OREANDA-NEWS. October 24, 2012.  Sampo Pank and If Kindlustus have developed a solution that insured products bought in shops or online automatically and for no extra charge. Insurance compensates the cost of repairs or the purchase price if anything happens to the purchased item, e.g. a technical device, in 90 days, reported the press-centre of Sampo Pank.

Helen Lulla, Retail Banking Director at Sampo Pank, said that there are some similar products in the world where a bank and an insurance company have joined forces, but such automatic insurance is usually offered in banking with cards that are subject to large annual fees and not accessible to many clients.

“We chose a different path,” said Lulla. “Automatic insurance already applies to our most popular cards MasterCard Black, MasterCard Credit, MasterCard Platinum and VISA Premier, and insurance covers both new cards and those issued in the past. Insurance cover entered into force on 1 October and the contracts of clients are not amended as a result of this. As the clients of Sampo Pank are wealthier than the average, we offer them services that in other banks are available to private banking clients, such as a personal counsellor.”

Merko Kimsto, Senior Product Manager at If Kindlustus, said that the approach is a new one as in the past, such insurance had only been offered to wealthier clients and it is therefore positive that Sampo Pank has decided to offer its product free of charge with its most popular bankcards.

“All a client has to do to qualify for automatic purchase insurance is use the specific bankcard to pay for the purchase,” added Kimsto. “Purchased goods are insured for 90 days. Insurance is valid all over the world and also covers goods purchased online. Maximum sum insured per event is 1,000 euros and this should be enough to cover the damage caused if you drop your just bought camera or it is stolen when you’re travelling. You can always contact the insurance company if you would like to the insurance to be valid for a longer period or increase the indemnity limits.”

If Kindlustus assesses the client’s expectations and the cost of repairs when an insured event occurs and it may happen that indemnifying the acquisition cost of the item to the client is more practical. The acquisition of the specific item is also the loss amount in the case of theft or robbery.