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Coronavirus - frequently asked questions

We’re here to support you if you have been affected by coronavirus. We’ve answered some of our frequently asked questions below.

Banking safely

Helping others

Finance support

Travel and event disruption

Banking safely

Helping others

Finance support

Travel and event disruption

  • Cancelled or postponed events

    If you’ve bought a ticket for a cancelled event from an official seller, you could be entitled to a refund from them. You may not get back any extra costs paid such as postage or booking fees. The same rule should apply to entry fees if you’ve paid to take part in an event or competition - such as a marathon or cycling race - but you’ll need to check with the event organiser’s terms and conditions.

    If you’ve bought tickets through a ticket reseller, you’ll need to check their terms and conditions to see if you’ll get your money back. Please consider these refunds can take longer than expected due to knock on impacts of coronavirus.

    If the organisers are planning to move the date of the event, your tickets should be valid for the new date. If you can’t make the new date, you can ask for a refund from the ticket retailer, but you’ll need to check your booking terms and conditions. Again, you’re unlikely to get back any postage costs or booking fees. Refunds from ticket-reselling websites will also depend on their own terms and conditions.

    Travel and hotel costs

    If your event has been cancelled but you also booked travel and accommodation to attend, contact the organisations you booked with to see whether the service is still available. You could get a refund or be able to rebook for a later date. Packages with flights, hotels and event ticket included may be covered under your travel insurance.

    Personal events

    Cancelling or postponing a personal event - such as a party or wedding - will depend on what agreements you have with your suppliers. Speak to your suppliers about your options. You may not get your deposit or other payments refunded if you cancel completely. If your supplier cancels, you may be entitled to a refund. This will depend on the terms and conditions of your booking.

    If you have wedding insurance, check your policy or speak to your insurance provider about what you can claim.

    If you paid on a credit or debit card, you can raise a payment dispute for review. If you believe that you have paid for an item or service that has not been delivered, was not as described, a refund has not been received or where merchants aren’t following their terms and conditions, you can submit a claim for review. Find out more about payment disputes. 

    Credit card refunds

    If you paid by credit card you may be able to claim a refund under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act if you are eligible. Section 75 rights are only available where the seller/provider has misrepresented something or if there has been a breach of contract.

    You may be able to make a claim from your credit card provider for the loss you have suffered.  However it only covers goods and services valued over £100 and below £30,000. If you have a credit card with us, you can find out more about Section 75 and how to make a claim.

  • We understand that your travel plans and booked trips could have been affected by coronavirus. As a result you may have cancelled flights and package holidays that you would like to get a refund for. We always recommend getting in touch with your travel provider directly first, we have listed the main travel providers used by our customers. 

    If you’ve contacted or attempted to contact the retailer and have been unable to resolve the issue, we may be able to support you. Please see below guidance dependent on your situation:

    I decided to cancel –

    If you chose to cancel your booking and the service was still available, then we may be able to help provided you followed the cancellation policy set out by the merchant. If you have followed the cancellation policy (including paying any cancellation fees) and have not got a refund that you are entitled to, then you can visit our payment disputes page to understand your options.

    If you paid using a Halifax debit card and use Online Banking or our Mobile Banking app, please see guidance on how to check your eligibility for a refund and raise a claim. 

    The retailer/business cancelled -

    If the trip was cancelled by the merchant we may be able to help you, depending on why they cancelled your trip. In most cases you are entitled to a refund, however the merchant may offer you an alternative e.g. different dates or a credit voucher. If you are not happy with their response, or have cancelled within your terms and conditions, then you can visit our payment disputes page to understand your options. 

    If you paid using a Halifax debit card and use Online Banking or our Mobile Banking app, please see guidance on how to check your eligibility for a refund and raise a claim.

    Please be aware refunds may take longer than expected due to knock on impacts of coronavirus.

    For more information, including how you can raise a payment dispute (chargeback), visit our credit card payment disputes page or debit card payment disputes page.

     

  • You may be able to benefit from either chargeback (payment dispute) or Section 75 (credit card only).

    Chargeback

    A chargeback is a scheme put in place to protect customers, also known as a payment dispute. It allows credit and debit cardholders the ability to request a refund through their card issuer in a number of different scenarios. This includes where you have not received what you have paid for. We as your card issuer will refund you and will then seek to claim the payment back from the original merchant. However, merchants can dispute the chargeback request and this may result in your account having the payment taken again.

    Chargeback rights cover the amount of the card transaction only, other losses cannot be claimed. A chargeback claim must also be made within a set time period. This is usually 120 days from the date of purchase, or from when the goods or services were expected to be received, though longer periods may apply in certain situations. 

    If you paid with a Halifax debit card and use Online Banking or our Mobile Banking app, you can now sign in to find out if you're eligible for a refund and raise a claim.

    If you paid with a Halifax credit card, by other means or are not registered for Online Banking or our Mobile Banking app, you can still visit our payment disputes page for guidance on the options available to you.

    Section 75 (credit card only)

    If you are struggling to get a refund that you are entitled to, and you paid using a credit card, you may be able to make a claim under Section 75 Consumer Credit Act 1974.

