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Under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, credit card purchases between £100 and £30,000 could receive some protection. This means that if you’ve made a payment with your credit card and the supplier goes out of business or the items are not as described, you could get your money back.
All HSBC credit cards, and others, carry this protection, but what does it cover? Let us take a look.
What is protected?
First up, this only applies to credit cards. Debit cards do not have the same protection. Secondly, the total cost of each individual item has to be between £100-£30,000. You might still be covered if you only paid the deposit via credit card, as long as the total value of the item is between those two figures.
It would include products and services, so could include everything from kitchen appliances to concert tickets. You will be able to make a claim if the products are faulty, items aren’t as expected, the company goes out of business, or they products you receive don’t match the description.
What is not covered?
If you purchase more than one item in a transaction, then it is the value of the individuals items that matters not the total purchase price. Any items that are under £100 will not be covered.
Paying through a third party is not covered. This includes PayPal. When you make transactions via PayPal on to your credit card, you lose your Section 75 protection. You do get some buyer protection from PayPal but it is not as good.
Other things such as delivery charges and fees are not considered part of the value of the product, but they may be protected seperately if they meet the criteria above.
Also, if the company offers you a credit voucher or the opportunity to rebook, this might be considered as fulfilling their obligations, which would mean that you would be unable to claim for the costs.
Does this cover travel bookings?
The first stop with travel claims should be to look at the travel providers policies. Claims should ideally be dealt with them initially. If however, the company ceases trading or if unable to offer you the opportunity to rebook, then it may be possible to make a claim.
How do you make a claim?
Making a claim under section 75 is simple. All you need to do is say that you are looking to make the claim, use the words “section 75”, and answer the questions that they ask you. They will likely want to know the history of the issues that you are having, plus see copies of correspondence. The standard procedure is to reverse the charges until the dispute is settled.