Martin Lewis' MSE shares tip to protect Christmas purchases by spending just 1p

14 December 2023 , 13:28

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Martin Lewis is the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com (Image: PA)

Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert.com website has explained a simple trick that will safeguard your festive purchases this year by spending just 1p.

In their latest MSE newsletter, the team shared 20 top Christmas shopping tips. In this guide, they explained how spending even as little as 1p on a credit card for any purchase over £100 (but under £30,000) means you're covered by the Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This means you could get your money back if anything goes wrong.

Even if just a bit of any purchase is made with a credit card, the card company will share responsibility with the retailer to give you back every pound if issues pop up. It's handy too if a shop you bought from shuts down suddenly.

The advice given by MSE was: "Section 75 is your secret financial superhero buy something costing more than £100 and less than £30,000 on your credit card, and your card company has a LEGAL responsibility to come to the rescue if there's a problem. So if something you've paid for has turned up broken or faulty, or perhaps didn't arrive at all, you may be able to get your money back through a Section 75 claim."

What is Section 75?

The UK Consumer Protection Law makes sure credit card providers share the same legal responsibility as shops if things go pear-shaped with a purchase. This legal safety net only works with some buys made between a specific amount - over £100 and under £30,000.

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If something goes wrong, you'll be protected under the act, even if you only paid 1p on your card towards the buy. According to MSE, the law covers the following:

• Used your credit card to buy something from another country online, by mail order, over the phone, or while on holiday
• Used your credit card to buy from a ticket site that's the sole vendor of the tickets
• Had other costs associated with a cancelled event (for example, a hotel or train tickets)

The Section 75 Protection Act isn't the only way to protect your credit card purchases, but another lesser known scheme is the Chargeback scheme. This could be helpful if you've spent under £100 or made a purchase on a debit card.

Chargeback is a trick from Visa, Mastercard and Amex that lets you fight for your cash back. But remember, you've got to try to sort it out with the shop first.

MSE explained: "If don't get something you paid for by credit, debit or charge card and the firm is refusing to refund you, you can ask your bank to 'reverse the transaction' and get your money back via chargeback."

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Rachel Williams