credit check?

[Hgrove]

I have been ordering things from websites using my credit card (Xmas presents).  Do they do a credit check on you?  I don't see why they should as if you pay by credit card, the payment is clear straight away, so there should be no need;  and I have heard that even just 5 credit checks can affect your score.  Does anyone know if they do?

[Didwot]

This has got nothing to do with your question, but paying by credit card does have an advantage when purchasing goods worth between �100 and �30000 in that the Consumer Credit Act makes the credit card company jointly liable under the transaction, so if the goods do not arrive, or are faulty, you can claim from the credit card company. Unfortunately this does not apply to purchases from outside the country.

[Oneeyedvic]

Just for sake of correctness:

 

Although Didcot is correct in the majority of what he says - with regard the overseas purchases: Lloyds TSB, American Express and Tescos have just succesffuly challenged the OFT in that the OFT wanted consumers protecting for overseas purchases. The ruling has said that the credit card companies are not laible.

 

HOWEVER, currently HSBC, BOS and Sainsburys bank are still being nice to customers and reimbursing their customers in cases overseas.

 

Look at credit cards individually - they all vary in the extra protections they offer you!.

 

Incidentally, no they do not credit search you - a company needs permission to search you. If you contact Experian or equifax and request a copy of your credit file they will show all the searches that have been done on you (recorded and unrecorded) in the last 12 months.

[Hgrove]

Thank you all for the informative replies.

[srd]

As ansteyg correctly says, your payment is either 'accepted' or 'declined' by the CC processor....

...however, when you order online and your card is 'accepted' it is not usually actually charged at that time (two reasons: it's illegal to charge until goods are depatched; it can take some time for a charge to go through, and vendor wouldn't want customer sitting around waiting for confirmation).

During the time between you ordering and the goods being despatched, your details may be flagged as 'suspicious' (due to high order value, post-code/country of delivery similar to that of known fraudsters, different order/delivery address, even (assumed) nationality from surname), in which case you may be checked - not so much a credit check as an identity check. Online retailers have a shared pool of info on fraudsters and you may be compared to this list, or asked to send additional information to confirm you are the card-holder.

If you're interested to see what info is held about you by agencies who perform credit check info, you can get one for free from:

https://www.creditexpert.co.uk

[erimus1]

I'll just answer the question then shall I - Simply - No - you have to give your permission for someone to creditcheck you, and it must be clear (Data Protection Act)