We are claims experts, with many years of experience in handling consumer claims. We operate an ethical and complete claims handling solution to consumers who have suffered financial detriment, as a consequence of being mis-sold or had misrepresented a product or service of any kind.
There are many everyday products and services being advertised on the internet, where consumers no longer know who they are contracting with when they make a distance-selling contract on the internet. With so many ‘fake review’ sites and fake testimonials on online selling sites, it really is a lottery as to who is good and who is bad. There is so much manipulation online that is not always obvious to the consumer what the risks are when making a decision to buy. The internet opens consumers up to a world of choice, but with it comes risk.
The way in which a consumer can reduce the incident of a bad purchase is down to the way they make a purchase. We will explain below the ways in which a consumer can protect their purchase and obtain recompense for goods and service which do not live up to a retailer’s promise or the breach of your consumer rights.
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Section 75)
The Consumer Credit Act is an act consisting of approximately 193 sections and 5 schedules. It is, in itself, a very complex piece of statutory legislation, but there is one section that is particularly helpful to every consumer and that is Section 75 of the act. Section 75 provides consumer protection to anyone making a purchase with credit. This is usually in the form of a credit card. We must emphasis here: we are specifically talking about a credit card NOT a debit card. We will cover debit cards in more detail below.
Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act a consumers purchase is protected against the following;
In any of the aforementioned circumstances, the consumer is fully covered under the provisions of Section 75 and is able to make a claim for a full refund of all monies paid. However, banks and financial institutions do not make it easy for consumers to reclaim their losses and, whilst it is widely reported that consumers can simply ask for their monies to be retuned, banks and financial institutions make the process difficult.
There are many consumer websites and forums giving advice and providing template letters but the skill in presenting a successful claim comes with many years of experience. A word of caution here: a good claim can be ruined if the basis of the claim is incorrectly pleaded and, depending upon how the claim has been presented and what has been pleaded, it may well compromise or hinder a successful recovery and the opportunity to do so may well be lost.
We are experts in presenting claims of this type and have a relationship with all the major credit provider’s Section 75 departments, as we have submitted many claims with success. We understand the bank and financial organisations criteria when reviewing a claim and what will and what will not be accepted evidentially.
If you make a purchase for goods and services and your goods/ services cost £10,000, but you only pay a deposit of, let’s say £500.00 via credit card, and you pay the remaining £9500.00 by bank transfer, then the protection under Section 75 affords you the ability to claim ALL of the £10,000.00 back from the credit provider, regardless of how much was paid by credit card.
Even though you only paid £500.00 by credit card, if your claim is successful then the whole £10,000.00 will be repaid to you, with interest.
A specialism of ours is reviewing and resubmitting failed Section 75 claims which have previously been rejected by the credit card provider’s Section 75 department. We are able to fully appraise your claim and advise you as to the chances of success. We see many claims that have been rejected, or the response received from the bank has been too complex for the consumer to respond or to understand. If you have had a claim rejected and you would like us review the decision and give you an opinion on the chances of us bringing matters to a successful conclusion, then please contact us on: 01872 309570.
Banks do not make the Section 75 process easy for consumers and we often have to prepare a claim in the same the way as it would be prepared for a matter going to court. The misconception by many consumers is that ‘the card provider must pay back my money if something goes wrong’. In theory, yes. In practice, no. If you get it wrong, then you may not get a second chance depending what you put into your claim.
Call us now if you would like us to assess a failed claim on your behalf: Telephone 01872 309570
Regulated finance agreements are also covered under Section 75 providing they are for more than £100.00 and DO NOT exceed £30,000 in value for any one transaction. Therefore, you can take out several loan agreements with the same lender, as long as each agreement is £30,000 or below in value. Each agreement will be considered on its own merits.
Many consumers use loans to finance larger purchases like home improvements or motor vehicles, to name but two. The important thing here is that the loan must be directly linked to the goods or services purchased. In these instances, the retailer/ supplier will often arrange the loan, because they are likely to have a prearranged agreement with the finance company to refer consumer to them who purchase their goods or services.
These finance agreements have the protection of Section 75.