the insurance limit, but only 60% of it. And if a person withdrew money at night, then he will be paid no more than a certain amount, regardless of how much the criminals took away from him.
All these conditions are prescribed in the contract with the insurance company.
The price of the policy directly depends on the amount of maximum compensation and the set of insurance claims. It can fluctuate a certain annual amount.
So is it worth insuring the card?
As a rule, card protection is actively offered to its customers by banks that act as agents of insurance companies. But in some cases, even without insurance, the bank is obliged to return the money that the scammers stole.
To do this, two conditions must be met:
- You reported the theft to the bank no later than the next day from the moment you received a notification of a suspicious transaction on the card. If the bank for some reason did not send a message about the transaction at all and you yourself accidentally discovered an illegal write-off, then you have the right to demand a refund later — at any time, even a year after the operation.
- You have followed the safety rules when using the card. In particular, they did not write the PIN code directly on the card or did not store it together with the card, gave it to no one to photograph it and did not post photos in social networks themselves, did not tell secret data to scammers.
The more carefully you use a bank card, the less sense it makes to insure it. But if you plan to withdraw large amounts from the card and are afraid of robbers, you can purchase a policy. After all, banks do not return money in case of robbery or theft of cash.
Insurance against cybercriminals can be useful to those who, for example, often download games or make purchases in new online stores. The main thing is to carefully study the terms of the contract before signing it.
If a policy was imposed on you or you simply changed your mind about using it, you can return it within 14 days after purchase. Read more about the refund rules in the text "How to refuse unnecessary insurance".
In any case, whether you apply for a card policy or not, always follow the rules of financial security: keep the full card details and secret codes secret, connect SMS or push notifications about all card transactions to immediately find out about suspicious charges.