Hi all, In follow-up to the Providian gold card benefits thread I posted earlier (http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?threadid=9095): I called Providian's Executive Office today at 1-925-738-5500 to clarify what kind of car rental insurance coverage I had and with whom. Apparently, some issuers (i.e. Citibank and Capital One) use VISA International's insurers to underwrite their coverage policies and accept claims. With respect to the rental insurance, for example, VISA International uses World Access to accept and pay claims. However, Providian (at least for people who get "upgraded" to gold status) uses another insurer to pay claims for their gold benefits, called CHUBB (http://www.chubb.com/) The only way to talk to CHUBB is if you have a claim number and the only way to get the benefits detailed is through Providian's benefits brochure. In the evenet of an accident, all claims are to be sent to Providian, who will then forward them to CHUBB. So, VISA has nothing to do with Providian gold card benefits. I don't like this, but I can't force Providian to do business with VISA is they don't want to. :-( The first Providian rep (a supervisor from retention) was rude and sarcastic with me, telling me that Providian was doing me a BIG FAVOR by allowing me to have the benefits in the first place. She was also never clear about the difference between CHUBB and VISA International. I then called the Executive Office to have a letter sent to me, and that rep was much nicer. She was the first rep who knew exactly what she was talking about and explained the issue to me clearly. So, since I had her on the phone, I tackled the grace period issue again. She gave me the same "wait 120 days and maybe you will get that offer" line and I told her all the reasons I would not use the card w/o the GP. She then offered to refund my finance charges for last month and send me the credit balance. Anyway, I got $40 out of the conversation, but I'll probably still use Cap One or Citibank for transations requiring insurance coverage. FYI,
