What's bad about the Chase payment protection plan on credit cards?

[LordJezo]

$.79 for every $100 carried over to do a hold on the credit in case you lose job or something..

 

[sillymofo]

That's even worse than extended service.

 

[Yax]

They make their money because everyone qualifys to purchase it but no one ever qualifys to use the protection.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

It's a waste. On the chance you do get it to "try it out," good luck getting it cancelled. I went with it for a short period of time, realized it was pointless, then began a battle over the months to get them to stop charging me for it.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, once you're in, they'll up the price on you before too long.

 

[dman]

[edit] math error not 8% = [/edit] .8% of your balance and it only pays the minimum payment, so you'll still be racking up finance charges if you even do qualify for the payment part. Seems pretty lousy to me, how about not getting so far in debt that if you lost your job you can't make the minimum payment... that seems like a better idea.

At the very least put .8% in your own bank for a rainy day fund. After a while you should have enough to make a few months worth of minimum payments on your own...

 

[faZZter]

Yeah it will just end up making your balance even bigger, making it harder to dig out of debt.

The only way I would sign up for one of those is if you knew you might be losing your job and won't be able to make the payment. Of course there is a minimum time you have to be in the plan before you can obtain benefits, so you would have to sign up at least that much in advance of an anticipated layoff.

It still costs you money that way, but it is better than having ruined credit.

 

[LordJezo]

Does it cost money to have it? I thougth they said its free..

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Does it cost money to have it? I thougth they said its free..

Originally posted by: LordJezo
$.79 for every $100 carried over to do a hold on the credit in case you lose job or something..

You answered your own question with your first post. It's only free the first month or two, they hope people will forget to cancel it during the trial period.

 

[StageLeft]

That's a ghastly and horrific amount of money to pay for protection. The best protection is to not carry a balance.

 

[LordJezo]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteve

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Does it cost money to have it? I thougth they said its free..

Originally posted by: LordJezo
$.79 for every $100 carried over to do a hold on the credit in case you lose job or something..

You answered your own question with your first post. It's only free the first month or two, they hope people will forget to cancel it during the trial period.

But what if the person never carries a balance? Is there a yearly fee just to be enrolled for a "just in case" senario?

(note: i already turned chase down for this.. trying to get more info on what they were talking about)

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: LordJezo

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteve

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Does it cost money to have it? I thougth they said its free..

Originally posted by: LordJezo
$.79 for every $100 carried over to do a hold on the credit in case you lose job or something..

You answered your own question with your first post. It's only free the first month or two, they hope people will forget to cancel it during the trial period.

But what if the person never carries a balance? Is there a yearly fee just to be enrolled for a "just in case" senario?

(note: i already turned chase down for this.. trying to get more info on what they were talking about)

When I tried it, it was no balance/no fee, but I think they may have changed it later, not positive. Call and ask them.

 

[LordJezo]

Does it automatically kick in if you have a balance or do you need to call and have them turn it on during a specific month you want it enabled?

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: LordJezo
Does it automatically kick in if you have a balance or do you need to call and have them turn it on during a specific month you want it enabled?

It's automatic. If you have a balance, they charge the fee.