Being charged for using credit card / not being allowed to?

JustAnotherSaver

Just checking I've not dreamed it. Is it correct that you no longer get (or should no longer get) charged a fee for using your credit card to buy something?

For why I'm asking - my mother has bought a car in the 2k-3k bracket. It's having a door lock issue resolved before she picks it up & as you get protection £100 and above with a credit card I was going to say to her to use my card to pay for it.

I'm sure (though not 100%) it came in that you no longer get charged? Though when you pay for things like car tax you still do get charged, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

I know many places don't like taking Amex so I guess that's different for some reason.

I also have a VISA credit card with Nationwide.

Just if this garage says oh we'll have to add on a 5% charge (for example) - I want to know whether that's bogus or not?

[Deleted User]

A fee can't be charged for different payment types, but an admin fee can be applied to all types. So it depends what the fee is for.

Amex isn't different - it's either accepted or it's not.

[Deleted User]

They are not allowed to charge a fee just for credit cards, they can charge a fee if it applies to all payments.

You only need to spend 1p on the credit card to get S75 cover provided the item is for £100-£30,000 though do keep in mind that under S75 rules, you can only make a claim in some situations - your card being used for a car purchase when it's for your mother would break the debtor/issuer/creditor relationship.

Amex fees to the dealer are higher than Mastercard or Visa hence why they don't like them.

S75 might also be an issue if it's a pre-existing fault even if the garage say they have fixed it. Even if your mother got her own card to spend on, the issuer might push back at having to do a full refund for a car based on something you knew was suspect when you got it.

Grumpy_chap

A fee can still be charged for using business credit cards.  Just for completeness, as I assume this does not apply here.

Sandtree

JustAnotherSaver said:

I'm sure (though not 100%) it came in that you no longer get charged? Though when you pay for things like car tax you still do get charged, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

No, there is no carve out for car tax, they can charge a fee if they charge for all card transactions but cannot charge one for personal credit cards (as already noted above the rules dont cover business credit cards).

HMRC however have taken the approach that they dont accept personal credit cards for tax payments because they can no longer charge... they do accept business/corporate cards and continue to charge a fee as they are entitled to. 

Many dealers wont accept credit cards for purchasing a vehicle for this reason however most will accept a deposit by credit card and other payment method to clear the balance. 

eskbanker

Sandtree said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

I'm sure (though not 100%) it came in that you no longer get charged? Though when you pay for things like car tax you still do get charged, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

No, there is no carve out for car tax, they can charge a fee if they charge for all card transactions but cannot charge one for personal credit cards (as already noted above the rules dont cover business credit cards).

Indeed - following the outlawing of card surcharges in 2018, there were numerous threads on here in which posters asserted that DVLA were still applying these for personal card payments, but they were all wrong, albeit the way in which DVLA presented their payment options online could seemingly be misread by the unwary....

lisyloo

It’s simple to get round the s75/fee issue.
you ask to pay a small amount e.g. £1 on credit card, and pay the charge on that e.g. 2% is 2p if they bother charging.
I’ve done this many times as charges have been around a long time for large purchases e.g. cars.

eskbanker

lisyloo said:

It’s simple to get round the s75/fee issue.
you ask to pay a small amount e.g. £1 on credit card, and pay the charge on that e.g. 2% is 2p if they bother charging.
I’ve done this many times as charges have been around a long time for large purchases e.g. cars.

Or simply choose merchants who abide by the law when making your large purchases?  If they consider it acceptable to break the law when taking payments, imagine what shortcuts and dodgy practices their mechanics will be encouraged to perform....

lisyloo

eskbanker said:

lisyloo said:

It’s simple to get round the s75/fee issue.
you ask to pay a small amount e.g. £1 on credit card, and pay the charge on that e.g. 2% is 2p if they bother charging.
I’ve done this many times as charges have been around a long time for large purchases e.g. cars.

Or simply choose merchants who abide by the law when making your large purchases?  If they consider it acceptable to break the law when taking payments, imagine what shortcuts and dodgy practices their mechanics will be encouraged to perform....

Sorry I don’t know what you mean.
In the past it’s been lawful to charge fees.
i always choose merchants who abide by the law although in other countries (holidays purchases) that may not be uk law.
i totally agree I would not support a car dealer (and definitely not a dive operator) who broke the law. With diving my life is in their hands.

A very recent holiday I paid the deposit by card (for S75) but the rest is direct.
that solves the issue as the S75 is for the whole holiday.

JustAnotherSaver

Deleted_User said:

 do keep in mind that under S75 rules, you can only make a claim in some situations - your card being used for a car purchase when it's for your mother would break the debtor/issuer/creditor relationship.

So in short then, absolutely no point in her using my credit card whatsoever then?

Ebe_Scrooge

JustAnotherSaver said:

Deleted_User said:

 do keep in mind that under S75 rules, you can only make a claim in some situations - your card being used for a car purchase when it's for your mother would break the debtor/issuer/creditor relationship.

So in short then, absolutely no point in her using my credit card whatsoever then?

In terms of the S75 protection, this is correct, S75 wouldn't cover your mother if you used your card.  Plus, as Farfetch says, there's the potential issue of a "pre-existing fault".

I'm wondering whether it would be simpler to just get something in writing from the garage to say the issue has been fixed prior to the sale, and to offer some form of written warranty on the repair?  Of course, how you'd get them to honour the warranty is a different argument, but it depends on how reputable the dealer is.  Certainly whenever I've bought a used car, the sales bumf has always detailed any faults that I highlighted on the test drive, and stated that they had (or had not, if that was what was agreed) been repaired.