A guide to Section 75 and shopping with confidence
A few weeks ago I wrote about the wonders of making a claim on your credit card if something goes wrong with goods or services you’ve bought. Since then, I have had hundreds of responses (keep them coming!) While many people were sharing refund victory stories, others were experiencing problems.
Credit card claims made under the Consumer Credit Act (section 75) vary wildly – read my guide and make a claim for free at: resolver. co.uk/rights-guide/section-75consumer-credit-act
But as with any law, there can be problems. I spoke to Resolver’s Sarah Dennis to get her top tips on the main things to be aware of so you can shop with confidence!
If you bought goods or services from a ‘third party’ provider
It’s becoming more common to buy things like holidays through ‘third party’ online marketplaces rather than directly or with a travel agent.
Often the online ‘shop’ you are in isn’t the actual retailer that’s selling the goods – and this is a problem if things go wrong.
The boring technical term for this is the debtorcreditor-supplier relationship. What this means in practice is you can’t make a section 75 claim if you didn’t buy directly from the retailer or service provider.
So if you bought items from ebay, tickets from a ticket agency rather than directly from a box office or a holiday from a third-party travel site, in the main you won’t be covered.
But there are a few exceptions – some travel sites are seen as an agent for the supplier of the travel service and payment is taken in this manner (some hotel booking sites for example) and in these cases you’re more likely to be able to make a claim. Check with your card provider if unsure.
If you paid using a payment service such as Paypal
Often you can’t claim if you use Paypal, though there are some exceptions.
Paypal is a ‘third party’ because they take and distribute the money, which usually means section 75 claims don’t apply.
You can make a complaint to Paypal under their buyer and seller mediation services though – and you can go to the Financial Ombudsman if you are unhappy.
If you have paid for several items in a single transaction
This is perhaps one of the more confusing areas of section 75. What if you filled that online shopping bag but you have an issue with just one or two items?
Sadly, in cases like this, you won’t be able to make a claim for a refund to your credit card company (unless the items in question cost more than £100 each). The same goes for a total order of more than £100 that perhaps didn’t arrive, if the goods themselves individually cost less than £100.
However, there may be situations where you could argue that two ‘purchases’ can count as a single transaction – for example if you paid for outbound and return flights together and only one was cancelled. In this case, despite section 75 not strictly applying, you can make the case you would have needed both ‘purchases’ as one is useless without the other.
So it’s worth contacting your credit card company to attempt to claim for a refund in this instance if your airline is not honouring it, though be aware that this won’t guarantee you will be successful and making a claim through ‘chargeback’ may be more appropriate.
If you have only paid a deposit for an item or service
Good news – assuming the total value of your purchase falls within the Section 75 criteria then you don’t have to have paid the full cost on your credit card.
So if you only paid the deposit for that package holiday on your credit card but, for example, the balance in cash, then you can make a claim with your credit card company for the total cost – even if the deposit was just a few pounds!
■ If you need to make a section 75 claim or complaint, Resolver can help. resolver.co.uk