How to Dispute a Credit Card Charge: Filing, Denials, and Liability

To dispute a credit card charge, send your card issuer a written notice at its billing inquiries address within 60 days of the statement that first showed the charge, describing the error and why you believe it is wrong. Federal law then requires the issuer to investigate, and while it does, you do not have to pay the disputed amount or any finance charges tied to it. The rules come from the Fair Credit Billing Act, and they work in your favor if you file correctly and on time.

Charges You Can Dispute

The Fair Credit Billing Act treats a handful of situations as billing errors. Charges in the wrong amount qualify. So do charges for purchases you never made, and charges for goods or services that were never delivered or arrived significantly different from what the merchant described.¹ A charge also qualifies if you asked the creditor for clarification or documentation and never got it. Unauthorized charges from a stolen card number, a skimmer, or a data breach are covered too, and for those the burden of proof sits with the issuer, not you.²

A separate track exists for quality complaints. If you received the item but it was defective or not as described, that is not a billing error. It is handled under the “claims and defenses” rule in 15 U.S.C. § 1666i, which lets you assert against the card issuer the same claims you could bring against the merchant. Three conditions apply: you tried in good faith to resolve the problem with the merchant first, the original charge was more than $50, and the purchase happened in your state or within 100 miles of your mailing address.³ Many issuers voluntarily waive the distance requirement for online purchases; if yours is one of them, ask. The most you can recover this way is the amount still unpaid on the disputed transaction when you first notify the issuer.

How to File the Dispute

Pull Your Documentation Together

Before you contact the issuer, gather the evidence. You need your account number, the date the charge appeared, the exact dollar amount, and the merchant’s name as it shows on your statement. Add receipts, order confirmations, shipping records, return receipts, and any correspondence with the merchant that shows you tried to fix the problem directly.⁴ If you called the merchant, write down the dates, times, and names of the people you spoke with. That log matters for a quality dispute, and it strengthens a billing error claim as well.

Send the Notice to the Right Address

Your written dispute must go to the address the issuer designates for billing inquiries, not the payment address. The two are often different, and a notice sent to the payment address may not count as a valid filing.⁵ The billing inquiries address appears on your monthly statement, usually near the payment coupon or on the back.

The notice must reach the issuer within 60 days of the date the issuer sent the first statement showing the error.¹ Miss the deadline and you lose your dispute rights for that charge. Include your name, account number, a description of the error, the date and amount of the charge, and your reasons for believing it is wrong.⁵ Certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof of the date the issuer received it. Send copies of supporting documents, never originals, and keep a full copy of the package for yourself.

Filing Online or Through the App

Many issuers accept disputes through their app or online banking portal. If the issuer’s billing rights disclosure says it accepts electronic submissions, a notice sent that way meets the written-notice requirement.⁵ Save or screenshot the confirmation and reference number after you submit. The same 60-day deadline applies no matter how you file.

What Happens After You File

Once the issuer receives a valid billing error notice, two deadlines kick in. It must send you a written acknowledgment within 30 days, unless it resolves the dispute entirely within that window. The full investigation has to wrap up within two complete billing cycles, and never more than 90 days after receiving your notice.⁵

While the investigation runs, you do not have to pay the disputed amount or the finance charges tied to it. The issuer cannot report the disputed amount as delinquent to credit bureaus during this period. It can reduce your available credit by that amount and note the dispute on your statement.⁵ You still owe any part of the bill that is not in dispute.

If the investigation confirms the error, the issuer has to correct your account and remove any related finance charges or fees. If it finds a different error than the one you reported, it must correct that one instead and credit you accordingly.

If the Issuer Denies Your Dispute

A denial has to come in writing, with the issuer’s reasons. You can ask for copies of the documents the issuer relied on, and reviewing them may show whether the investigation missed something.⁵ The issuer must also tell you the amount you owe and give you your normal billing period, or at least 10 days, whichever is longer, to pay without being reported as delinquent.

If you still believe the charge is wrong, write back within that payment window (or within 10 days of getting the explanation, whichever is later) and state that you refuse to pay because you continue to dispute the billing error.⁴ The issuer can then begin collection, but if it reports you as delinquent, it must also note that you dispute the amount.

You have two more options if you think the issuer mishandled the dispute. File a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau online or at (855) 411-2372; the CFPB forwards it to the issuer, which generally responds within 15 days.⁶ You also keep the right to sue in court, including small claims court.

Your Liability for Unauthorized Charges

Federal law caps your personal liability for unauthorized credit card charges at $50, and only when specific conditions are met. The issuer must have given you notice of potential liability, provided a way to report loss or theft, and included a method of identifying authorized users. If the issuer cannot prove all three, you owe nothing.²

Once you tell the issuer the card was lost, stolen, or compromised, your liability for any later unauthorized charges drops to zero. The $50 cap covers only unauthorized charges made before you reported the problem. Most major card networks advertise zero-liability policies that go beyond this federal floor, but $50 is the statutory baseline every consumer credit card must meet.

What These Rules Do Not Cover

Debit cards run under a different law. Under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, your liability for unauthorized debit charges is capped at $50 only if you report within two business days of learning about the problem. Report between two business days and 60 days after your statement, and your exposure can reach $500. Report after 60 days and you may have no federal protection at all for charges that appeared after the 60-day window.⁷ With a credit card, the 60-day clock does not start until the issuer sends the statement containing the error, and your maximum exposure stays at $50 no matter when within that window you report.

Business credit cards also sit outside the Fair Credit Billing Act’s consumer protections. If your company has 10 or more credit cards issued to employees, the issuer can negotiate an agreement that removes the $50 cap entirely, and an employee who misuses the card may face unlimited personal liability.⁸ Smaller businesses keep the standard $50 cap. If you carry a business card, read the cardholder agreement to see what dispute rights the issuer has extended to you contractually.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 Correction of Billing Errors
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1643 Liability of Holder of Credit Card
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666i Assertion by Cardholder Against Card Issuer of Claims and Defenses
4
Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
5
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1026 Regulation Z – Section 1026.13 Billing Error Resolution
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693g Consumer Liability
8
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1026 Regulation Z – Section 1026.12 Special Credit Card Provisions