The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute billing errors in writing within 60 days. Here is what counts as an error, what to send, and what happens while the issuer investigates.
This article is general information and isn’t financial or legal advice. Card terms, fees and rules change, so check the issuer’s current terms and official sources such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission before you decide.
The essentials
- You must dispute a billing error in writing within 60 days of the date the first statement showing the charge was sent to you.
- Billing errors include unauthorized charges, wrong amounts or dates, undelivered goods, and payments or returns never credited. Quality complaints do not qualify.
- The issuer must acknowledge your dispute in writing within 30 days and resolve it within two billing cycles, and no more than 90 days.
- While the investigation runs, you can withhold the disputed amount and related charges, but you must pay the rest of the bill on time.
- Liability for unauthorized charges on a lost or stolen credit card is capped at $50, and it is $0 for fraudulent phone, online or mail transactions.
You check your credit card statement and find a charge you do not recognize, or an amount that looks wrong. Federal law gives you a formal way to challenge it. The Fair Credit Billing Act, which covers credit cards and other revolving credit accounts, treats certain disputed charges as billing errors and sets deadlines and protections for both you and the issuer. This walkthrough explains what counts as a billing error, how to file a dispute, what to pay while the investigation runs, and what to do if the outcome is not what you hoped.
Step 1: Confirm it is actually a billing error
The law covers specific kinds of mistakes, not every disagreement about a purchase. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act and the rule that implements it, Regulation Z, a billing error includes:
- a charge you did not make, or one made by someone who did not have authority to use your card
- a charge for property or services you did not accept, or that were not delivered to you as agreed
- a charge for the wrong amount, or on the wrong date
- a charge you do not recognize and want more information about
- a calculation mistake on the bill, or a payment or return that was never credited to your account
Disputes about quality are different. If an item arrived and you accepted it, but you think it was poorly made or not what you expected, that is not a billing error under the law, even if you feel the seller let you down. Recognizing the category helps you set expectations, because billing errors come with federal deadlines and protections, while quality complaints may leave you negotiating with the merchant on your own.
Timing matters as much as the reason. You must dispute in writing within 60 days of the date the issuer sent the first statement showing the charge. Miss that window and you may get stuck with the bill. Before anything else, find the first statement that shows the charge and note its date.
Step 2: Contact the merchant before you dispute
The law does not require you to contact the seller before disputing with your issuer. Even so, a call or email often resolves things faster than a formal dispute, particularly for an order that never arrived or a return that was never refunded.
Sellers that take orders by mail, online or by phone have to ship within the time they or their ads promised. If no time was given, they must ship within 30 days of the order. If they never ship, they owe you a full refund, not a gift card or store credit.
Write down the date, the name of anyone you spoke with and what they promised. If the seller admits a mistake and offers a refund, ask when the credit will appear. If the merchant refuses to fix the problem or the shipping deadline passes, move on to the dispute process.
Step 3: Call your card issuer
Call the customer service number on your monthly statement or the back of your card and report the problem. Many issuers also accept disputes online, though you may need to set up an online account first.
However you report it, record who you spoke with and when. Then follow up in writing, because the protections in the Fair Credit Billing Act are tied to written notice. A phone call or an online form alone may not give you the full protection of the law.
Step 4: Send a written dispute within 60 days
This is the step that carries the legal weight. Mail a letter to the address your issuer lists for billing disputes, errors or inquiries, which appears on your statement, the issuer’s website or your card agreement. That address is usually not the payment address, and a dispute sent to the wrong place may not trigger the law’s protections.
Your letter should include:
- your name and credit card number
- the dollar amount and date of the disputed charge, the seller’s name and a description of what the charge is for
- the date of the first statement that shows the charge
- why you believe the charge is wrong, for example that you did not authorize it, did not receive the item, or do not recognize the charge and want more information
- a request that the issuer correct your bill
Keep the letter short and factual. The issuer does not need your opinion of the merchant, only the amount, the date and the reason you believe the charge is wrong. Send the letter by certified mail or another trackable method, and keep a copy of the letter, the receipt and anything that supports your claim, such as order confirmations, delivery records or return receipts.
