Wedding Venue in Liquidation

born_again

Civvy21 said:

An update....
The bank (HSBC) initially turned down the section 75 claim as it was past the 120 day deadline. Utter nonsense of course and I advised my family member accordingly. They have since continued to drag their feet but have now refunded about half of the claim. These were the credit card payments she made( I was unaware initially that she had used a combination of credit and debit card on her installment payments). HSBC have now advised her that they cannot refund the debit card payments yet because the bank's lawyers are dealing with it. I assume this is complete nonsense too. If the banks layers are "looking into it" then surely that is their concern. As the bank have, in effect, accepted the Section 75 claim and repaid her credit card payments then surely they would have to repay the debit card payments?
Grateful for any advice. 

It could be they have actioned chargebacks. But have referred to legal on the S75 claim.
Wait and see what they comeback with. If not happy then raise a complaint and be prepared for HSBC to reject that and you will end up letting FOS make a judgement. Which will not be quick, but may get the result you want.

S75 is 6 years as a rough guide.
Even chargebacks which do have a 120 day timescale. But this would be from the date of event (October) but they would only be able to go back 540 days from that date.
But given you have proof of administration, then they could do a chargeback from the date of that and go back 540 days from there. That would also apply to any debit card payments.

Sandtree

the mention of 120 days and only refunding what was paid on the card says that this has been dealt with as a chargeback not a S75 claim.

S75 doesnt normally  exist on debit cards as it relates to the Consumer Credit Act (though never considered the circs of you being overdrawn)

Civvy21

I appreciate your responses. Can I clarify a couple of points. 
As the bank has only refunded the credit card payments would that not imply that the case is being dealt with as a Section 75 claim? I always assumed that as long as the service/product purchased is over £100 and part of that was paid by credit card then the whole purchase would be covered by Section 75. Is that not what should happen in this case?
Secondly, should she be expected to wait until HSBC have finished their legal enquiries into the wedding venue? She has proof of payments made and proof of the wedding venue going into liquidation. Surely that is enough for a S75 claim. Any legal issue would be between the bank and the wedding venue receivers. Or am I being too simplistic? 

Unfortunately HSBC have not been overly helpful. I appreciate they may be busy but they do not appear to put anything in writing. Just random refunds with no notification or explanation. 

Sandtree

S75 covers the whole purchase whereas Chargeback only covers what was paid.

As you say they only refunded what was paid on the CC and they are still considering a claim on the DC this suggests its chargeback else they'd have simply paid back what was owed on the CC and the DC would have been irrelevant. 

A chargeback the bank gets the money back and gives it to you, the merchant (or administrators in this case) can dispute the chargeback and slow down the process. S75 the bank pays you back from its own pocket, it may then get the right to pursue the merchant but it may not be worth their while depending on the circumstances.

born_again

Civvy21 said:

I appreciate your responses. Can I clarify a couple of points. 
As the bank has only refunded the credit card payments would that not imply that the case is being dealt with as a Section 75 claim? I always assumed that as long as the service/product purchased is over £100 and part of that was paid by credit card then the whole purchase would be covered by Section 75. Is that not what should happen in this case?
Secondly, should she be expected to wait until HSBC have finished their legal enquiries into the wedding venue? She has proof of payments made and proof of the wedding venue going into liquidation. Surely that is enough for a S75 claim. Any legal issue would be between the bank and the wedding venue receivers. Or am I being too simplistic? 

Unfortunately HSBC have not been overly helpful. I appreciate they may be busy but they do not appear to put anything in writing. Just random refunds with no notification or explanation. 

No refunds do not imply S75 is being used.
You are correct so long as the purchase amount is between £100 & £30K then ALL payments are covered, so long a a amount has been made on a credit card. 1 pence is enough. This includes cash, bank payments, cheque & debit card payments. So long as you have proof of them.
I would guess that the referral to the legal team is not to talk to the venue, but to asses if S75 is in play here.
S75 refunds come from HSBC in this case, no where else. They will not sue the venue even if they could.
If you are getting random refunds then that points more to chargebacks as they are actioned. Also chargebacks will not see any notification other than refunds.
As any S75 refunds will need you to sign a letter agreeing to any refund being a full & final payment.


If you said today was the date the venue went under than any payments on either debit or credit card after 19 March 2019 would fall within the 540 days for a chargeback.