Warning to anyone who spends less than £100 on their credit card

Credit card users are being warned over rules around purchases. Many people use the cards for certain transactions, due to their money being better protected if something were to go wrong.

Under Section 75 of consumer credit law the credit card company is jointly and severally liable for "any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the retailer or trader". This means it is just as responsible as the seller for the goods or service/s supplied.

So if you pay for something and don't receive what you ordered, you can request a refund from the credit card provider in may cases.

But as Which? points out, there are some limitations. One of these relates to the cost of your purchase; any transaction less than £100 would not be covered, nor would anything over £300,000.

And if you bought more than one item that together cost £100, but each cost less than £100, your credit card isn't liable. You can, however, claim under Section 75 if you paid only part of the amount, for example, a deposit, on your card, as it's the value of the goods you're buying rather than the amount paid on your credit card.

A Which? article adds: "If the item or service you've bought was under £100, you may still be covered by chargeback. You can make a chargeback claim by contacting your credit card provider or via online banking or using your banking app."

Under Section 75, credit card companies are legally obliged to step in if there's an issue with your transaction. However, this protection doesn't extend to purchases made from third-party sellers.

For instance, if you purchase a concert ticket from a platform like Amazon Marketplace instead of an official site such as Ticketmaster, you won't be covered. Section 75 also does not apply if you use your credit card to withdraw cash for a specific purchase, even if it exceeds £100.

Since there is no connection between the credit card company and the seller, and cash withdrawals typically incur a fee and a higher interest rate, so it's advisable to avoid them where possible.