Credit card charged without authorization

Financedoll

Hi there
My travel insurance provider processed a payment for my policy on the credit card details of my husband despite them been given continuos authority to charge them to my credit card. The credit card details that they hold on me relate to a card that was cancelled last year due to 2 fraudulent transactions. It was only when i rang them in may to give them my new cards detailis did they confirm that the payment had been procesded on my husbands credit card account despite them not having the authorisation to process a payment from this account. We have been unable to establish how they accessed his account information. I subdequently made a formal complaint with them re this and they have confirmed that they only have my credit card details in respect of the annual renewal of travel insurance policy. I've also formally complained to my bank who have completed their investigation and they have recommended that I check with my insurance provider what credit card details the insurance provider holds in relation to me . So I am getting nowhere with either institution. My next step is the financial ombudsman-any advice welcome.

Henry Ford III

Have you asked for a refund?

GerardKeating

Financedoll wrote: »

It was only when i rang them in may to give them my new cards detailis did they confirm that the payment had been procesded on my husbands credit card account despite them not having the authorisation to process a payment from this account.

How long ago was this transaction, if recent, your husband could raise a chargeback with his bank.

In addition to the Financial ombudsman, you might also talk with the Data Protection people, they might be interest in this.

Does your husband have the same card provider and/or bank as yourself?
Is it remotely possible that he also had a policy with them, or a related company at some point.

Financedoll

GerardKeating wrote: »

How long ago was this transaction, if recent, your husband could raise a chargeback with his bank.

In addition to the Financial ombudsman, you might also talk with the Data Protection people, they might be interest in this.

Does your husband have the same card provider and/or bank as yourself?
Is it remotely possible that he also had a policy with them, or a related company at some point.

My husband has never had his credit card details or travel insurance policy with this company. My credit card has been used twice with my authorisation to renew the annual insurance policy. Neither the travel insurance company or my bank (which is the same bank as my husband ) can explain 1. How my husbands credit card details were accessed and 2. How payment was processed without authorisation. Dealing with both the insurance company and the bank has been the most horrific customer service that I have ever experienced but that a whole other story. The transaction in question took place on June 6 so I will look into whether I can pursue this via Data Protection so thanks for that suggestion.

Financedoll

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Have you asked for a refund?

No, I haven't asked for a refund as I am happy with the travel insurance policy provided but am mystified that they had access to my husbands credit card details somehow but are refusing to divulge how they accessed them.

Charles Babbage

Probably wise for your husband to ask for all the information they hold about him, citing the Data Protection legislation.

standardg60

Seems pretty obvious that your bank furnished your husbands credit card details to the insurance provider when they tried to collect the annual premium from your cancelled card. They are both now trying to sweep the issue under the carpet. Are the bank and insurance company related? Personally I wouldn't let this lie.

28064212

Just to check: are these two cards on the one account? Or two entirely separate accounts? i.e. do you get one bill or two?

GerardKeating

28064212 wrote: »

Just to check: are these two cards on the one account? Or two entirely separate accounts? i.e. do you get one bill or two?

Or more interestingly, was the previously cancelled card a joint account, if so that might explain All.

If someone (for example this travel insurance company) had (as you state "continuos authority to charge") against the cancelled card, they can be entitled to have this moved to the replacement card, if both of ye have the same card provider, a mistate was make.

Financedoll

standardg60 wrote: »

Seems pretty obvious that your bank furnished your husbands credit card details to the insurance provider when they tried to collect the annual premium from your cancelled card. They are both now trying to sweep the issue under the carpet. Are the bank and insurance company related? Personally I wouldn't let this lie.

The custower service agent at the travel insurance company told me they got the info from my bank but no surprise that both institutions are claiming that this didn't happen. I have no reason to believe that the 2 institutions are related & I won't be letting this lie.

Financedoll

GerardKeating wrote: »

Or more interestingly, was the previously cancelled card a joint account, if so that might explain All.

If someone (for example this travel insurance company) had (as you state "continuos authority to charge") against the cancelled card, they can be entitled to have this moved to the replacement card, if both of ye have the same card provider, a mistate was make.

My husband is an additional card holder on my credit card account. It was on this additional credit card that the payment was processed event though his card details were never given to the travel insurance company and they had no authority to access his credit card details or authorisation from him to process a payment on his credit card. The bank & the travel insurange company appear to have great difficulty grasping the concept of Data Protection! !!

Glass fused light

The insurance company would have processed an electronic request (swift message) which would have a unique identifier number and transmitted it to your credit card provider, ask them to trace the original transmission data through their system. The payment request would have failed and required human intervention to settle. Ask the bank to do the same.
But as the insurance company never had your husbands card data the correction had to be by a bank employee.

28064212

Financedoll wrote: »

My husband is an additional card holder on my credit card account.

How do you know it was charged to your husband's card and not to your replacement card? A recurring payment from a credit card is linked to the under-lying account, not the specific card used in setup. That's how businesses are able to continue to take payment, even if your card number changes

MrVestek

They've likely obtained the information via the Vindicia process.

