How to Dispute a Credit Card Charge: 60-Day Deadline and Rights

To dispute a credit card charge, send a written billing error notice to your card issuer’s billing inquiries address within 60 days of the statement date that shows the charge. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), the issuer must acknowledge your notice within 30 days and resolve the dispute within two complete billing cycles, and never more than 90 days. While the investigation is open, you don’t have to pay the disputed amount, and the issuer can’t report it as delinquent.

What You Can Dispute

Federal law lists specific categories of billing errors you can challenge on a credit card statement. Identifying which one fits your situation helps you write a clearer notice.¹

Charges you didn’t make, or a charge that posted for a different amount than you agreed to pay.
Charges for goods that never arrived or services never performed, or items that didn’t match what was described at purchase.
Math and accounting mistakes, including miscalculated interest or a wrongly applied fee.
Missing credits for returns or refunds the merchant agreed to.
Statements the issuer failed to deliver to your current address, provided you gave that address at least 20 days before the billing cycle ended.
Charges you need clarified. You can request documentary evidence about a transaction you don’t recognize, even if it turns out to be legitimate.

The 60-Day Deadline

You have 60 days from the date your issuer sends the statement containing the error to get your written dispute notice to the billing inquiries address.¹ The clock starts when the statement is transmitted, not when you open it.

Miss the deadline and you lose the FCBA’s protections, including the right to withhold payment and the ban on delinquency reporting during the investigation. Your issuer may still look at the charge through its own internal chargeback process, but it has no legal duty to. The simplest safeguard is reading each statement promptly.

How to Send the Dispute Notice

The FCBA’s protections turn on a written billing error notice sent to the address your issuer designates for billing inquiries, not the address where you send payments.² Look near the payment coupon or in the disclosures section of your statement. A letter sent to the wrong address may not start the legal clock.

Use certified mail with return receipt so you have proof of delivery. Many issuers also offer online dispute portals, which can be a useful first step, but the FTC recommends following up with a written letter even if you file online.³

Your notice needs three things: your name and account number, a statement that you believe a billing error exists along with the dollar amount, and an explanation of why.¹ Give the merchant’s name exactly as it appears on the statement, the transaction date, and the disputed amount to the penny.

Attach copies, not originals, of anything that supports your position:⁴

Receipts or order confirmations showing what you agreed to pay
Shipping records showing a delivery failure
Emails, chat logs, or other written exchanges with the merchant
Photos of damaged goods or screenshots of advertised prices

For a math error, highlight the specific calculation on a copy of the statement. Keep originals and a copy of everything you send.

What Happens After You File

Two deadlines run from the day your issuer receives your notice. The issuer must send written acknowledgment within 30 days, unless it resolves the dispute entirely in that window. It must then complete the investigation and either correct the error or explain its decision within two complete billing cycles, capped at 90 days.⁴¹

While the investigation is open, you don’t have to pay the disputed amount or any finance charges and fees tied to it. You still owe the rest of your bill. If you dispute a $200 charge on a $1,500 statement, you owe $1,300 by the due date. Withholding more than the disputed amount can trigger late fees on the undisputed balance.⁵

Your issuer can’t report the disputed amount as delinquent to any credit bureau during the investigation, and it can’t threaten your credit rating over your refusal to pay the disputed charge. If the issuer rules against you, it must give you at least 10 days to pay before it can report the amount as past due.⁶ Your issuer also can’t close or restrict your account solely because you filed a dispute, at least not before it sends you the written investigation results.¹

If the Issuer Confirms the Error

When the issuer agrees a billing error occurred, it must remove the disputed charge along with any finance charges or late fees that flowed from it and send you written notice of the corrections.¹

If the Issuer Denies Your Dispute

If the issuer concludes the charge is correct, it must send a written explanation, state the amount you owe, and tell you when it’s due. On request, it must also provide copies of documents proving the debt.⁵ You don’t have to accept that outcome.

One option is a formal complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The CFPB forwards your complaint to the card issuer and requires a response. You’ll describe the problem, give account details, and can attach up to 50 pages of supporting documents.⁷

Unauthorized Charges Follow a Different Rule

If someone used your card without permission, that’s not a billing error in the ordinary sense. A separate federal provision caps your personal liability at $50 for unauthorized charges made before you notified your issuer. Once you report the loss or theft, you owe nothing for charges made after that point, and nothing at all if you reported before any unauthorized use.⁸ Call your issuer’s fraud line first; you can still send a written billing error notice to lock in the FCBA investigation timeline.

Quality or Service Complaints Against a Merchant

The FCBA also lets you assert claims against your card issuer when a merchant sells defective goods or fails to deliver what was promised. That’s different from a billing error dispute: the charge is accurate, but you have a legitimate complaint about what you received. The issuer steps into the merchant’s shoes.⁹

Three conditions apply:

You first tried in good faith to resolve the problem with the merchant.
The purchase was more than $50.
The transaction took place in your home state or within 100 miles of your mailing address.

The dollar and geographic limits drop out when the merchant is the same company as your card issuer, is controlled by the issuer, or obtained the transaction through a solicitation the issuer participated in. Your recovery is capped at the amount still owed on that transaction when you first notify the issuer.⁹

If the Issuer Breaks the Rules

If your card issuer ignores your notice, blows the 90-day resolution deadline, or reports the disputed amount as delinquent during the investigation, it forfeits the right to collect the disputed amount and related finance charges, up to $50, regardless of whether the underlying charge was valid.¹

You can also sue. For violations involving an open-end credit plan like a credit card, you can recover actual damages plus statutory damages of twice the finance charge involved, with a $500 floor and a $5,000 ceiling. Courts can also order the issuer to pay your attorney’s fees and costs, which is why a consumer protection attorney may take the case on contingency even when the disputed amount was small.¹⁰

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors
2
eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.13 – Billing Error Resolution
3
Federal Trade Commission. Sample Letter for Disputing Credit and Debit Card Charges
4
Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
5
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Regulation 1026.13 – Billing Error Resolution
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666a – Regulation of Credit Reports
7
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1643 – Liability of Holder of Credit Card
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666i – Assertion by Cardholder Against Card Issuer of Claims and Defenses
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1640 – Civil Liability