Section 75 & CC Payment with Balance Transfer

wobblstar

Hi

Hoping someone out there is able to offer some insight as searches I'm trying to make regarding section 75 and including balance transfers are bringing back 0% credit cards, which I don't need as I follow the excellent advice of paying back in full.

I recently bought a car for £12,000 after finding it via AutoTrader. The garage selling the car was some 250 miles away. I initially paid a deposit of £250 via my credit card to take the car off the market while everything was being sorted out, time for the garage to try and apply add-ons. In the end, I paid the remaining £11,750 via balance transfer and took delivery of the car with the standard 6-month warranty that came with it a few days later.

Upon delivery, I had notified the garage that I bought it from that there was a fault, which I was advised to take it to a local garage in order to have the fault rectified - they explained that they would pay for this to be sorted out and have an email requesting that I provide them with the invoice to do so. Unfortunately, it's turns out to be not a simple procedure and now the dealership of the vehicle manufacturer are involved and have provided an eye-watering quote. The garage are now starting to mess me about and I've been in touch with the credit card company regarding section 75.

Having spoken to the credit card company, they have come back and said that because I paid the remainder of the outstanding amount via balance transfer that they are not obligated to cover the full amount and only the initial £250 that was made directly via my credit card; it states the name of the garage on the credit card statement so there is a direct connection. On top of this, the car was purchased via distance selling. Now I'm in two minds into whether I should have the garage take the car back as I am not prepared to go through the song and dance with them. However, between purchasing the car and receiving it I took out GAP insurance via a third party (saved a bit on that) and paid the additional premium to my car insurance company.

In short, I have spent an additional £500 for the GAP insurance and my insurance yet I'd like to be where I was before I had ordered the car. What is my position and where do I stand?

born_again

wobblstar said:

Hi

Hoping someone out there is able to offer some insight as searches I'm trying to make regarding section 75 and including balance transfers are bringing back 0% credit cards, which I don't need as I follow the excellent advice of paying back in full.

I recently bought a car for £12,000 after finding it via AutoTrader. The garage selling the car was some 250 miles away. I initially paid a deposit of £250 via my credit card to take the car off the market while everything was being sorted out, time for the garage to try and apply add-ons. In the end, I paid the remaining £11,750 via balance transfer and took delivery of the car with the standard 6-month warranty that came with it a few days later.

Upon delivery, I had notified the garage that I bought it from that there was a fault, which I was advised to take it to a local garage in order to have the fault rectified - they explained that they would pay for this to be sorted out and have an email requesting that I provide them with the invoice to do so. Unfortunately, it's turns out to be not a simple procedure and now the dealership of the vehicle manufacturer are involved and have provided an eye-watering quote. The garage are now starting to mess me about and I've been in touch with the credit card company regarding section 75.

Having spoken to the credit card company, they have come back and said that because I paid the remainder of the outstanding amount via balance transfer that they are not obligated to cover the full amount and only the initial £250 that was made directly via my credit card; it states the name of the garage on the credit card statement so there is a direct connection. On top of this, the car was purchased via distance selling. Now I'm in two minds into whether I should have the garage take the car back as I am not prepared to go through the song and dance with them. However, between purchasing the car and receiving it I took out GAP insurance via a third party (saved a bit on that) and paid the additional premium to my car insurance company.

In short, I have spent an additional £500 for the GAP insurance and my insurance yet I'd like to be where I was before I had ordered the car. What is my position and where do I stand?

How did you do a balance transfer to a retailer?
You can only balance transfer a balance from a credit card to another credit card.
So just how did you pay the retailer, and was this paid while you were there to pick up the car?
Sounds like your CC are wanting to do a chargeback on the £250. 

wobblstar

Thanks for the speedy response.

The balance transfers were payments from three bank accounts; £2,500, £3,500 and £5,750 through the 'send money' option where the recipient was verified by all accounts as being legit. I could have probably lumped the payments into two but I know one bank has limitations to how much I can send on a daily basis and I just wanted it sorted. This outstanding balance was paid in full before I took delivery of the car as a delivery service was used to bring the car to my door.

Maybe balance transfers is the wrong terminology so apologies if this is misleading - it is probably why I couldn't find anything relevant.

eskbanker

wobblstar said:

Thanks for the speedy response.

The balance transfers were payments from three bank accounts; £2,500, £3,500 and £5,750 through the 'send money' option where the recipient was verified by all accounts as being legit. I could have probably lumped the payments into two but I know one bank has limitations to how much I can send on a daily basis and I just wanted it sorted. This outstanding balance was paid in full before I took delivery of the car as a delivery service was used to bring the car to my door.

Maybe balance transfers is the wrong terminology so apologies if this is misleading - it is probably why I couldn't find anything relevant.

As born_again observes, 'balance transfer' is a term specifically for transferring a balance between credit cards, whereas shifting money between current accounts is generally known as a 'bank transfer'.

Section 75 rights apply for the entire transaction value even where only part of it was made by credit card, so if your card company is arguing otherwise then they're wrong, although may be referring to the (different) chargeback process.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/visa-mastercard-chargeback/

However, s75 simply grants you the same rights against the card company as against the merchant, so you still have to demonstrate breach of contract or misrepresentation, and, given the lack of technical vehicle knowledge held by a financial institution, you'll probably be asked to get an independent expert report on the condition of the car to support your claim, although you can add its cost to the claim.

Even if you can make a s75 claim stick for the vehicle purchase itself, I can't see any basis on which you could expect to recover your additional insurance costs if that's what you were asking, who would you see as liable for those?

wobblstar

Thanks for your response and clarifying the situation, it is very much appreciated. Obtaining the evidence is a crucial step and I appreciate you highlighting this.
Apologies again for the misleading title and term. I can understand now why I was getting irrelevant answers when searching.
Is there a way a moderator can pick up this thread and relabel the title to bank transfer?

born_again

wobblstar said:

Thanks for the speedy response.

The balance transfers were payments from three bank accounts; £2,500, £3,500 and £5,750 through the 'send money' option where the recipient was verified by all accounts as being legit. I could have probably lumped the payments into two but I know one bank has limitations to how much I can send on a daily basis and I just wanted it sorted. This outstanding balance was paid in full before I took delivery of the car as a delivery service was used to bring the car to my door.

Maybe balance transfers is the wrong terminology so apologies if this is misleading - it is probably why I couldn't find anything relevant.

From previous post..
Having spoken to the credit card company, they have come back and said that because I paid the remainder of the outstanding amount via balance transfer that they are not obligated to cover the full amount and only the initial £250 that was made directly via my credit card

Thanks for the update.

CC co are wrong S75 covers the whole amount (subject to meeting the S75 critera) 
In effect for S75 cover you only have to pay 1p on the CC and any other payment method is also included that purchase. So long as you have proof. 
eg receipt for cash payments.

Only thing I would add is do not expect a speedy outcome from S75.
Have you rejected the car as per your rights under consumer regs 2015?