NOTE Nº 0614 · REV B

Section 75: Paying Your Builder by Credit Card

How Section 75 protects building work paid by credit card: the £100–£30,000 rules, why part-payment covers the whole job, and claiming from the card company.

By The Renovation Notes Team · 4 min read · Published 23 August 2026 · updated within the last month · Sources checked 30 September 2026

Side view of a construction excavator parked near a Swiss chalet, showcasing modern building equipment.

In short

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes your credit card company jointly liable for a builder's breach of contract on jobs costing over £100 and up to £30,000, and paying even a small part of the price by card is enough to cover the whole contract. It's the single cheapest protection in home improvement: a £100 deposit on the right card can put a bank behind a £25,000 job when the builder disappears or botches it.

One legal section turns your credit card into free insurance for building work, and most homeowners have never used it deliberately. Understand the rules once and “can I put £100 of the deposit on my Visa?” becomes a standard line in every project you run.

What Section 75 does

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, when you buy goods or services partly or wholly on a credit card, the card issuer is jointly and severally liable with the trader for any breach of contract or misrepresentation, as long as the item’s cash price is over £100 and not more than £30,000.¹ Jointly liable means you can claim against the bank instead of the builder: for defective work, for an abandoned job, for a deposit that vanished into a dissolved company. The bank stands in the builder’s shoes, and unlike the builder, the bank is solvent and has to deal with your claim.

The part-payment magic

The liability attaches to the contract, not the amount you put on the card. Pay £100 of a £20,000 extension by credit card and the issuer is on the hook for breaches of the whole £20,000 contract (because the cash price sits within the £100–£30,000 window).² This is why the deposit, or any early stage payment, is the strategic moment to use the card, even if you pay the card off the same day and pay everything else by transfer. Interest never enters into it.

The rules that trip people up

Credit card, not debit card. Debit cards get chargeback instead, a scheme (not a law) that reverses payments for non-delivery or breach, typically claimed within 120 days.² Useful, weaker, no £30,000 reach.
£100–£30,000 is the contract price. Projects over £30,000 fall outside Section 75 entirely, one argument for contracting big projects in genuinely separate agreements per phase where that reflects reality (a kitchen supply contract separate from the building contract, say).¹ Artificial splitting of one deal, though, invites the bank to push back. If the builder arranges a point-of-sale loan for a bigger job, the lender may still be liable under section 75A instead.³
Pay the builder directly. The classic break in the chain is paying through an intermediary or a different legal entity than the one you contracted with.⁴ The card payment should go to the party named on your contract.
Bank transfers don’t count. Section 75 does not apply to money sent by bank transfer, the least protected way to pay a builder and also how most builders are paid.² Balance convenience against exposure at the points that matter, deposits and materials-heavy stages.

Making a claim

Write to your card issuer (most have online Section 75 forms): the contract and its price, the card payment evidencing Section 75 applies, the breach (with your evidence file, photos, expert report, remedial quotes), and the sum claimed. The bank investigates and pays valid claims; refusals can be taken free of charge to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which can uphold claims a bank has declined.⁵ There’s no requirement to sue the builder first, the whole point is a solvent alternative when the builder isn’t worth suing.

Where it fits in your protection stack

Section 75 doesn’t replace the fundamentals, vetting, a written contract, payments in arrears, a retention, it backstops them for the failure modes they can’t reach: insolvency, disappearance, and the rogue outfit that was never going to honour anything. £100 on the card at the start of every job is the cheapest hedge in this entire series.

This guide is general information for homeowners in England and Wales, not legal advice.

References (5)

Figures in this note were checked against the sources below on 30 September 2026. Superscript numbers in the text point to them. Every source the site cites, by topic.

1technicalvery strongThe National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), legislation.RN-JFS7HZSection 75(1) gives the debtor under a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement within section 12(b) or (c) a like claim against the creditor for any misrepresentation or breach of contract by the supplier, making creditor and supplier jointly and severally liable. Section 75(2) entitles the creditor to be indemnified by the supplier. Section 75(3) sets the limits: the section does not apply to a non-commercial agreement, nor so far as the claim relates to any single item with a cash price not exceeding 100 pounds or more than 30,000 pounds, nor to certain short-period running-account credit agreements. Section 75(4) preserves the claim even where the debtor exceeded the credit limit or breached a term of the agreement, and section 75(5) lets the creditor join the supplier to the proceedings. This is the basis for claiming a builder's default from a credit card issuer where any part of the payment was made on the card.
2technicalfairFinancial Ombudsman Service, guidance.RN-4BJC1JFinancial Ombudsman Service guidance on Section 75 and chargeback: the cash price decides whether Section 75 applies, so part-payment by credit card is enough, within the £100 to £30,000 limits.
3technicalvery strongThe National Archives, guidance.RN-T0WG41Section 75A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes a lender under a linked credit agreement liable for a supplier's breach where the cash price is over £30,000, once the consumer has first pursued the supplier.
4technicalfairCitizens Advice, guidance.RN-MMRYZCExplains the two card claw back routes for a deposit paid to a trader. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act applies where payment was by credit card or buy now pay later and the single item or job costs more than £100 and no more than £30,000; paying only part of the price on the card still lets the whole amount be claimed, so a £50 deposit on a £250 job supports a claim for the full £250. Chargeback covers debit cards and sub £100 credit card spends, and only recovers the amount actually put on the card. The £100 threshold is judged per item, not per basket: a £105 order of an £80 phone and £20 headphones fails Section 75. PayPal disputes must be opened within 180 days of payment.
5technicalfairFinancial Ombudsman Service, guidance.RN-UP9X4NThe three step complaint route and its clocks, used for buildings insurance, subsidence and home improvement finance disputes. Step one is to complain to the financial business itself, saying what happened and how it should be put right. Step two: for most complaints the business has up to 8 weeks to consider it, cut to 15 days for complaints about fraud and scams, payment services such as bank transfers and direct debits, and electronic money. Step three: the complaint must be brought to the Ombudsman within 6 months of the date on the final response, or at any time once the business has run out of time without replying. The service is free and no lawyer or claims management company is needed; a family member or friend can help instead.