Is building work covered by Section 75?

Danthu

Hi all,

I'm getting quotes for a loft conversion and have been reading about section 75 cover. The quotes are coming in around £25,000. My question is if I paid for some of the work on a credit card would I be covered if the builder went bust or the work wasn't completed?

To make things slightly more complicated I'm assuming the builder won't have credit card facilities so if I was to send him say £100 to an email address through PayPal but use my credit card associated with my PayPal account. Would I still be covered?

Thanks for your help in advance!

[Deleted User]

Yes to the first bit. But no to Paypal bit.

For 24k, I would be looking for a builder who accepts cards.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Surely you would only pay for the work the builder completes?

Get written quotes and give all instructions including payment terms in writing, just incase things go bad.

Use builders recommended by friends and family and dont always look at the cheapest ones.

InsideInsurance

Danthu wrote: »

To make things slightly more complicated I'm assuming the builder won't have credit card facilities so if I was to send him say £100 to an email address through PayPal but use my credit card associated with my PayPal account. Would I still be covered?

No because you have then actually paid paypal to pay him in which case all that is covered by S75 is if paypal pay him or not. Credit Card Cheques are also not covered by S75

For protection to be in place the money must go directly from the creditor to the merchant, if there are agents or other middlemen involved then the chain is broken and so is the protection.

If you cannot find a builder that accepts cards then go for the more normal approach which is to structure payments such that you, other than an initial small deposit maybe, are only paying for completed work/ materials that you hold, such if they do go bust the money you've held back will be enough for another company to finish the job with.