Charges to use debit card

[DudleySquires]

Is this right? Gone through the whole Q&A life story thing over the phone with Cornmarket Insurance (IAM Surety) for my motorbike insurance. It gets to payment and I'm asked credit or debit card? I say credit, they say 3% extra. No problem, expected it but thought I'd try anyway. Debit card instead then please. £1 charge. Oh. Wasn't expecting that, never heard of a debit card surcharge before. Argue the toss but don't get anywhere, unavoidable apparently.

I didn't think this was allowed. That is, "drip-pricing", particularly as one charge or another is unavoidable (unless I visit their office with cash I suppose).

[DudleySquires]

I completely get that there are costs for a business associated with processing payments. And as I understand it, credit cards have always cost significantly more than the alternatives, so I accept that if I want to do business with a seller that decides to charge extra, then I could choose to use another payment method, where there is no additional charge.

What I find a little galling in this instance is the fact that whichever payment method I choose, there is an extra charge. I asked what payment options there were that didn't incur an extra charge and they told me there weren't any. I thought this sort of thing had been banned after a stink had been kicked up about buying concert tickets and the like online; unavoidable booking fees here, delivery fees there etc.