Credit Card Company And Its Liability To You

Your Right To Complain To Your Credit Card company

It is only natural that before you do business with a credit card provider, you want to know what protection there is for you as a credit card credit consumer.

Don't assume that just because you are dealing with a major credit card company, that you are automatically protected. Credit card companies are regulated in a number of ways by by laws of their respective countries. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC) for instance, are regulators of Uk credit card companies, while in the US, it comes under Federal law.

These 'Watchdog' bodies and laws are there to protect your consumer rights and interest in relation to your credit card credit transactions, as well as ensuring that the practices of a Uk credit card company for instance, are fair and open according to law.

How To Complain To Your Uk Credit Card company

In the event you should experience any difficulty with your credit card credit company, you should in the first instance always endeavour to sort it out with the credit card provider, prior to reporting to the consumer rights and protection agency.

One specific credit card consumer protection issue that is the subject of this article, is the advantages to you of paying for goods by credit cards and credit card companies' liability to you for compensation.

Using certain credit cards (e.g. visa and MasterCard) to make payments offers you the advantage of protection in the event you are dis-satisfied with the merchandise or service. This is because the credit card company remains equally liable along with the supplier of the goods or service.

Under Section 75 Consumer Credit Act 1974, a credit card company Uk is liable to you for any credit card credit transactions in excess of £100.00 and no greater than £30,000.00. In addition to this, a claim for breach of contract or mis-representation must be made against the supplier of goods. Where these two requirements are met, you will have a valid claim against either or both the supplier and credit card company.

If you have a valid reason to be unhappy with a credit card credit transaction and are entitled to receive compensation, you may be well within your rights to withhold a partial payment of your credit card bill that is representative of the amount in dispute.

Do note however, that this will not necessarily apply to every card, nor indeed some of the major credit card companies. Two such examples are American Express and Diner's Club, both of which are not governed by the Consumer Credit Act (Uk).

Complaining To The Supplier

Should you have cause to complain about any goods or services acquired with your credit card, you should in the first instance approach the goods supplier, rather than the credit card company. In many instances, this is all that is required to get your complaint addressed, to receive a refund or to get a replacement or in the case of a service, - remedial works carried out.

If you get no joy with the supplier, you will then need to approach your credit card company. You will need to provide documentary evidence of your purchase or the service you commissioned, along with costs/receipts etc., Should your complaint concern defective work for example, you will also need to obtain quotations for any remedial works that need to be undertaken.

The next step is to write to your credit card company, explaining the issue in full as well as sending in the relevant paperwork in support of your complaint/claim. You will also need to state that you intend to withhold a compensation amount (when you next pay your credit card bill), on which you should not be charged interest.

Before taking this step, you must be 100% sure that you have a solid case against the supplier. As long as you have a strong and valid claim, you should have no cause for concern by any negative or less than forthcoming responses from your credit card company. You should also be aware that this protection also covers you when you buy goods or services abroad, so hold out for your rights.

In any case, there is a huge list of credit card companies in Uk and worldwide that you can switch to if you are dis-satisfied with the level of service from your card company. Credit card companies will be only too well aware of this fact.

The content on this site is purely for information purposes only and is not intended to replace your seeking professional financial advice.

Return From Credit Card Company To Credit Card Credit Home