Can you do a chargeback and a section 75?

Nebulous2

I got stuck in New Zealand with my return flight cancelled. My insurer has said I have a valid claim, but I need to try to reclaim from the travel agent and my credit card before submitting my claim. I paid half of the flights by credit card and my credit card provider has offered a chargeback for that. They are going to chargeback about £1000. The additional costs for the return journey were about £4000. I'm concerned that the insurer (who is closed for Easter weekend) will not regard a £1000 recovery as enough, given that will still leave them with a £3000 claim.

In theoretical terms then is it possible to do both? Get £1000 chargeback and aso pursue a section 75 claim for contingent liabilities?

eskbanker

Theoretically it should be possible in other circumstances but if you've booked via a travel agent then that's likely to scupper any s75 claim (by breaking the debtor-creditor-supplier chain), so in your situation you'll need to rely on the airline/agent, insurance and/or chargeback, without the additional s75 option being available....

fifeken

eskbanker said:

Theoretically it should be possible in other circumstances but if you've booked via a travel agent then that's likely to scupper any s75 claim (by breaking the debtor-creditor-supplier chain), so in your situation you'll need to rely on the airline/agent, insurance and/or chargeback, without the additional s75 option being available....

Could the chargeback fail because of the lack of a debtor-creditor-supplier chain or something similar too, after all the agent provided the service paid for?

Edit to add:  Just seen on the MSE guide that agent purchases are covered.  Seems odd to me as the bank would presumably hoover back the money paid to the agent, but they'll already have sent most of it to the airline.

Nebulous2

fifeken said:

eskbanker said:

Theoretically it should be possible in other circumstances but if you've booked via a travel agent then that's likely to scupper any s75 claim (by breaking the debtor-creditor-supplier chain), so in your situation you'll need to rely on the airline/agent, insurance and/or chargeback, without the additional s75 option being available....

Could the chargeback fail because of the lack of a debtor-creditor-supplier chain or something similar too, after all the agent provided the service paid for?

Edit to add:  Just seen on the MSE guide that agent purchases are covered.  Seems odd to me as the bank would presumably hoover back the money paid to the agent, but they'll already have sent most of it to the airline.

I was trying to stick to a simple credit card query here, rather than the travel section, but flight was with Singapore Airlines. Lastminute.com told me they were going to ask for a refund from SIA which would be in the form of a voucher. Don’t contact us, we’ll contact you.

My insurer asked, legitimately in my view, if that voucher could be available to offset the cost of my flight home. That would have made sense. Radio silence from lastminute who were uncontactable. I’m now home, after a 50 hour journey, so the time for that is past. 

SIA have now changed their policy and are giving refunds instead of vouchers on request. I contacted lastminute to ask for a refund and pointed out the SIA change of policy. Their view was even if they received a refund from SIA I would still get a voucher. My credit card has now offered to do a chargeback, putting a hold on the £1000 at Lastminute’s bank for 28 days. If it isn’t concluded by then they will extend that for another 28 days. 

There will be a way through this maze, with the insurer eventually covering the bulk of the costs, but I’m doing what I can to reduce the claim by recovery elsewhere. The ramifications and arguments over this are going to hang over the travel industry for years and years.