S75 if I close account?

happybagger

Hi, I opened a CC in January in order to make a purchase (grave memorial) in March for which I wanted S75 cover, Was given a CC with £1100 limit. Have since used it for normal purchases too, and paid monthly in full. Oddly, my credit limit was yesterday to £250 for no apparent reason, all good on Experian, now rendering the card a waste of time.

I appreciate it may be worth keeping the account alive in case I want this protection for future purchases, I'm undecided.

I'm not bothered about applying for another, too much hassle being  part-time self employed, but my question is: Does the S75 protection on purchases made by that CC still remain valid even after clearing the balance and if I was to then close the account? I'm not expecting the memorial to be delivered until August.

CliveOfIndia

It's a bit of a grey area, as noted in the article: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/

"If you've paid for something on a card but since cancelled it, you may still have Section 75 protection.

The Financial Ombudsman Service told us that assuming you meet all other criteria you should be covered, as the fact you've cancelled the card doesn't matter. The original payment method is what's important – in other words, that you paid on a credit card.

If you have any doubt, put in a claim – the worst that can happen is your claim is rejected."

happybagger said:

Does the S75 protection on purchases made by that CC still remain valid even after clearing the balance and if I was to then close the account? I'm not expecting the memorial to be delivered until August.

To save any potential hassle, why not just keep the card open for a couple more months until the goods have been delivered and you're happy that they're OK?  You don't need to use it for spending if you don't want to, and the fact that it's got zero balance isn't relevant as far as any S75 claim is concerned.

born_again

If you do cancel the acc, S75 should not be a issue. But you will need to keep ALL details of the account. As it is easy for them to say after a few years. You have to provide the details so we can trace the account.

As it is amazing the number of people that come back & say want to start a claim on a previous purchase, when they have no idea when, how much & often who to. They get told to go & find the details, as it is required to start a claim.

TBH, the odds of needing S75 are very slim. 

happybagger

Thanks both.

I decided to go down the CC route for the memorial as another local stonemason did go bust a few years ago, leaving some out of pocket. As Personal Representative I wanted to secure this back-up option for the Estate funds. I looked at the debit card chargeback rules but this was time-limited and the memorial delivery date would be beyond a claim date.

The odds are slim I know, but I wanted extra 'due diligence'

Agree with cliveofindia and leaving it open seems appropriate in this case, though I generally don't like things being left open-ended

DullGreyGuy

happybagger said:

Thanks both.

I decided to go down the CC route for the memorial as another local stonemason did go bust a few years ago, leaving some out of pocket. As Personal Representative I wanted to secure this back-up option for the Estate funds. I looked at the debit card chargeback rules but this was time-limited and the memorial delivery date would be beyond a claim date.

The odds are slim I know, but I wanted extra 'due diligence'

Agree with cliveofindia and leaving it open seems appropriate in this case, though I generally don't like things being left open-ended

The 120 days for chargeback starts from the expected date of performance not the date of purchase with a backstop of 540 days from the date of purchase.  So if your only concern is the company goes bust before the original delivery date in September then chargeback is likely to have been sufficient. 

happybagger

Fair enough, the bank's wording of "120 days of date of purchase or date goods were expected" seemed ambiguous which is the reason for going down the CC route.

born_again

happybagger said:

Thanks both.

I decided to go down the CC route for the memorial as another local stonemason did go bust a few years ago, leaving some out of pocket. As Personal Representative I wanted to secure this back-up option for the Estate funds. I looked at the debit card chargeback rules but this was time-limited and the memorial delivery date would be beyond a claim date.

The odds are slim I know, but I wanted extra 'due diligence'

Agree with cliveofindia and leaving it open seems appropriate in this case, though I generally don't like things being left open-ended

If as in this case you would be paying for something that would be received in the future. You have a max of 540 days from the debit date of transaction to action a chargeback.
This is the same on debit & credit cards.
While S75 does give cover up to 6 years for various scenarios.

TBH. I would just keep card open for a while & then close one you have the memorial. Making sure to keep details safe in case of future issue.

retiredbanker1

I agree leave the card open after you pay off any outstanding balance.