Smart move
The 60-day clock runs from the date the first statement with the charge was sent to you, not the date of the charge itself. Check that statement date first, because everything else in the dispute depends on it.
Step 5: Know what to pay while the dispute is open
You do not have to pay the disputed amount, or the finance charges and other charges related to it, while the issuer investigates. You do have to pay every part of the bill that is not in question.
That distinction matters. Letting the undisputed portion go unpaid can bring fees and damage your credit. Paying what you legitimately owe in full is also how you keep your grace period, the time between the end of the billing period and your payment due date during which you avoid interest on new purchases. Our explainer on credit card grace periods explains how that works.
Two other protections apply while the dispute is open. The issuer may not take action that harms your credit standing over the disputed amount until the investigation is complete. And if a billing error did occur, the issuer may not charge fees connected to the error resolution process, such as documentation or investigation fees, and must credit back any such fee it already assessed.
What the issuer must do, and how long it takes
Once your written dispute arrives, the law sets a schedule:
| Deadline | What the issuer must do |
|---|---|
| Within 30 days of receiving your letter | Acknowledge the dispute in writing, unless the problem has already been resolved |
| Within two billing cycles, and no more than 90 days | Complete the investigation and resolve the dispute |
The two-cycle limit is easy to misread. It means the issuer must finish within two of your billing cycles, and even if those cycles are long, the outer limit is 90 days from the date it received your letter. If the issuer resolves the dispute in your favor, it will remove the charge or correct the bill. If it decides the charge was correct, Step 6 covers your options.
Where disputes commonly go wrong
Several missteps sink otherwise valid disputes:
- waiting past the 60-day deadline, which can leave you owing the bill even if the charge really was an error
- sending the letter to the payment address instead of the billing disputes address
- reporting the problem only by phone or online without a written follow-up
- withholding the entire bill instead of only the disputed amount
- discarding receipts, confirmations and notes from calls, which are often the only evidence you have
None of these mistakes is fatal on its own, but each makes the process slower or weaker.
Step 6: If you disagree with the outcome
If the dispute resolves in your favor, confirm on your next statement that the charge, and any related finance charges, are gone. If it does not, ask the issuer for its written explanation and compare it against your own records, such as receipts or delivery confirmations.
You can escalate. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accepts complaints about credit cards and forwards them to the company, which must respond. Our walkthrough of filing a CFPB complaint for beginners explains how the process works and what to include.
If the charge is unauthorized
An unauthorized charge, meaning a charge you never permitted, counts as a billing error, so the same 60-day written process applies. Your financial exposure is limited as well. If your credit card is lost or stolen, notify the issuer as soon as you know it is missing; the most you can owe for unauthorized charges is $50. If the fraudulent charges were made by telephone, online or mail transactions, your liability is $0.
Some situations call for more than a dispute. If you see signs that someone is using your personal information, such as accounts you never opened, our guide to what to do if someone opens credit in your name covers the recovery steps. If you suspect your card number was copied at a payment terminal, our guide to spotting card skimmers lists the warning signs.
One boundary to keep in mind: the Fair Credit Billing Act covers credit cards and other revolving credit, not debit cards. Debit card disputes fall under a different law, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E, which has its own deadlines and liability rules. With a debit card, the money also leaves your bank account right away, so a dispute does not put cash back in your pocket while you wait.
Reviewing your statements every month is the simplest way to catch problems early, since the deadline is tied to when the statement was sent, not when you happened to look.
If a charge on your statement looks wrong, pull up the first bill that shows it and mark the date it was sent, because your 60-day window starts there.
Questions and answers
What happens if I miss the 60-day deadline?
You may get stuck with the disputed bill, because the written 60-day requirement is part of the law’s protection. If you think you are close to the deadline, dispute right away.
Do I have to contact the merchant before disputing?
No, the law does not require it, but a call or email often resolves the problem faster. If the merchant will not fix it, dispute the charge with your card issuer.
Does the same process work for debit cards?
No. The Fair Credit Billing Act covers credit cards and other revolving credit, not debit cards. Debit disputes follow the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E, with different deadlines and liability rules.
Will disputing a charge hurt my credit?
The issuer may not take action that harms your credit standing over the disputed amount until the investigation is complete. You still need to pay the undisputed part of your bill on time.