Don’t pay for an extended warranty, it’s already covered by these credit cards

Chances are that if you bought some type of electronics recently, you’ve been offered an additional or extended warranty by the company that you are purchasing the item from. Companies like Apple and Best Buy are big on these offers as it allows them to squeeze a few more bucks out of you, all under the guise that you will receive additional piece of mind if something happens to your fancy new product.

Products like AppleCare, Square Trade and Best Buy’s Geek Squad Protection all add on an addition year (and sometimes longer) to the manufacturer’s warranty. These plans are expensive and many have loopholes for popular issues built into them so you have a good chance of filing a claim for something that isn’t actually covered by the warranty. But the main reason to not sign up for one of these plans is they are expensive and most likely are already covered by the credit card you used to make the purchase.

If you have an American Express, Discover Card, Visa Signature Card, Mastercard or a Citi Card, your card comes with an additional year of warranty on your products (not including general wear and tear). So if your product breaks, as long as you have the original receipt as well as the transaction record on your credit card account, you will be able to file a claim with your credit card company and they will either replace, reimburse or fix the product, up to $10,000.

Software, cars and real estate are not covered, but popular items like cellphones, TV’s, wifi thermostats and computers are covered, as long as they were purchased with an eligible credit card. Different cards offer different deals so here’s the breakdown by card issuer:

American Express & Discover Card — both companies will cover up to $50,000 in purchases a year. Additionally, American Express adds an additional year to the product’s manufacturing warranty.

Visa — Visa will cover up to $50,000 worth of purchases over the lifetime of the card

Mastercard— No limit on claims during the life of the credit card

Filing a claim is as easy as it would be if you had paid for the extended warranty. You simply let your credit card company know that you need to file a claim, and they will collect the receipt and the transaction on the credit card from you, and then they will handle the rest. It’s a pretty simple trick and it can save you a lot of cash so make sure to take a look at the fine print of your credit card to see if you are eligible because chances are, you are already covered.

For more money saving tips, make sure to always check gethuman.com or download the app.