Any advantage in paying via Credit Card?

leaphaze

My wife is buying a car from the local garage; £100 deposit already paid via debit card. The balance, around £3300, is to be paid when we pick up the car. We've been saving our pennies so we have the funds available and can pay the balance via debit card.

However, my wife is thinking of paying via credit card for the extra protection. We would pay off the balance on the next statement. There is no cashback on this credit card. She's prepared to pay the 3% requested (£99) by the garage.

My question is what extra protection does paying by cedit card actually give? We shall be picking up the car ourselves, so no chance of it getting lost in the post! We'll be giving it a good look over before paying the balance. We have a one year warranty from the garage, which admittedly is a small one with only 3 employees.

I also seem to remember that any protection given by using a credit card, is not dependant on the full amount being paid by credit card. So, for instance, as long as at least £100 is paid via credit card, the level of protect is the same. Have I got this right?

Any opinions would be most welcome.

leaphaze

Anybody any views?

NickX

leaphaze wrote: »

I also seem to remember that any protection given by using a credit card, is not dependant on the full amount being paid by credit card. So, for instance, as long as at least £100 is paid via credit card, the level of protect is the same. Have I got this right?

The total purchase price needs to be between £100 and £30,000, however you can spend as little as £1 on a Credit Card for the whole purchase to benefit from Section 75 protection under the Consumer Credit Act.

Personally I wouldn't want to pay the extra 3% so you may be best just to use the credit card for a minimal amount to keep the Section 75 protection.

dylanuk

Hi,

You'll get Section 75 protection if you pay by credit card. It's also true that it doesn't matter if the full amount wasn't paid by credit card (e.g. if you use two different credit cards for the deposit and full amount you can claim the total from either - just not both).

Section 75 covers purchases against "Faulty/damaged, mis-sold or non-delivered goods costing £100 - £30,000 bought anywhere in the world "

Here's some more information on it: http://www.credit-card-comparison-online.co.uk/articles/section-75-purchase-protection-cover.html

Also more information and some example claims here: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/31/creditcards-31.htm

Hope this helps.