How to seek a refund through chargeback or Section 75

Katerina Galkina · EN · 07/10/2026

Identify the payment and grounds

Record how you paid: debit card, credit card, BNPL, PayPal or bank transfer. Chargeback and Section 75 have different legal bases and conditions; they do not apply identically to every payment. Identify the actual problem: non-delivery, defects, misrepresentation or an agreed refund that never arrived.

For an eligible credit purchase, Section 75 can make the lender liable for the seller's breach of contract or misrepresentation. The cash price of an individual item or set normally must exceed £100 and be no more than £30,000, even if credit paid only part. The Financial Ombudsman Service explains eligibility and intermediaries ↗.

Check deadlines and new BNPL rules

Chargeback operates under card-scheme rules, rather than providing the same statutory protection as Section 75. A common timeframe is around 120 days, but the starting point and limit depend on circumstances. Ask your provider promptly: a future event or expected delivery date can matter.

For BNPL, the agreement date is particularly important. MoneyHelper describes extended protection ↗ for eligible third-party BNPL products entered into from 15 July 2026; retailer-provided instalments and earlier agreements need separate checking. A Klarna or PayPal logo alone does not establish the legal regime.

Assemble evidence and contact the provider

Where possible, first ask the seller to remedy the problem and keep its response. If it has disappeared, document why contact is impossible. Prepare the order, description, terms, payment evidence, defect photographs, delivery/return dates and correspondence.

Use the bank's official channel to explain the facts and request consideration of chargeback and/or Section 75 as applicable. State the cash price, credit amount and all payment-chain parties, including any platform. Do not describe a payment as unauthorised if you knowingly made it: a goods dispute and an unauthorised transaction have different grounds.

Monitor the dispute and any complaint

Meet evidence deadlines. A provisional credit is not necessarily final because the seller can defend a chargeback. Ask for written reasons and the rule applied if refused. FOS considers complaints ↗ about how the financial firm handled the claim, after the required complaint to that firm.

Keep the case reference and dates. Tell the bank if the seller later refunds you, avoiding double recovery. Do not stop credit or BNPL repayments without agreed arrangements: separately check whether collection is paused during the dispute and the consequences for arrears.