A store takes your money and disappears, or the item never shows up and the seller stops responding. Your instinct is that the money's gone. In the UK and US, your card issuer can be legally on the hook — but the exact rule that applies depends on which country you're in, which payment method you used, and it's worth being precise about which one, since they're genuinely different laws with different deadlines.
UK: Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974
If you pay by credit card for something costing between £100 and £30,000, Section 75 makes your card issuer equally liable with the retailer — this covers faulty goods, fraud, or a company going bust before delivering. Crucially, you don't need to have put the whole amount on the card: paying even a small deposit (as little as £1) by credit card, with the rest paid another way, still extends Section 75 protection to the entire purchase price. This only applies to credit cards, not debit cards.
US: two separate laws, not one — Regulation E and the FCBA
This is the part worth getting right, because conflating these two causes real confusion:
- Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) — governs credit card billing disputes. You generally have 60 days from the statement date showing the disputed charge to notify your card issuer in writing. This is the mechanism for a merchant dispute (goods never arrived, not as described, or a billing error).
- Regulation E — governs electronic fund transfers, which covers debit cards and bank transfers. The process and timeline are different: for an unauthorized transaction, your bank must acknowledge your report and generally complete its investigation within 45 days (up to 90 days for new accounts, foreign transactions, or point-of-sale debit transactions), and must provide provisional credit within 10 business days in most cases while investigating.
The practical takeaway: which one applies depends entirely on how you paid. A credit card merchant dispute runs on FCBA's 60-day clock; a debit card or bank transfer issue runs on Regulation E's process instead — they aren't interchangeable, and citing the wrong one to your bank can slow things down.
The step that makes or breaks the claim: try the merchant first
Before your bank will act, you generally need to show you made a genuine attempt to resolve it with the seller — saved emails, screenshots of unanswered messages, or a clear refusal in writing. Banks want to see that you didn't skip straight to a dispute without giving the merchant a chance to fix it.
The terminology that actually gets a bank's attention
- UK: "I'm claiming under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 for breach of contract by the supplier."
- US, credit card: "I'm disputing this charge under the Fair Credit Billing Act — the goods/services were not provided as described."
- US, debit card/bank transfer: "I'm reporting an unauthorized/erroneous electronic funds transfer under Regulation E."
Building the case
Gather the transaction confirmation, the seller's stated terms, every attempt you made to contact them (with dates), and a clear, specific account of what went wrong and what you want (a refund, not just "make this right"). A well-documented case is processed faster and disputed less by the bank.