Purchase refund rights

Get to know your purchase refund rights

CREDIT CARDS

Subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history. T&Cs apply.

Credit card purchases are protected in two ways

If something goes wrong with a purchase you made using your Barclaycard, you could be covered for certain types of transactions and get your money back.

This guide explains the two types of protection you have:

You’ll find out what these cover you for and see some examples to learn how they could be used.

Purchase protection with section 75

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 is a UK law that applies to every UK credit card. It covers your purchases in some circumstances by making your credit card company jointly responsible, with the retailer or service supplier, for the goods or service supplied.

How does section 75 protection work?

If you buy an item or service worth between £100 and £30,000 with your credit card, section 75 could cover your purchase if the supplier breaches their contract with you – if goods are faulty or not delivered, for example – or they give misleading information about a product.

Using your Barclaycard to pay for some or all of your purchases will help you make sure you’re protected by this. Even if you just make part of the payment, a deposit for example, with your card and the balance by cheque or debit card, you'll be covered.

  • Goods or services that cost between £100 and £30,000 you’ve paid for at least in part with your Barclaycard
  • Purchases that are faulty, not delivered or where information given about the item was misleading
  • The company you bought an item or service from breaks their contract with you – for example they go out of business
  • Purchases made by the main cardholder
  • Items you bought in the UK and abroad, as well as goods purchased online, by phone or mail order from overseas
  • Items you bought less than six years ago – though it could be longer if there’s a guarantee included in the purchase price that covers your product or service for longer, such as for double glazing.
  • Items you buy with a debit card, charge card or prepaid card
  • Purchases made through third parties like Alibaba, Amazon Marketplace, Clearpay, Curve, PayPal, Western Union or Klarna, might not be covered by section 75, however these third parties may have their own protection schemes. If the retailer uses PayPal to take payments and you’ve used your Barclaycard as normal, you’ll still be covered by section 75
  • Delivery charges aren’t included when assessing the value of your item, but you may be able to claim them along with the cost of the item
  • Purchases made by additional cardholders, however purchases made on behalf of the main cardholder may be covered
  • If you choose not to use a service when it’s available – for example, not taking a flight you’ve paid for
  • Loans
  • Balance transfers
  • Cash withdrawals.

Protection for your transactions using chargeback

Chargeback is another kind of consumer protection available to you. Unlike section 75, which is a legal requirement, chargeback is part of the card scheme rules that major card providers like Visa, Mastercard and Amex sign up to.

How does chargeback work?

If you buy an item or service with your Barclaycard and it’s damaged, not delivered, not provided, or you’re charged the wrong amount by mistake, you can ask your credit card provider to reverse your transaction.

It potentially covers purchases of any value, but it only reverses the amount of the transaction you made with your card. Time limits apply to certain types of chargeback claims – the most common being 120 days. Getting a claim to us as early as possible increases the chances of being able to reverse the transaction.

  • Purchases bought with a credit card – by you or an additional cardholder on your account
  • Purchases not delivered
  • Items that are damaged or not as described
  • Goods that don’t arrive due to the company going into administration
  • Being charged the wrong amount for an item.

Examples of using section 75 or chargeback

Hassan’s story

Hassan bought a puffer coat for £399 from an online retailer in the UK and wants to claim because it never arrived in the post.

Yes, we would be able to raise a chargeback with the merchant for the goods Hassan didn’t receive. He’d also be covered under section 75 as the purchase is over £100, so would be protected even if the chargeback wasn’t successful.

Mia’s story

Mia booked a package holiday but before leaving some significant parts of the holiday have been cancelled due to a change in the local circumstances.

Yes, Mia is entitled to a full refund for all parts of the holiday that made up the travel package. As she bought the holiday as a package, the retailer is required to protect all parts of it under the Package Travel Regulations.

If she’d bought the flight, hotel and other activities separately, she’d only be able to claim for the parts cancelled by the supplier. She should first try to claim through the holiday provider but if this is unsuccessful we could try to claim on her behalf.

