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Freedom251 › Blog › chargeback

What to do if a retailer goes into administration after you place an order

By Freedom251 Team · · 9 min read

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If a retailer enters administration after taking your order, save every order and payment record, identify the administrator, and contact your card or payment provider immediately. Ask about Section 75 or chargeback, then register the unpaid amount with the administrator as a creditor claim. These routes can run at the same time, but neither guarantees that you will recover your money.

Act quickly: the first steps

Administration does not automatically cancel your order or trigger a refund. The outcome depends on whether the goods were delivered, how you paid, the price of each item, whether an intermediary handled the payment and the deadlines imposed by the relevant card scheme.

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  1. Confirm the administration. Check Companies House for a limited company, bearing in mind that insolvency information can take a few weeks to appear. The retailer’s website will often name the administrator. Record the legal company name, administrator, case reference and contact details shown in the notice.
  2. Preserve your evidence. Keep the order confirmation, itemised prices, payment statement, promised delivery date, tracking information, retailer emails or messages and any administration notice. Save screenshots if the retailer’s website or order history may disappear.
  3. Contact the payment provider now. Tell the card issuer, bank, BNPL provider or payment intermediary that you paid for goods or services that have not arrived after the retailer entered administration. Ask which remedy applies, what evidence it needs and the deadline for submitting the claim. Do not wait for the administrator to decide whether an order might eventually be fulfilled.
  4. Submit a creditor claim. Follow the administrator’s instructions or the GOV.UK creditor-claim process and state the amount owed. Include the order number and attach supporting records. Registration records your debt; it does not promise a distribution.
  5. Keep both processes updated. Tell the administrator and payment provider about any refund, replacement or partial recovery. A payment remedy may reduce the balance that remains in the insolvency, so avoid claiming the same loss twice.

The government’s response on retailer prepayments says that “when a retail business becomes insolvent a consumer who has made a prepayment but not received their goods or service can be protected in several ways.” That describes possible routes, not an automatic entitlement to payment.

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Which remedy fits your payment method?

How you paid Possible route Key conditions and limits What to do
Credit card paid directly to the retailer Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 Usually concerns a single item costing more than £100 and no more than £30,000. The transaction chain must connect the card lender, retailer and purchase. Ask the card issuer for a Section 75 claim and provide the order and administration evidence.
Debit card Chargeback A card-scheme process rather than a statutory refund. The issuer may reject the request, and scheme deadlines apply. Request chargeback immediately and ask the issuer to confirm the applicable time limit.
Credit card purchase outside Section 75 Chargeback may be available Section 75 conditions may fail because of the price, payment chain or purchase structure. Ask for both an assessment of Section 75 and chargeback where appropriate.
BNPL, wallet, marketplace or other intermediary Provider dispute process; sometimes chargeback Eligibility depends on who received the payment, the BNPL arrangement and the transaction date. Section 75 commonly does not apply where the intermediary breaks the required direct relationship. Explain the complete payment chain and ask the provider which process and deadline apply.
Bank transfer, cash or another non-card method Administrator claim and any provider-specific recovery process Section 75 and card chargeback generally do not apply to a direct bank transfer or cash payment. Register as a creditor and ask your bank or payment service whether any separate recall or fraud procedure is relevant.

Credit-card purchases: when Section 75 may help

Section 75 can apply when a consumer has not received goods or services and the single item costs more than £100 and no more than £30,000. The government’s response explains that it can cover the total prepayment even when only part of that prepayment was placed on the credit card.

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Use the price of each item, not the basket total

The threshold is assessed against the individual item. Several items priced below £100 do not normally become one qualifying item merely because they appear on one order, and delivery charges do not combine them for the threshold. If an order contains different products, list each item and its price when speaking to the issuer.

Check who received the payment

A direct purchase from the retailer is important. Citizens Advice Scotland warns that buying through a marketplace, voucher website, digital wallet or travel agent may mean Section 75 does not usually apply because the card payment went to an intermediary rather than the trader supplying the goods. Do not assume that the words “credit card” settle the question; tell the issuer exactly what appeared on your statement and who processed the transaction.

Mixed payment can still matter

For an eligible item, paying part of the price by credit card can allow a Section 75 claim for the full item price, according to Citizens Advice Scotland. The provider will still examine the item price, the retailer relationship and the contract, so submit the complete receipt and payment breakdown.

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Debit cards and credit purchases outside Section 75: chargeback

Chargeback is a voluntary card-scheme procedure through which an issuer asks the merchant’s acquiring bank to reverse a payment. It can be used for debit-card payments and may also be relevant to credit-card purchases that do not meet Section 75’s conditions. The issuer or card scheme can refuse the request, so chargeback is not the same as a guaranteed legal refund.

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GOV.UK describes chargeback for items that never arrived as potentially available up to 120 days after the transaction was debited or from the date the goods or services were due. The correct starting point depends on the facts and the scheme rules. Contact the issuer immediately and ask it to confirm, in writing if possible, the deadline for your transaction.

