Time limit for company to take payment

wozza1982

Hi all, just a quick question.
I purchased a holiday with an airline company in April 2010, i put the full payment through on my virgin credit card, and received all the confirmations etc from the airline company.

Now over 1 year on and having already been on the holiday, i noticed that the Airline company, did not take payment for this holiday off my card.
Now i have received an email saying that there was a payment error on their behalf and they want full payment.

I just wanted to know if there is a time limit for the Airline to take payment from me or not as its been over a year.
Also i have all the receipts from them to say i have payed in full etc and the balance has been payed.
Cheers in advance warren :-)

chattychappy

There are two separate issues. One is the time limit for them to take payment from the card and the other is the time limit for which you are no longer liable to pay.

The first is a matter for the merchant agreement. I've heard 6 months is a time limit. So they may now be prevented from taking the payment from the card without your agreement.

The second is limitation. s5 Limitation Act 1980 gives them 6 years to claim the money from you.

Yes, you might have receipts etc. But at the same time you haven't paid. So the options are to lie - say you pay when you haven't and use the documentation as evidence. I doubt if you'd get anywhere.

OR, just agree to pay.

If it causes you particular hardship to pay now, then it would be reasonable to ask for staged payments.