David’s story

David booked his hotel and flights separately but has now decided he doesn’t want to travel. David wants to claim because his hotel and airline are refusing to refund him.

David should first check the cancellation policy for the flights and hotel. If the decision not to travel was completely his and the hotel or airline didn’t cancel, then he won’t be able to claim a refund on his credit card. That’s because neither the airline nor hotel have broken their contract. David should also check whether his holiday insurance covers him in these circumstances.

Amy’s story

Amy booked a travel package on her credit card for a hen party and some activities on her debit card. The package was cancelled and Amy wants her credit card provider to refund all her costs.

Amy should be able to claim back all of the cost of the package for the whole group. That’s because she paid on her credit card and the package travel company has broken its terms and conditions by not providing the service.

As she booked the activities separately on her debit card, she would only have a potential claim for the separate activities as consequential losses under section 75.

Jerry’s story

Jerry’s flight was cancelled by his airline and they’re only offering to re-book his flight, but Jerry wants a full refund.

If the airline is based within the EU or flew out of an EU country, then they’re legally obliged to offer Jerry a full refund if they’ve cancelled your flight. So Jerry can claim against the airline by raising a dispute with us.

If this isn’t the case and the airline or flight was outside the EU, he could still get a full cash refund. Jerry could raise a claim on the basis that the airline hasn’t provided a service.

Jane’s story

Jane ordered a pair of lamps online, costing £35.99 each. When they were delivered, only one lamp had been sent.

Yes, if Jane is unable to get the missing item delivered by attempting to contact the retailer then she could raise a chargeback claim for the lamp. We’d then try to get the cost back from the merchant on Jane’s behalf.

As the purchase is less than £100, the claim wouldn’t be covered under section 75.

Nicola’s story

Nicola bought a coffee machine for £99. When it broke, she paid for it to be fixed, thinking she’d be able to claim back the cost.

She wouldn’t be able to get a refund on her credit card for the cost of fixing the coffee machine because the purchase price was less than £100. However, she could raise a chargeback claim for the original cost of the faulty item and we’d then try and get a refund from the retailer.

Helen’s story

Helen booked her flights and hotel separately, but now the airline has cancelled her flight and she can’t get to her destination. The hotel is refusing to refund her if she cancels her booking.

Helen should first check the cancellation policy for the flights and hotel. She does have the right to claim a refund on her credit card for the airline ticket but not the hotel. This is because the hotel has not failed to provide its service, unlike the airline. She might be covered under her holiday insurance for the cost of the hotel but should check this with her insurer.

How can I make a section 75 or chargeback claim?

What you’ll need

We might ask you to show us some documents to support your claim. So before you contact us, it will help if you have some, or all, of these:

  • Proof of your purchase
  • Terms and conditions for your purchase
  • Evidence that the goods or services were faulty, damaged or different from their description
  • Evidence that the goods or services were not delivered or supplied
  • Details of any descriptions or statements made by the seller about the goods or services.

You should also keep the item itself, in case it needs to be examined or handed to us if your claim is successful. We may also need an independent report to show the nature, impact or cost of the problem.

Claim in our app

You can use our app 1 to make a claim. Select the transaction you want to dispute, then ‘Help with this transaction’ – we’ll explain what we need at every step.

Claim online

Completing our online form is the fastest way to make a claim. We’ll explain what we need at every step and you’ll be able to upload photos or digital copies of any supporting evidence we need.

If you have any problems with using the online form, find out how to make a claim by post .

Claim by phone

To make a claim by phone, call us on 0800 161 5291 ².

To send messages via Text Relay call: 1 8001 0800 161 5276 .

Need to ask us about something not covered here? Please get in touch .

If you’ve already made a claim, but you’re not happy with how it’s been handled or it was unsuccessful, find out how you can take it up with the Financial Ombudsman Service .

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