Section 75 / Chargeback

gwynfryn

Hi,

I’m looking to purchase a motorhome £50k+, and initially considered paying £1,000 on my credit card to get coverage by my credit card company under Section 75 if disaster struck and the motorhome needed to be returned due to lots of faults (it happens!), and the dealer played hard ball and refused a refund.

Reading up section 75 only covered purchases between £100.01 and £30k. So this would not apply as the purchase is over £30k. It’s not clear though is the first £30k still covered under the credit cards liability under section 75? Or paying the £1,000 is of no help?

The other option is chargeback, presumably through my bank, but that sounds a tortuous process as banks will do their best to wriggle out of any liability.

I will get the motorhome checked etc but it’s not until you use them that any ‘snags’ are usually found.

Any advice on any consumer protection with this purchase would be very helpful.

Thanks

Okell

My understanding is that s75 won't cover any part of a £50k purchase.

Dunno if chargeback would or not - there are lots of peculiarities to chargeback claims.

The bank won't be bothered about funding a chargeback as - unlike a s75 claim - the seller will be funding it not the bank.  What you will find is that the seller will almost certainly challenge the chargeback and your bank will reject your claim.  Even if the seller doesn't challenge it they could still sue you for the funds - unless you had a good claim in law.

elsien

Getting it properly checked before you buy it would seem to be the best consumer protection? 

TheSpectator

Have you checked with the dealer that they will accept card payment for the full amount? Some may accept a lowish deposit with balance by bank transfer which would limit any chargeback claim anyhow?

Okell

TheSpectator said:

Have you checked with the dealer that they will accept card payment for the full amount? Some may accept a lowish deposit with balance by bank transfer which would limit any chargeback claim anyhow?

And how would that help?

TheSpectator

Okell said:

TheSpectator said:

Have you checked with the dealer that they will accept card payment for the full amount? Some may accept a lowish deposit with balance by bank transfer which would limit any chargeback claim anyhow?

And how would that help?

Who rattled your cage?

OP mentioned chargeback, if the dealer will only take a small deposit on debit/credit card with the balance by bank transfer then only the amount up to the card payment will be subject to chargeback so it's not going to help the OP.

That was my point.

Aylesbury_Duck

For a £50k+ purchase, spend some money on getting it professionally inspected and assessed.  It’s what you do when you buy a house, and that’s what this is.  You should walk away from any dealer that wouldn’t allow you to do this.

born_again

gwynfryn said:

Hi,

I’m looking to purchase a motorhome £50k+, and initially considered paying £1,000 on my credit card to get coverage by my credit card company under Section 75 if disaster struck and the motorhome needed to be returned due to lots of faults (it happens!), and the dealer played hard ball and refused a refund.

Reading up section 75 only covered purchases between £100.01 and £30k. So this would not apply as the purchase is over £30k. It’s not clear though is the first £30k still covered under the credit cards liability under section 75? Or paying the £1,000 is of no help?

The other option is chargeback, presumably through my bank, but that sounds a tortuous process as banks will do their best to wriggle out of any liability.

I will get the motorhome checked etc but it’s not until you use them that any ‘snags’ are usually found.

Any advice on any consumer protection with this purchase would be very helpful.

Thanks

S75 won't cover any of the £50K

Chargeback, depends on problem. But in reality not much cover. They are card regulations (Visa/Mastercard) & there is no wriggle room on them. You either meet the criteria for a chargeback or not. Your bank has to work to these, so there is no wriggling out of them.

Caravan/Motorhome sales are struggling & quite a few dealers have gone under. So even taking a dealer to court is not 100% going to get any money back.

Best protection is get it fully checked over as other have stated.

DullGreyGuy

gwynfryn said:

Hi,

I’m looking to purchase a motorhome £50k+, and initially considered paying £1,000 on my credit card to get coverage by my credit card company under Section 75 if disaster struck and the motorhome needed to be returned due to lots of faults (it happens!), and the dealer played hard ball and refused a refund.

Reading up section 75 only covered purchases between £100.01 and £30k. So this would not apply as the purchase is over £30k. It’s not clear though is the first £30k still covered under the credit cards liability under section 75? Or paying the £1,000 is of no help?

The other option is chargeback, presumably through my bank, but that sounds a tortuous process as banks will do their best to wriggle out of any liability.

I will get the motorhome checked etc but it’s not until you use them that any ‘snags’ are usually found.

Any advice on any consumer protection with this purchase would be very helpful.

Thanks

No, nothing at all is covered with S75 if its £30,000.01

Chargeback will only cover you for the amount paid by card, it has fixed rules on what can and cannot be covered so is much weaker and isn't a final resolution as the money is taken from the vendor and they can issue court proceedings etc if they disagree. 

The other option is S75A, if the seller of the motorhome offers finance. It has a higher limit of £60,260 but does require that you have made material efforts with the seller before turning to the finance company. 

gwynfryn

Hi, thanks all for the comments. I will be paying for an independent inspection before handing over any money. Thanks again, I've learned more about S75 and Chargeback and how they can be used.