Why waiting can cost you the remedy

An administrator may spend time deciding whether stock will be sold, orders will be completed or a buyer will take over. Waiting for that decision can consume the chargeback window. You can make the card request while the administration is ongoing and provide later updates if the administrator supplies new information.

What to include in a chargeback request

  • The retailer’s legal name and the administrator’s notice or case reference.
  • Order number, item description, item price and promised delivery date.
  • Date and amount of the card debit, with a statement or transaction reference.
  • Evidence that the goods were not delivered, such as missing tracking or messages from the retailer.
  • A clear statement that the retailer entered administration and that you are seeking recovery for goods or services not received.

BNPL, marketplaces, wallets and other intermediaries

Intermediaries make the transaction chain more complicated. A card may have been used to pay a BNPL account, while the BNPL provider paid the retailer; a marketplace may have collected the money and later passed it to a seller; or a wallet may have stood between your card and the retailer. Section 75 eligibility can change with those arrangements and with the transaction date.

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Citizens Advice notes that a card payment used to settle a BNPL account may sometimes support a chargeback, but a provider may refuse. It also says Section 75 usually does not apply when the purchase was made through a marketplace or wallet instead of directly from the trader. Ask the provider to identify the relevant payer, payee and contract rather than describing the transaction only as a “credit-card purchase.”

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Information to gather for an intermediary dispute

  • The retailer’s name and the marketplace, wallet or BNPL company’s name.
  • Which business appears on your card or bank statement.
  • The date and amount of each payment, including instalments.
  • The BNPL agreement or intermediary receipt, if available.
  • Any dispute reference already issued by the intermediary.

Registering as a creditor with the administrator

The administrator is responsible for handling the company’s affairs and creditor claims. Use the process specified in the administration notice, or the GOV.UK creditor-claim route, to submit the amount the retailer owes you. Include the legal company name, your contact details, the order reference, the unpaid amount and copies of the relevant evidence.

A creditor claim is worthwhile even when you are pursuing Section 75 or chargeback because the processes are separate. However, consumers can rank behind other creditors, including banks, and Citizens Advice says an individual consumer may receive nothing. There is no reliable general recovery percentage for retailer administrations, so treat any distribution as uncertain and do not make financial plans around it.

Possible outcomes during administration

  • A buyer or administrator may decide to honour an order, but that is a possibility rather than a right.
  • Protected payment arrangements may exist for some transactions, but they are not universal.
  • The administrator may reject the order, sell remaining stock or make a later distribution to creditors.
  • A successful card claim may pay some or all of the eligible loss independently of the insolvency distribution.

If the goods arrived but are faulty

An undelivered order and a faulty delivered product are different claims. If the item has arrived, contact the manufacturer’s guarantee or warranty provider and ask the administrator whether repair or replacement is possible. Insolvency guidance says help may be limited, but a warranty route can remain available. Keep proof of purchase, warranty terms and photographs of the fault.

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If the problem is a missing delivery, do not describe it as a warranty fault. State that the goods or service were never supplied and use the payment and creditor routes described above.

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Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Waiting for a formal confirmation letter

Start the card-provider conversation as soon as you have credible evidence of the administration and non-delivery. Ask what further document it needs rather than delaying the initial notification.

Treating creditor registration as a refund application

Registration places your claim in the insolvency process. It does not move you ahead of secured or preferential creditors and does not guarantee a payment.

Assuming all card protection is identical

Section 75 has statutory conditions. Chargeback is a separate, voluntary scheme process. A debit card does not provide Section 75 protection simply because it carries a card-network logo.

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Using the whole basket to meet the Section 75 threshold

Calculate the price of each individual item and show the breakdown to the issuer. Do not add delivery charges or several sub-£100 products together to create a qualifying purchase.

Ignoring the intermediary

State whether the payment went directly to the retailer, a marketplace, a wallet or a BNPL provider. The intermediary can determine whether Section 75 is available and which dispute process should be used.

Claiming twice without telling either party

Notify the card provider and administrator of recoveries from the other route. Ask how to adjust the outstanding balance if one process pays first.

A practical decision checklist

  1. Has the retailer actually entered administration, and do you have the administrator’s name and case reference?
  2. Were the goods or services due but never supplied, or did they arrive with a fault?
  3. What is the price of each individual item?
  4. Who received your payment: the retailer, a marketplace, a wallet, a BNPL provider or another business?
  5. Was the payment made by credit card, debit card, bank transfer or another method?
  6. What deadline does your payment provider say applies to Section 75 or chargeback?
  7. Have you submitted a creditor claim and kept proof of submission?
  8. Have you told each party about any refund, replacement or insolvency distribution?

Citizens Advice guidance used for this subject is jurisdiction-specific: the insolvency guidance cited is for Wales and the card guidance cited is for Scotland. Consumers elsewhere in the UK should confirm any local procedural differences with Citizens Advice or another appropriate consumer-advice service. The payment provider’s own deadline and evidence requirements control the practical handling of a card claim.

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