uSwitch welcomes credit ruling by House of Lords

Posted 2007-11-1

Credit card firms must now refund customers who purchase goods and services abroad, according to a recent ruling by House of Lords.

The news came as a welcomed relief to USwitch yesterday, as an appeal by Lloyds TSB and Tesco Personal Finance against the Consumer Credit Act was also justly dismissed.

Personal Finance Expert, Mike Naylor at uSwitch described the ruling as “great news for consumers.”

The ruling ensures that credit card purchases between £100 and £30,000 made abroad will be insured by credit card companies under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Mr. Naylor further expressed, “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 purveyors 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. This is especially important with the growth of internet shopping where goods are often shipped to the UK from sites based overseas,” he added.

UK consumers spent £16.4 billion abroad last year on credit and debit card transactions, according to the latest reported data. An amount certainly too significant to allow credit issuers slack practices in insuring purchases made through their organizations.

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