    Section 75 covers most credit card purchases for goods or services over £100 and under £30,000. This means you may be able to make a claim through us for the loss you have suffered. Section 75 rights are only available where the seller/provider has misrepresented something or if there has been a breach of contract. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to claim a refund and potentially some consequential losses. You can find out more about Section 75 and how to make a claim if you have a credit card with us.

    Please visit our payment disputes page to see if we may be able to help you.

  • If you have already accepted travel vouchers and you are not happy with that, you may be able to get a refund instead. You will need to speak to your travel provider to see if they will issue you a refund as an alternative to your vouchers.

    If your provider agrees to issue you a full refund, note it may take longer to process than usual. Please therefore wait 15 days from the request being accepted.

    If you struggle to come to an agreement with your provider, we may be able to help.

    To contact our Disputes team, our telephone banking lines are open 8am – 8pm, seven days a week.
    Not all Telephone Banking services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    For credit cards: Call us on 0345 944 4555 or +44 1733 573 189 if you’re calling from outside the UK.

    For current accounts: Call us on 0345 720 3040 or +44 113 242 1984 if you’re calling from outside the UK.

  • We aim to resolve all claims within 5 working days. If you’ve already raised a claim with us, we are working through these as quickly as we can.

  • Every insurance provider and policy will be different so it’s important you check what cover you have and what you can claim. Some travel insurance policies may only allow you to claim for trips booked before the coronavirus pandemic began so it’s worth checking what’s included. 

    Travel insurance advice for booking future holidays

    Many insurance policies will no longer cover coronavirus for future bookings. So if you have an existing travel insurance policy, check with your provider to see if they have introduced any restrictions. If you are looking for a new policy, check to see if disruption due to coronavirus is included in the cover you are buying.

    It is still important to take out travel insurance when you book any trips to cover you for future events.

    If you have an Ultimate Reward Current Account, travel insurance is included as a benefit. You can find more information and guidance in the FAQs (PDF, 193kb) or visit our payment disputes page to see if we can help you raise a refund.

  • If there is no Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) warning in place for your destination when you are due to travel and your flights, accommodation, etc. are all running as normal, you are unlikely to get a refund if you don’t want to travel. Also, travel insurance is unlikely to cover ‘disinclination to travel’.

    However, if you have received medical advice not to travel due to your health, or if you are in an ‘at risk’ group, you may be able to get a refund and/or claim on your travel insurance. Speak to your travel provider or insurer for more information. Otherwise check the terms and conditions to see whether you have the right to cancel and receive a refund.

    If you have an Ultimate Reward Current Account, travel insurance is included as a benefit. You can find out more in the FAQs by selecting the account you hold or visit our payment disputes page to see if we can help you raise a refund.

  • During these difficult times, we’re here to help support customers who have been affected by travel providers that have stopped trading due to coronavirus.

    In the first instance, please check the website or any correspondence from the travel provider, or their administrator to understand how to get a refund.

    Many flights and holiday purchases are covered by protection schemes, such as ATOL, who may refund you when a travel merchant ceases to trade. Most of these schemes will provide you with a certificate so please check your booking confirmation, the travel provider’s website or the administrator of your travel provider.

    If your booking is protected, please follow the guidance that will be issued by your protection scheme on their website.

    If you are unable to get a refund through a protection scheme we may be able to help:

    • If you paid with a Halifax debit card and use Online Banking or our Mobile Banking app, you can now sign in to find out if you're eligible for a refund and raise a claim.
    • If you paid with a Halifax credit card, by other means or are not registered for Online Banking or our Mobile Banking app, you can visit our payment disputes page for guidance on the options available to you.
    • If you have an Ultimate Reward Current Account that provides travel insurance as a benefit, you may be able to make a claim under the Financial Failure section of your policy if you have been unable to obtain a refund from any other source. 

    Stay safe

    If you’re contacted about the company that has stopped trading, be aware that as Halifax, we’ll never ask you for your bank details. Sometimes there can be an increase in fraud attempts during these type of events.

  • If you paid with a Halifax debit card or credit card, and use Online Banking or our Mobile Banking app, you can now sign in to find out if you're eligible for a refund and raise a claim.

    Follow steps to make a claim:

    1. Sign in to our Mobile Banking app.
    2. Go to your statement screen and select the transaction you would like help with.
    3. Select 'Help with this transaction'.
    4. Select the question 'Paid for an item or service and have an issue?'

    You will need to have the following information to hand to raise your claim:

    • The name of the retailer.
    • The transaction amount and the date.
    • The date you were expecting to travel.
    • Description of what was included in your trip that’s no longer going ahead.
    • Why your retailer has been unable to help.

    If you paid with a Halifax credit card, by other means or are not registered for Online Banking or our Mobile Banking app, you can visit our payment disputes page for guidance on the options available to you.

  • Below are links to the web pages for the main travel providers used by our customers, which may help you further. We’ve also included the links for their coronavirus web pages, however we suggest you ensure you look at information across all of their web pages to understand how they can best help you. 

    Halifax is not responsible for the content or function of third party websites.

Calls and online sessions may be monitored and/or recorded for quality evaluation, training and to ensure compliance with laws and regulations. Not all Telephone Banking services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.