This will be something you've agreed to in their Terms and Conditions.

Financedoll

28064212 wrote: »

How do you know it was charged to your husband's card and not to your replacement card? A recurring payment from a credit card is linked to the under-lying account, not the specific card used in setup. That's how businesses are able to continue to take payment, even if your card number changes

The bank has provided written evidence of the charge to my husbands credit card and not my replacement card. If the recurring charge was to my replacement card I would have had no issue with that at all but the charge was against my husbands card.

Financedoll

Glass fused light wrote: »

The insurance company would have processed an electronic request (swift message) which would have a unique identifier number and transmitted it to your credit card provider, ask them to trace the original transmission data through their system. The payment request would have failed and required human intervention to settle. Ask the bank to do the same.
But as the insurance company never had your husbands card data the correction had to be by a bank employee.

Thanks- I have letters of final response from both institutions in which they basically are attempting to wash their hands of any involvement on their part so next step will be the ombudsman.

standardg60

Financedoll wrote: »

My husband is an additional card holder on my credit card account. It was on this additional credit card that the payment was processed event though his card details were never given to the travel insurance company and they had no authority to access his credit card details or authorisation from him to process a payment on his credit card. The bank & the travel insurange company appear to have great difficulty grasping the concept of Data Protection! !!

Ah I think you've cleared things up for me here. If your husband is simply an additional card holder on your account he is just an authorised user and his card details are the same as yours, so it didn't matter which card the charge was placed on, it still went on your account. I was under the impression he had a separate account. Nothing to see here i'm afraid.

Financedoll

standardg60 wrote: »

Ah I think you've cleared things up for me here. If your husband is simply an additional card holder on your account he is just an authorised user and his card details are the same as yours, so it didn't matter which card the charge was placed on, it still went on your account. I was under the impression he had a separate account. Nothing to see here i'm afraid.

Although he is an additional card holder on my account, his credit card details are different to my card. My bank are still adamant that his details could not be accessed by the other institution even as an additional card holder on my account. The bank told me that when they viewed the logs there was no attempt by the other institution to process the payment on my credit card account in 2018 eventhough the payment was processed on my credit card in 2017 by the travel insurance company.

standardg60

I see. It's a while since I had an additional user on my account so they must issue cards with separate details now, in which case while your bank is adamant that his details could not be accessed 'someone' must have furnished them.

rainbowtrout

Financedoll wrote: »

Although he is an additional card holder on my account, his credit card details are different to my card. My bank are still adamant that his details could not be accessed by the other institution even as an additional card holder on my account. The bank told me that when they viewed the logs there was no attempt by the other institution to process the payment on my credit card account in 2018 eventhough the payment was processed on my credit card in 2017 by the travel insurance company.

I had some fradulent transactions made on my credit card about 6 months ago. Cancelled the card. Some of those transactions had been set up as a direct debit, as it turns out. Got a new card, the transactions appeared again the following month. Cancelled the card and got another new one. Finally when someone in BOI started answering my questions three months later, when I queried how a company (Google Pay in this case) could have access to my new card when I hadn't used it anywhere and didn't give the details to anyone, and I've never used Google Pay,, whoever I was talking to in fraud said that the transactions were made against my account rather than the specific card.

I was amazed that this could happen, that transactions could be made against an account rather than a card. She went on to tell me that a company that continues to apply for a direct debit against a cancelled card for transactions that have been flagged as fraudulent are fined for every charge they make.

Sounds like something similar has happened here. Your card was cancelled, the charge was made against your (active) credit card account. Your husband's card is live on that account so the charge was attributed to his card even though you haven't given it to the travel insurance company.

I'd still be looking for a refund as they had no authorisation to charge you.

Financedoll

rainbowtrout wrote: »

I had some fradulent transactions made on my credit card about 6 months ago. Cancelled the card. Some of those transactions had been set up as a direct debit, as it turns out. Got a new card, the transactions appeared again the following month. Cancelled the card and got another new one. Finally when someone in BOI started answering my questions three months later, when I queried how a company (Google Pay in this case) could have access to my new card when I hadn't used it anywhere and didn't give the details to anyone, and I've never used Google Pay,, whoever I was talking to in fraud said that the transactions were made against my account rather than the specific card.

I was amazed that this could happen, that transactions could be made against an account rather than a card. She went on to tell me that a company that continues to apply for a direct debit against a cancelled card for transactions that have been flagged as fraudulent are fined for every charge they make.

Sounds like something similar has happened here. Your card was cancelled, the charge was made against your (active) credit card account. Your husband's card is live on that account so the charge was attributed to his card even though you haven't given it to the travel insurance company.

I'd still be looking for a refund as they had no authorisation to charge you.

Thanks for that. I have lodged a formal complaint with the finance ombudsman & will post again when I have an outcome from that process.