Am I automatically covered in the event of c/card fraud?

[bazking69]

Interesting. I was under the impression that credit cards were covered in the event that someone clones/steals your card and buys stuff online using your card/details. It is the reason why I never buy ANYTHING online with my debit card and have a sole credit card for online purchases, with a deliberately low credit limit 'just incase'
Speaking to my bank yesterday about something unrelated, and I was reeled off the latest commission earner, 'card insurance'.
Basically for £29.99 a year all my cards (and my partners) cards are covered for fraud, unauthorised transactions, theft, the lot.
When I posed the question 'well am I not covered for such things on my credit card anyway' I was told no.
Is this the usual sales technique of advisors scaremongering to make commission and an unnecessary policy, or something I should genuinely give consideration to (I think I know the answer though..)
As far as I am concerned, I am as careful as I can be, never let my card out of my sight and only hand over my card details on sites that I trust. If something does happen, it will be down to the bank leaving my details in a skip or an employee selling them on, not my carelessness...

[bazking69]

I shouldn't have to pay for an insurance policy to cover me against something that the banks need to get to grips...

[Road2Ruin]

This is a really grey area. Basically if you can prove it was not you who did the transaction and you took every step to protect your card details then you will get the money refunded. This happened to me a couple of years ago. However, witht he increase in such crimes card issuers are looking to blame the customer and may refuse to refund you if they can show some kind of negligence on your behalf.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

My understanding is that under the Banking Code, the customer is only liable for the first £50, and the card issuer is responsible for anything above that. The only exception to that would be if you were to be negligent by, for example, keeping a list of pin numbers in your wallet with the cards.

So all this "cover for up to £100,000 of card fraud" is nonsense really.

[Fastra]

I've used my debit card for years to but internet stuff and (touch wood) have never had any trouble at all.

I have, how ever, had my card cloned at the local petrol station and used to but £800 worth of stuff 250 miles away in London.
My bank were very good about this, basically I had to sign a form saying it wasn't me making the purchases and they refunded the money within 2 days. I think they have a policy that anything under, say £3000, isn't worth the expense of investigating.

Addressing your question about internet buying though, I'm not sure if I'd be covered.
I need to check though - good point!

[Parrot of Doom]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This is exactly my view on the subject. If someone robs £1000 from my bank account, it isn't me that's been defrauded, its the bank. I still expect my money to be there.

[Risotto]

I wouldn't worry too much, it seems to be routine these days. I lost a four figure sum from my current account as a result of purchases I hadn't made.

I told the bank, who didn't seem particularly surprised. They gave me a temporary overdraft increase to allow me to carry on paying bills etc, and a week later they replaced the missing funds.

No explanation as to who had spent the money or how. I imagine it would cost too much to investigate each occurrence, so they just cut their losses and pay up.

[Risotto]

Parrot of Doom said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This is exactly my view on the subject. If someone robs £1000 from my bank account, it isn't me that's been defrauded, its the bank. I still expect my money to be there.

I guess it depends on the circumstances. If you were daft enough to write your PIN on the back of your card and then lose it, I think the bank would have a fair point if they alleged that you hadn't taken reasonable steps to prevent fraud.