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When you pay for something using a credit card, you may have extra protection under Section 75. Part of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, Section 75 is a piece of legislation that allows you to make a claim against your credit card company which may get your money back if something goes wrong with a purchase, or if the retailer goes bust.
Key things to know about Section 75
• Limits apply
To make a Section 75 claim, the product or service you’ve bought must have cost over £100, but not more than £30,000.
The good news is that you’re still covered if you’ve only made part of the payment (such as a deposit for something) if the total value is over £100 but not more than £30,000. Section 75 also applies if you’ve closed the credit account you made the purchase with.
Section 75 applies to single transactions only. If you bought two items that together cost more than £100, but individually each cost less than £100, Section 75 would not apply.
Additional fees don’t count, so if you purchase something that’s £95, and additional fees (like delivery charges or handling fees) take the amount over £100, Section 75 would not apply. The original price needs to be over £100 excluding fees.
• There must be a direct payment link
There must be a direct link between you, the creditor (the credit card company), and the supplier (the retailer or business you bought from).
If you buy something with a credit card directly from a retailer online, or in a shop, the purchase would be covered. Section 75 may not cover cases where a product or service is paid for via a third party such as a travel comparison website, PayPal or Amazon Marketplace, rather than directly using a credit card. You would also not be covered by Section 75 if you take out cash from an ATM and then spend it on the same item.
• What Section 75 covers
You can make a claim if:
- You haven’t received goods or services you paid for, (if the company goes bust for example), or they are different to how they were advertised when you made the purchase.
- The item you purchased is faulty (check if it is under warranty first)
- You used your credit card through Apple Pay or Google Pay
• Making a Section 75 claim
When we receive your Section 75 claim, we’ll need to check a few things:
- You used your card to pay the company providing your purchase, travel, holiday or event directly
The money usually needs to have gone straight from your credit card directly to the retailer
- The product, service, travel, holiday or event was for your benefit
For example, your claim might not be successful if an additional cardholder paid and you weren't travelling or if you were paying for someone outside of your family to go
- The total amount of the product, goods, service, travel, holiday or event you paid the company for was more than £100 but less than £30,000
You don’t have to have paid for it all using your credit card though – just part of it
- The company let you down by failing to do something that they had to do as part of their contract with you
It’s important you check the terms and conditions, especially when it comes to holiday or travel cancellations, refunds and re-booking. If the company offers you a voucher or the ability to re-book, you won’t usually be able to raise a claim under Section 75 if their terms and conditions allow that
- You’ve lost out financially as a result
You can make a claim for all of the money you’ve lost – even if that’s more than what you spent using your credit card