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Shopping online? Double check your credit card rights
The Observer
|February 22, 2026
For years, “pay by credit card” has been the gold standard of advice for bigger purchases.
In many cases, it still is. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act covers items costing between £100 and £30,000 and makes your card provider jointly liable if something goes wrong.
If a company collapses, refuses a refund or delivers a dud product, you can pursue the card issuer instead. It remains one of the strongest consumer protections in UK law.
But the way we shop has evolved and the old rule no longer works flawlessly in every scenario.
Section 75 relies on what is known as the debtor creditor supplier (DCS) chain. Essentially, you must use your credit card to pay the supplier directly for your own purchase.
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