Is Verbal Authorisation Legal for a Company to charge a credit card with £885

mwalther

My wife recently gave her longcard number to a company who she was thinking of using to appeal against a credit card debt. They asked for the card number to verify who she was and to see if she was eligible. Next Day without her knowledge......you guessed it....they charged £885 to her account. She did not sign or return any written paperwork. Now the card company are not interested because they are saying my wife gave verbal authorisation. The company who took the payment are saying that verbal authorisation was given. My wife says she gave the details but had no idea her card was going to be charged before she had returned the signed documents and that the customer services person told her on the phone that she was giving the details so that they could verify if she had a case.
Any advice as to whether the company have acted lawfully and whether the credit card company have acted correctly and also any tips on what to do from here would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Michael

intranicity

I think a verbal contract is a contract in normal Law, really depends on what was said by who really, you have no proof that your wife didn't agree to it! I would though expect them to have a tape recording.

I would get onto your card issuer and tell them that the payment has been taken against your authority/knowledge and hope that they dispute the payment and credit it back whilst it's investigated. Not sure where you stand though sadly as your wife gave them all the card details I expect, expiry dates, Cvv No on the back etc etc.....

Sadly their are some nasty people out there, and you might have learnt the hard way, GOOD LUCK and I hope you get the money back

[Deleted User]

The credit card company has done nothing wrong by processing a CNP transactions. I assume that your wife must have also given the CVV number as well as the card number for the transaction to go through.

As to whether the company you were using to get out of paying the credit card debt has acted correctly is another matter and can't be answered accurately here. Did she use the card that she's trying to avoid paying, to pay for the service to avoid paying it? ie was it for an unenforceability claim? If so, she's potentially left herself open to legal ramifications, such as intent to defraud.

lisyloo

I don't think they can legally charge her card if she didn't authorise it.
I don't think simply giving your numbers is sufficient for authorisation, she would need to agree to the purchase of goods/services.
However your problem is proving it.

I would normally say that you can apply for a SAR (subject access request) under the DPA (data protection act) to get all details including taped calls for a max fee of £10, however if she has been deliberately set up then there is a likelihood that the tape recording machine was not working on that occassion.

I would warn others not to give their details out for "identification" purposes and do more research on the subject up front first.

I would tell her card issuer it hasn't been authorised.

magpiecottage

Obviously we do not know the exact details of the situation but if what the OP says is true then it would amount to fraud.

I would suggest contacting the credit card company and telling them the transaction is fraudulent and asking for a refund.

meer53

The OP's card issuer would not take this on as fraud. For a transaction to be classed as fraud, the OP must not have had anything to do with the retailer or given their card details to them. The OP's wife should check the terms and conditions for cancelling this agreement and contact the retailer as soon as possible. Providing your card details to a retailer (by whatever means) means you are giving your authority for them to debit you, this transaction could not be disputed as unauthorised.
If this charge is for the company to assess whether your wife has a valid case and they have responded to her with their decision, then any dispute would fail. They have carried out what they have been paid to do.
Seems to have been a misunderstanding somewhere, probably a bit of flannel by the sales rep on the original call, it happens all the time.
If your wife has cancelled the agreement, she may get a refund, depends on the terms and conditions. Send a copy of them to your card issuer and ask them to review it again for you, they may still say no but ir's worth a try.

ILW

Looks like she would have done better to just pay back the money she borrowed. Poetic justice in my opinion.

pajero68

hope the company takeing the money wasnt tucan claims because if it was you are going to need all the support you can get,because there has been huge complaints about this company,they take money and do absolutely nothing.

Irishhils

I've been contacted by Tucan Claims today and believe me no one rings you up and says they can get you money without it being a scam! I am registered with TPS and will definitely be putting a complaint in with them. Take care everyone and do not entertain these phone calls.

jonesMUFCforever

lisyloo wrote: »

I don't think they can legally charge her card if she didn't authorise it.
I don't think simply giving your numbers is sufficient for authorisation, she would need to agree to the purchase of goods/services.
However your problem is proving it.

I would normally say that you can apply for a SAR (subject access request) under the DPA (data protection act) to get all details including taped calls for a max fee of £10, however if she has been deliberately set up then there is a likelihood that the tape recording machine was not working on that occassion.

I would warn others not to give their details out for "identification" purposes and do more research on the subject up front first.

I would tell her card issuer it hasn't been authorised.

Why would giving out your card number have anything to do with identification?
I have to disagree with you - giving out your number will only be used for one purpose - to debit the account.
I think this is how the credit card company will see it as well.
The only recourse will be a chargeback providing the company is still trading and they have not provided the service the transaction was charged for.
This might take some time to resolve.

antrobus

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Why would giving out your card number have anything to do with identification?

Because that's what 'they' say. I've had it happen to me. Someone phoning up with some no-obligation-completely-free offer that requires your card-number-to-verify-your-ID; the chap at the other end of the phone became very nonplussed when I refused to give him by card no. 'But I can't continue without it' he complained; 'but I make it a rule not to give me card no over the phone' I replied, 'but I can't ... etc' he replied, and so forth, until he eventually realised that I wasn't going to budge and gave up.

Sadky this is the way that Tucan Claims appears to operate,see this not so old thread here at MSE -
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1793685 -

which largely consists of people making exactly the same complaint.