A little background on this issue can be found in my first post on it, here.
I followed up with Visa and finally had someone point out to me the part of the card insurance certificate that states that “installing” my bike tires onto my bike makes them ineligible for theft protection. Here’s the link to the entire insurance certificate, wherein I have been pointed to these two passages:
Personal property means tangible, moveable property for personal use.
and
Personal property purchased using your RBC Royal Bank Visa Platinum Avion card or acquired with your RBC Rewards® points, is insured against all risks of direct accidental physical loss or damage for 90 days from the date of purchase. The insurance applies to your personal property and gifts you give to family members.
The Visa representative said quite plainly that the key word here is tangible. When I bought my tires they were tangible items. When I had them installed onto my bike they were no longer tangible. So I asked if that meant they were intangible. “Not exactly,” she said “they’re not intangible – but they’re not tangible.” Oh, I see now.
The Visa representative stated that these two clauses are what Visa uses to support their claims that once you actually “install” something it is no longer covered by the insurance. I disagree – in evaluating their service I would not understand that from reading this insurance certificate. Their position actually seems to be a rather obtuse and, in my opinion, incorrect interpretation of this certificate.
The Visa rep invited me to write in with my opinions, at which point I opened a claim with the intention to do just that. So for those Avion users reading this, I still suggest you do not rely on Visa’s purchase security for anything other than a steady stream of empty promises.