Protection for Overseas Credit Card Purchases
Debating on whether or not to purchase that flat screen online? If it’s coming from abroad, you can now rest assured. Heretofore, consumers who wanted to purchase overseas had a great reason for concern due to the fact that credit card companies were not responsible for insuring these purchases.
However, the House of Lords ruled that credit card companies must refund consumers for overseas purchases. This excellent news for consumers, who last year spent an estimated £16.4 billion overseas, came at pain to the credit companies. However, appeals by Lloyds TSB and Tesco Personal Finance were denied.
Following this new ruling, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 now states that overseas purchases between £100 and £30,000 will be insured by credit card companies in the same manner as purchases made in the UK.
Mike Naylor, Personal Finance Expert at uSwitch, commented that: “This landmark decision has finally laid to rest the issue over credit card protection for overseas transactions which has been rumbling on with credit card suppliers for several years. The decision to uphold it means that wherever in the world consumers use their credit card, they can enjoy the same protection as they do in the UK.”
Mr. Naylor adds that the Consumer Credit Act has been brought into the 21st century, stating: “This is especially important with the growth of internet shopping where goods are often shipped to the UK from sites based overseas.”