The Fair Credit Billing Act provides specific rules that the card issuer must follow for promptly correcting billing errors. The card issuer will give you a statement describing these rules when you open the credit card account and, after that, at least once a year. Many card issuers print a summary of your rights on each bill they send you.
Billing errors include:
- a charge for something you didn't buy
- a purchase by someone not authorized to use your card
- an amount on your bill that is different from the actual amount you paid
- a charge for something that you did not accept on delivery
- a charge for something that was not delivered according to the agreement
- arithmetic errors
- payments not credited to your account
When you find an error you must notify the card issuer in writing within 60 days after the first bill containing the error was mailed to you. Some companies may accept e-mail; others will require that you put your dispute in writing. Be sure to include your name and account number, a description of the billing error and the date and amount of the charge you dispute.
The card issuer, in turn, must look into the problem and either correct the error or explain to you why the bill is correct. If there is an error, you will not have to pay interest charges on the disputed amount. Your account must be corrected. If there is no error, the credit card company must send you an explanation and a statement of what you owe.
During the period that the card issuer is investigating the error, you do not have to pay the amount in question. For further information visit Consumer Information.
