Credit card protection VS Hard Drive

Mishomeister

I am going to buy a PC very soon and was wondering if it was worth putting a purchase on a credit card for it's protection, however I've heard, that devices, that include hard drives are not covered. If that is the case, I'd rather pay with a debit card and save on a c/c charge. Could anyone please clarify

Esqui

Worth checking, but it's more likely that they don't cover the data on devices with hard drives

halibut2209

As long as the PC costs over £100, you can pay just £1 by credit card and be covered.

Although if you have the money to buy it without a credit card, then use the credit card and pay it off straight away.

NoSatisfaction

Hi, I think you are thinking of section 75 of the consumer credit act.

This means that if you purchase any single item between £100 and £30,000 then the credit card company is jointly liable.

Drives manufacturers and retailers tend to cover themselves with a clause saying data is not their responsibility, but in legalese.

However, if the drive were at fault and you lost data it would be possible to claim for the loss, but this would be expensive as you would probably need to take legal action, as I doubt anyone would make a payout without a fight. Especially if the data is valuable.

The value of the data is the rub. If it is valuable, then you should have a good backup in place. If you don't then I don't think anyone will have any sympathy with regards the loss and I suspect that any competent court would also expect you to take steps to protect your data.

Mishomeister

NoSatisfaction wrote: »

Hi, I think you are thinking of section 75 of the consumer credit act.

This means that if you purchase any single item between £100 and £30,000 then the credit card company is jointly liable.

Drives manufacturers and retailers tend to cover themselves with a clause saying data is not their responsibility, but in legalese.

However, if the drive were at fault and you lost data it would be possible to claim for the loss, but this would be expensive as you would probably need to take legal action, as I doubt anyone would make a payout without a fight. Especially if the data is valuable.

The value of the data is the rub. If it is valuable, then you should have a good backup in place. If you don't then I don't think anyone will have any sympathy with regards the loss and I suspect that any competent court would also expect you to take steps to protect your data.

That's exactly what I've ment. What I am however trying to find out if the same protection apply's to PC as it has a hard drive in it. I am much more concerned about wether clause 75 will protect me if for example I've paid for it but newer got it delivered, because the company gone bancrupt etc, or whether C/C company could pick up on the fact the PC has a Hard Drive in it and therefore it is not covered?

halibut2209

Can you imagine the furore Martin Lewis would go into if he was refused a claim under section 75 because his PC had a hard drive in it?

NoSatisfaction

Mishomeister wrote: »

That's exactly what I've ment. What I am however trying to find out if the same protection apply's to PC as it has a hard drive in it. I am much more concerned about wether clause 75 will protect me if for example I've paid for it but newer got it delivered, because the company gone bancrupt etc, or whether C/C company could pick up on the fact the PC has a Hard Drive in it and therefore it is not covered?

Absolutely. Any legal products with a value between £100 and £30k are covered by section 75.

If you are thinking about specific extra one year guarantees offered by some credit card companies, then that is up to them and their specific T&Cs I am afraid.

paddyrg

It sounds like you're confusing the hard drive (physical object) with the data (a load of 1's and 0's in a specific order) - the physical object is covered as is the PC containing it, however the data on the drive is not. If the hard drive fails, you replace it with a minimum of fuss (it's a 10 minute job if you know what you are doing), however reinstalling the operating system, all your programs, restoring your files from backup etc is a bigger job and any loss of data is unlikely to be covered.

Also, just for awareness, never move a spinning drive if you can help it - they are gyroscopes but with extremely precision head placement on very very fine magnetic tracks, it's a miracle they work at all!

Mishomeister

halibut2209 wrote: »

As long as the PC costs over £100, you can pay just £1 by credit card and be covered.

Although if you have the money to buy it without a credit card, then use the credit card and pay it off straight away.

Well the only problem would be, that they would charge me 2% on a credit card payment and my cashback card only pays me 1 percent.

On the other side I like the Idea of paying £1