Can I pay for someone else to protect them with S75?

TCA1989

Hi,

I’m dealing with a friend’s car at a garage and they don’t have a CC. There is potential that their work has been sub-standard or dishonest, which we will find out when the car goes elsewhere soon.

Can I pay on my credit card for extra protection? And then submit a claim on my own credit card should there be any issue?

 Thanks!

la531983

No. Needs to be their own card. Buying things for a 3rd party breaks the chain. 

TCA1989

But what technically would stop me claiming? When I’ve submitted claims before all I’ve needed is the receipt or invoice, and my name will be on that invoice.

I’ve arranged the work, got the work done, been part of the whole process, will pay for it and I’ll be the one that claims for a refund to me should it be required.

At what point will the CC see that it’s not my car and refuse any claim? 

I’m not trying to bend the law, just the only stuff I can find online is about me claiming for stuff I’ve purchased via a 3rd party such as Amazon or an agent. I’m trying to understand this individual point and then figure out how to clearly explain it to the friend if it’s not possible. 

elsien

Are they not able to apply for their own credit card? 

elsien

TCA1989 said:

But what technically would stop me claiming? When I’ve submitted claims before all I’ve needed is the receipt or invoice, and my name will be on that invoice.

I’ve arranged the work, got the work done, been part of the whole process, will pay for it and I’ll be the one that claims for a refund to me should it be required.

At what point will the CC see that it’s not my car and refuse any claim? 

I’m not trying to bend the law, just the only stuff I can find online is about me claiming for stuff I’ve purchased via a 3rd party such as Amazon or an agent. I’m trying to understand this individual point and then figure out how to clearly explain it to the friend if it’s not possible. 

You are claiming  on the grounds that you made the transaction and that you as an individual have not received the service that you paid for.
So passing off the invoices for someone else’s car as your own is quite simply untrue. 

Whether you might get away with it or not, who knows, but given that you say you’re not wanting to bend the law then generally speaking honesty is the best policy.

TCA1989

I’m still not convinced, and want to be proven wrong!

I am receiving the service, just not on my vehicle. I’ve been the primary contact, the one going down there daily etc. and the invoice will be to me and for me. 

I’m trying to think of similar situations where the same law would mean you can’t, but can’t think of anything. 

Also, it’s too late for them to apply for a CC. 

eskbanker

My understanding from previous threads in this area is that for a s75 claim to succeed on a breach of contract, the debtor must have suffered a loss, but if it's not your car then you wouldn't be able to substantiate that.

TCA1989

That reads much more logically to me, and makes more sense, thanks!

If it comes to it (I hope it won’t) I’ll seek advice anyway from the CC company and update. They’re not going to fob me off if I am eligible (you’d hope), even though it seems unlikely I am. 

grumbler

MSE:

• What does Section 75 cover?

Scroll down directly to

It's a GREY AREA if you...  Bought an item as a secondary cardholder or purchased something in the name of someone other than the primary cardholder

There is no point in asking the CC company. For them it's black&white, not grey. And stop trying to find some logic where there is no any. S75 is an archaic piece of legislation that makes no sense when applied to CCs. CC companies use every possible excuse for not paying,

DullGreyGuy

grumbler said:

S75 is an archaic piece of legislation that makes no sense when applied to CCs. 

It makes sense and it doesn't... it doesn't make sense on the grounds that the CC company is in no way vetting the merchant unlike when they allow the merchant to sell their loan products to fund in store purchases which was the most common form of non-home buying credit at the time of the legislation being drafted.

Ignoring the rational for S75 then it stacks up perfectly well and makes sense from an operational point of view.

The law is simple there is a chain/triangle of Debtor (the OP), Creditor (card issuer) and Supplier. For S75 to apply they must all be linked directly to each other without a 4th party involved. So the Debtor must be in contract with the Supplier. The Supplier must be providing goods/service to the Debtor. The Debtor must have a contract with the Creditor. The Creditor has to pay the money to the Supplier (the courts have clarified that payment to their merchant account is considered to be to the supplier/that 4th party can be ignored)

For some reason certain websites have introduced new language like "benefit from" which is in no way contemplated in the legislation itself. The slight carve out on that is when it comes to the Financial Ombudsman who routinely point out that they are not bound to follow the law blindly in the same way that the courts are but instead are required to look at fair outcomes. As such they may uphold a complaint in certain circumstances even if a court may have denied the claim (one prior example was where a Supplier was borrowing the card machine of the neighbouring business whilst theirs was faulty. This broke the chain as the monies weren't paid to the Supplier but the FOS upheld the complaint saying the customer would have been unaware of this)

For the OP's plan to work the contract for the work to be done on the car must be in their name. If the garage doesn't do the work the contract is for there is a breach of contract and the OP hasn't gotten what they paid for and therefore made a loss. Because they dont own the car however there could be gaps, for example if the garage damaged the car whilst doing the service it could be hard to  argue the OP has suffered a loss.

elsien

TCA1989 said:

I’m still not convinced, and want to be proven wrong!

I am receiving the service, just not on my vehicle. I’ve been the primary contact, the one going down there daily etc. and the invoice will be to me and for me. 

I’m trying to think of similar situations where the same law would mean you can’t, but can’t think of anything. 

Also, it’s too late for them to apply for a CC. 

Parent's came through by return of post following her online application.