Advice for credit card customers experiencing travel disruption
The UK Cards Association’s members understand the challenges faced by customers who were affected by the volcanic ash that resulted in flights being grounded recently.
This has been a difficult and worrying time for both customers and their families here in the UK. Banks and credit card companies want to deal sympathetically with customers including where there are calls for additional finance - which will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Anyone who is still overseas and concerned that they may need to go over their credit limit should contact their bank or card company - the number for calls from abroad is generally to be found on the back of debit and credit cards or on the card company's website.
If your travel arrangements have been disrupted you should contact the company that was due to provide the service to discuss alternative arrangements and refunds. This could be an airline, travel agent, tour operator or any associated company (including car hire and hotel accommodation providers). Customers with travel insurance should always contact their provider at the earliest opportunity.
Where you make contact with an airline / travel company or insurance provider make sure you have copies and records of anything you have booked, and keep a record of any conversations / contact you've had with a provider to get a refund or cancellation, as if you try to make a claim from your credit card company, they will need them.
In the event that a credit card was used, and the purchase was between £100 and £30,000, then Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act may apply so that a legal claim can be made against the card company as well as the supplier. A claim can only be made against the card company where the customer can make a legal claim against the supplier because the supplier has breached the contract they have with the customer. Whether there is a legal claim or not may depend on the terms of the contract. For example, it may be that where an incident is outside of the company’s control (classed as a “Force Majeure” event), there has not been a breach of contract. The UK Cards Association’s Members will review any claims on a case by case basis, but anticipate that the majority of claims will not be covered by Section 75.
The UK Cards Association’s members are committed to treating all their customers fairly and will judge all Section 75 claims on their own merits.
