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I had a verbal contract with a contractor and part of the payment for that contract was a credit card payment of £2k in a £10K contract. Payment by credit card was made halfway during the prosecution of the contract.

However all the work was improperly done and not to code. The whole project worth £30K was wrecked and irrecoverable. £30K including the original contract sum. As said, the contract sum was £10K. How was it wrecked? The construction was so shoddy it fell down after a few gusts of wind. The foundation for the shed was so badly done the shed contractor refused to install it and went back and the deposit is now forfeit.

Can the credit card company be sued if the contractors' intention was fraudulent and has disappeared? There is no forwarding address and all the addresses used during the contract term and payment were relatives who subsequently denied knowing the whereabouts of the contractor.

Phone calls made by the contractor seeking payment falsely claimed work had been done that had not been done - these were messages left so it can be inferred contractor had a fraudulent intention.

Information: Original contract was for construction and gardening work. All structural work after rain and strong wind were physically lifted and destroyed. Foundation work for shed was so badly done that subsequent quotes from 4 contractors all said it had to be broken up and redone.

Whilst the contract was £10K, the materials purchase and site costs all came to about £20K adding up to £30K in total. All are receipted.

4 quotes were sought from other contractors to put right what had been done wrong and all came to the same range - £35K to £40K.

Considering the version of s.75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 in force at the time, what remedies are available against the credit card company seeing that the original contractor has intentionally disappeared?

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  • Have you disputed the charge with your credit card issuer?
    – feetwet ♦
    Commented Oct 1, 2018 at 21:52
  • yes. refused s75 liability
    – seanbw
    Commented Oct 8, 2018 at 17:13
  • Even if the credit card company does have liability, I would assume it's certainly limited to the amount actually charged to the card, i.e. £2k. Do you have reason to think otherwise? It seems doubtful that suing over that amount would be worth the time and expenses.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Aug 13, 2019 at 22:07
  • @NateEldredge no, under UK credit rules, the total cost needs to exceed £100 (but not exceed £30k - so that might be the card companies get out here) but not all of that needs to be paid on the credit card for consumer protection rules to apply - "You don't have to have paid the full amount on your credit card – the card company is liable even if you made only part of the payment (a deposit, say) on your card." which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/…
    – user4210
    Commented Aug 13, 2019 at 22:56
  • @NateEldredge one of the common approaches in the UK is when buying an expensive item, regardless of the rest of the payment, put the first £100 on a credit card and you are covered (up to £30k) - so if you are buying a car and have the cash, put £100 on a credit card and then the rest in cash, and the credit card is liable for the full amount.
    – user4210
    Commented Aug 13, 2019 at 23:02

1 Answer 1

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Assuming the CC company has complied with its contract with you and the law, None.

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  • In the UK, S75(1) says credit card company is responsible. I am looking for case law to back it up.
    – seanbw
    Commented Oct 27, 2018 at 15:42

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