Do people actually use credit cards to pay bills or is that a red flag?

[YourEdgyJoker]

I’ve always thought of credit cards as something you use for emergencies or bigger purchases, not regular bills. But lately I’ve noticed more people mentioning they pay rent, council tax or utilities with their credit card. Is this just normal now or is it a sign things are tight?

AIBU to wonder if this is smart financial strategy or a slippery slope?

I don’t plan on moving again but tbh I don’t see it having any effect.

Yeah, I'd be interested to know too!

This is just completely incorrect though with regards to payment protection

i also believe you have been mugged off for massive charges that you would have been on the line for, and have taken out hideously expensive car rental insurance (that a cc would have covered) if you tried to rent a car without a credit card

See my recent post…I’m in Ireland there’s no extra protection for using a cc here, they are treated the same.

again, when I have booked a rental I pre pay on my debit. I have never paid above the odds…used enterprise and hertz before and no issues

We do all our spending on interest free credit cards! We have about 25k on credit cards and we pay the minimum payment and put the rest in high interest accounts. We have 25k working nicely for us in high interest bank accounts

no, you don't have to have a direct debit.

With council tax for example, you could ring up as soon as you get your bill in April and pay for the year upfront. Obviously not everyone can afford that, but if you have a 0% credit card over a lengthy period it's exactly the same, you're not £2000 (or whatever) out of pocket, you're just paying yourself back monthly rather than the council.

Same with electric, etc. You wait until you get your bill for the quarter then ring up/go online and pay for it with your credit card. Basically exactly like people used to do before dd's were popular - you'd get a bill, and send off a cheque for the amount.

Depends on the context.

CCs give you protection as it isn't your money. So there's no risk to you.

Sometimes it's just timing. Your gas bill.is due a few days before you get paid. You could use savings, you could use your CC and then pay it back. You could use your CC and pay it back a few days or a few weeks later.

Nothing wrong with it, although your CC company wouldn't like it so much. But hey ho.

Charge back is not backed by law, whereas section 75 (which credit cards fall under) are. In the case of my example, where a company has gone bust and haven’t sent you the item you have bought, the credit card company will refund you. As I mentioned, there is a maximum limit they will refund (£30k I think) and perhaps a minimum purchase price.
If you had used a debit card, the bank won’t be able to recover the money from the trader and so you will lose your money.

ETA - I don’t think all debit card issuers will do charge back whereas all credit card companies are bound by section 75.

We follow the Dave Ramsey method of no debt so don’t have any credit cards.

I was going to say this. We have a virgin amex card. We put every penny we can on it - any bills, kids school fees, EVERYTHING. We pay it off each month so we don’t pay interest. This way it gives brownie points on your credit score.

We use the miles to get free flights as a family - south africa earlier in the year, just got back from caribbean, all first class.

I’d really recommend this to anyone.

In my old workplace (job with a lot of travel) everyone did this. It’s only since I left I realised it’s unusual.

@pinkbackground I don’t know the David Ramsey method but having a credit card doesn’t mean you have debt. I have had them for a couple of decades , only spent what I could pay back in full each month, not bought what I would have have any with a debit card and have earned £1000s in cash back and had money off flights. I financially better off spending with a credit card than spending the same money with a debit card plus had financial protection on purchase.

Do you have to use the air miles at specific times e.g. outside the school holidays? Some credit cards that use air miles stipulate this

I think the issue is that, unlike yourself, a lot of people don’t have the discipline to do that so end up spending more and more and getting into debt. Not having a credit card removes that temptation of spending more than you can afford to pay back.

Yes - I would never advocate a credit card to anyone in this situation.

Ok but I’m in Ireland where there is no section 75 and both only offer chargeback (of which I have done twice) so getting a credit card would really be of no benefit.

i was thinking about getting rid of my CC then was shown this

That’s great but section 75 and credit ratings don’t apply in Ireland.
credit scores are not the same here either so when running a check they don’t check to see if you have MADE payments…only if you have defaulted.

that video is only based on uk/us

Everything goes on American Exoress and then an alternative CC that gives points or benefits and it all gets paid off at the end of each month.

That’s fine, then it doesn’t apply to you or any other non-UK credit card holders!
But it may be helpful for someone else reading this thread, particularly for a big ticket purchase.

I think its called cashback. Its an amex. The visa version gives a bit less

I spend tens of thousands of pounds a year through credit cards, all paid off in full, not a penny of interest. I collect Avios points. I also like to keep the cash in savings as long as possible, get £10-£20 a month in interest that way.

As pps. What I can I pay on cc for cashback and/or points.
For years I didn't use my debit card at all really.

We use our cc for as much as possible though household bills are direct debit. We pay the bill every month and get about £80 or so of JL vouchers every quarter.

Utilities and council tax and clubs etc are direct debits, but we do pay for all our shopping on the credit card then pay off in full every month. It's added protection on bigger purchases and we also get a lot of points which we use for days out /holidays

I'm lucky that I've never had to to do this
There's no rewards with my credit card anyway.