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How to dispute a credit card charge: billing errors, the 60-day deadline and what the issuer must do

To use your federal billing-error rights, send the card issuer a written notice that reaches it within 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the error. The issuer must acknowledge it within 30 days and resolve it within two complete billing cycles, and never more than 90 days, and it cannot collect the disputed amount or report it as delinquent in the meantime.

Compiled from official sources Published Oct 11, 2026 Last reviewed How we research
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Contents10 sections

Key takeaways

  • A billing error notice must be in writing and reach the issuer's billing-error address within 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the error.⁠1
  • The issuer must acknowledge your notice within 30 days and resolve it within two complete billing cycles, and in no event later than 90 days.⁠1
  • Until the dispute is resolved you need not pay the disputed amount, and the issuer may not try to collect it or report it as delinquent.⁠1
  • For problems with goods or services, you can assert claims and defenses against the issuer after a good faith attempt to resolve the problem with the merchant, generally when the purchase exceeded $50 and was made in the same state as your current designated address or within 100 miles of it.⁠3
  • Purchase protection and return protection are card benefits with their own claim rules and limits; they are separate from your legal dispute rights.⁠6⁠7

A double charge, a refund that never posted or an order that never arrived can all be fixed through a procedure set by federal law. The Fair Credit Billing Act, part of the Truth in Lending Act, whose billing-error section is 15 U.S.C. 1666, and its rule in Regulation Z at 12 CFR 1026.13 set out what counts as a billing error, how you must raise it and what the issuer must do by when.⁠1⁠2 A separate rule, 12 CFR 1026.12(c), covers disputes about the quality of what you bought.⁠3 This article walks through both and explains where card benefits such as purchase protection fit in.

What counts as a billing error

Regulation Z lists seven kinds of billing error.⁠1

  • A charge for credit not made to you or to someone with actual, implied or apparent authority to use your card, such as a charge by a thief.⁠1
  • A charge not identified on the statement as the regulation requires.⁠1
  • A charge for property or services you did not accept, or that were not delivered as agreed.⁠1
  • The issuer’s failure to credit a payment or other credit properly, such as a refund.⁠1
  • A computational or similar accounting error by the issuer.⁠1
  • A charge for which you ask for more clarification, including documentary evidence.⁠1
  • The issuer’s failure to mail or deliver a statement to your last known address, if it received that address in writing at least 20 days before the end of the billing cycle.⁠1

Unauthorized charges also fall under a separate liability cap, explained in who pays when someone uses your credit card without permission.⁠3

The 60-day written notice

A billing error notice is a written notice that the issuer receives at the address it discloses for billing errors no later than 60 days after it transmitted the first periodic statement reflecting the error.⁠1 It must let the issuer identify your name and account number and, to the extent possible, state that you believe there is an error, why, and its type, date and amount.⁠1 The statute also lets an issuer refuse a notice written on a payment stub, if it says so in its disclosures.⁠2

The Federal Trade Commission’s advice follows from these rules: use the address for billing inquiries, not the one for payments; include your name, address, account number and a description of the mistake; send copies, not originals, of supporting receipts; and keep a copy of your letter.⁠5 Sending it by certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof of what the issuer received.⁠5 A phone call alone does not meet that definition, which requires a written notice received within the 60 days.⁠1

What the issuer must do, and by when

Issuer deadlines after receiving a billing error notice, 12 CFR 1026.13(c)
Step Deadline
Written acknowledgment Within 30 days of receiving your notice, unless the issuer has already resolved it⁠1
Resolution Within two complete billing cycles, and in no event later than 90 days⁠1
Payment of any amount still owed Not reportable as delinquent until the grace period or 10 days, whichever is longer, has passed⁠1

If the error happened as you said, the issuer must correct it, credit the disputed amount and related finance or other charges, and send you a correction notice.⁠1 If it concludes, after a reasonable investigation, that there was no error or a different one, it must send a written explanation of its reasons and, if you ask, copies of documentary evidence of the debt.⁠1

When the issuer decides you owe some or all of the amount, it must promptly tell you in writing how much and when payment is due.⁠1 If you write again within that payment period to say part of the error is still in dispute, the issuer can report the amount as delinquent only if it also reports that the amount is in dispute, tells you in writing who received the report, and later reports the outcome to the same recipients.⁠1 An issuer that fails to follow these rules forfeits its right to collect the disputed amount and any finance charges on it, though the forfeited amount may not exceed $50.⁠2

