S75 deposit £10k, total over £30k

lexiLD

Hey there,

Just looking for confirmation anyone can give re an unfortunate situation around S75. I think the answer is no valid claim but wanted to check with a human. Mainly because we (stupidly, I know - I feel terrible so please don't beat me up about it!) relied on ChatGPT advice up until now which very likely resulted in us wasting hours and hours of work compiling the claim.

We had Everest complete a conservatory for us in 2020. They went bust in April 2024 and in November 2024 in a big storm the roof started leaking. It seems to only do this when the wind blows in a very particular direction and a big storm hence it not having noticeably leaked before that. Roofer said it wasn't built to spec, which upon checking the design documents it wasn't.

The overall cost of the conservatory was £48k approximately. We can't claim against Everest because they'd gone bust. Some of their stuff had an insurance backed guarantee, but apparently not this. We had asked the silly robot about S75 and it was super positive we had a strong claim, despite us trying to double check multiple times... It kept saying something about:

"Although the total contract exceeded £30k, the credit card was used to pay a specific part of the contract, the deposit (of approx £10k). Under financial ombudsman guidance, S75 applies where the credit card transaction itself is between £100 and £30,000, even if the overall project cost is higher. This is well-established Ombudsman position and has been upheld in multiple decisions."

Which I'm guessing is... Absolute codswallop?

We do have an itemisation of the different costs of different parts of the conservatory (eg ground works, internal finish, windows etc.) but it was all under one contract.

Thanks for any perspectives or advice.

born_again

Sadly not. As total amount is what counts.

The S75 limit is £100 to £30K, yet you could pay 1P So Absolute codswallop sums robot up 🤣

Did you take out any finance via Everest, that would bring this into S75A & linked finance? As would guess it was a 3rd party finance co.

Aylesbury_Duck

In what I hope is better news for you, there's a chance that the remedial work will cost very little.

Conservatories are essentially temporary structures, so while it might not have been "built to spec", the question is: what spec? As I understand it, there isn't one.

I've had two conservatories, and at some point, both exhibited minor leaks in very specific circumstances just as you describe, when there's heavy rain driven in a specific direction by the wind. On one, all that was required was the application of some sticky black sealant along one of the H-shaped joiners linking two roof panes. On the other, it was a consequence of rain driven up the roof slope and in one of the tiny vents under the flashing.

Get a decent local firm out, explain the symptoms and see what they say.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6658642/s75-deposit-10k-total-over-30k

How did you pay for it all?

As said above, total value of the "item" is what matters. If its over £30,000 then there is no cover at all from S75.

There is however S75a, which rarely gets mentioned, and it goes up to £60,260 however it only applies to "linked finance" and not credit cards. So if Everest arranged a loan for you and the monies were paid directly to Everest then S75a could apply.