Does section 75 cover insurance policies?

nogaff

I can't think of a specific scenario off the top of my head, but can section 75 cover insurance policy premiums in any way that would make it advisable to pay for the insurance policy with a credit card?

Ebe_Scrooge

In theory it would - if, for instance, the service was not delivered as promised. But you'd probably find that the insurance company would charge a fee for paying by credit card, so I'm not sure how worthwhile it would be. Even if the insurance company did something naughty, you'd have the Ombudsman to turn to, so I can't really see any benefit in paying by CC.

grumbler

It you can sue the insurance company for breaching the contract, then similarly you can sue the CC company.

agrinnall

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

In theory it would - if, for instance, the service was not delivered as promised. But you'd probably find that the insurance company would charge a fee for paying by credit card, so I'm not sure how worthwhile it would be. Even if the insurance company did something naughty, you'd have the Ombudsman to turn to, so I can't really see any benefit in paying by CC.

I pay nearly all of my insurance by credit card, very few insurers charge a fee for doing so in my experience.

nogaff

My current insurer charges 1.5% for credit card payments, so it doesn't really seem worth it given Scrooge's point about the Ombudsman.

Still interesting to know that there could potentially be some benefit if your insurer doesn't charge a fee for credit card payments though.

eskbanker

What about if the insurance company ceased trading? I wouldn't have thought that the ombudsman could do much about that and am not aware of any FSCS style protection, although it could be that there is some sort of industry scheme that offers protection against failure of members in the same way that, say, ATOL does for travel firms....

agrinnall

eskbanker wrote: »

What about if the insurance company ceased trading? I wouldn't have thought that the ombudsman could do much about that and am not aware of any FSCS style protection, although it could be that there is some sort of industry scheme that offers protection against failure of members in the same way that, say, ATOL does for travel firms....

I wasn't sure so I had a quick check.

http://www.fscs.org.uk/industry/perspectives/2014/may

FSCS protects insurance policies sold by UK authorised insurers. That protection covers 90% of the value of most policies and 100% of the value of compulsory insurance, like motor policies.