What the issuer cannot do while the dispute is open

Until the error is resolved, the regulation sets these rules.⁠1

  • You need not pay, and the issuer may not try to collect, any part of a required payment that you believe relates to the disputed amount, including related finance or other charges.⁠1
  • If you are enrolled in the issuer’s automatic payment plan and pay by periodic deductions from your deposit account, it may not deduct any part of the disputed amount or related charges if your notice arrives up to 3 business days before the scheduled payment date.⁠1
  • The issuer may not make or threaten an adverse credit report, or report the amount or account as delinquent, because you did not pay the disputed amount.⁠1
  • It may not accelerate the debt or close or restrict the account solely because you used these rights in good faith.⁠1

The issuer can still collect the undisputed part of the bill, count the disputed amount against your credit limit and show it on your statement, as long as it tells you that payment of the disputed amount is not required while it complies with the rule.⁠1

Disputes about quality: claims and defenses

A billing error is about the bill. When the problem is the purchase itself, such as a defective item the merchant will not fix, 12 CFR 1026.12(c) lets you assert against the card issuer the claims (other than tort claims) and defenses you have against the merchant, and withhold payment up to the amount of credit still outstanding for that purchase plus related charges.⁠3 While you withhold payment under this rule, the issuer may not report that amount as delinquent until the dispute is settled or a judgment is rendered.⁠3

The right has conditions. You must first make a good faith attempt to resolve the problem with the merchant, the purchase must exceed $50, and it must have taken place in the same state as your current designated address or within 100 miles of it.⁠3 The amount and distance conditions do not apply when the merchant is the card issuer, is controlled by or controls it, is under common control with it, is a franchised dealer in its products, or got the order through a mail solicitation the issuer took part in.⁠3 The amount you can assert is limited to the credit outstanding for that purchase when you first notify the issuer or the merchant of the claim.⁠4

Dispute rights versus purchase and return protection

Purchase protection and return protection are card benefits, not legal dispute rights. They pay under the benefit’s own terms, limits and time windows, whether or not there is any error on your bill.⁠6⁠7

  • Purchase protection. On the Chase Sapphire Preferred, it “covers your eligible new purchases for 120 days from the date of purchase against damage or theft up to $500 per item,” with a 90-day coverage period for New York residents.⁠6 A purchase that was billed correctly and later broken or stolen is not one of the billing errors listed in Regulation Z; this benefit can cover it.⁠1⁠6 See the purchase protection page for every card that lists it.
  • Return protection. American Express says that if you try to return an eligible item within 90 days of purchase and the merchant won’t take it back, it may refund the purchase price up to $300 per item and up to $1,000 per Card Member account per calendar year.⁠7 The merchant must have denied an attempted return, and you call within 90 days of the purchase date to start the request.⁠7 Among the cards on this site, Amex lists it for the Platinum Card and Blue Cash Preferred.⁠8 The return protection page compares other issuers’ terms.

A merchant’s refusal to take back an item you accepted is not one of the billing errors listed in Regulation Z, while a charge for something not delivered as agreed is, and a written notice within 60 days puts the issuer’s deadlines in motion.⁠1

Steps to dispute a charge

  1. Contact the merchant if the problem is the purchase

    A good faith attempt to resolve it is required before you can assert claims and defenses against the issuer.⁠3

  2. Find the billing-error address

    The notice must go to the address the issuer discloses for billing errors, which the FTC notes is not the address for payments.⁠1⁠5

  3. Write within 60 days of the statement

    Your notice must reach the issuer within 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the error, with your name, account number and the type, date and amount of the error.⁠1

  4. Pay the undisputed balance

    The issuer can collect the part of the bill you are not disputing.⁠1

  5. Watch the issuer’s deadlines

    Expect an acknowledgment within 30 days and a resolution within two complete billing cycles, and no later than 90 days.⁠1

  6. Escalate if needed

    If you disagree with the result, the FTC suggests writing to the issuer within the time it gives you for payment or 10 days of getting its explanation, whichever is later, and filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.⁠5

Cards in this article

Sources

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