How to Dispute a Billing Error

2/27/2025

Woman opening a bill in her living room.

It’s the end of another billing cycle for your credit card. As you do every month, you take out the statement and carefully examine its contents.

And you see something that’s not quite right. There’s a charge on there that you don’t recall. You review your receipts. You wrack your brain. You ultimately conclude that the charge is a mistake.

Now what?

The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) spells out exactly what you must do when you find such an error, and has the added benefit of requiring that creditors address the issue in a timely manner.

Respond to billing errors quickly

You have 60 days from the time the billing statement is sent to request a correction, so act quickly. After 60 days you’re going to have a much harder time getting your bill corrected.

Make your request in writing

A creditor may very well assist you over the phone (that’s good customer service, after all), but they are required by law to respond to a written request (assuming it’s within the 60 day time limit).

Draft and send your letter immediately. It’s also not a bad idea to send the letter through certified mail, so you can confirm that it was received.

Provide the required information

So what goes in the letter?

Per the FCBA, your written request must clearly identify the account in question, the disputed charge or charges, and the reason why these charges are in error. Keep in mind that the reasons don’t have to be complex – you can simply say, “I did not make this purchase” if that’s the case.

So that means your letter should include the following:

Your creditor account number
The vendor name, date, and amount of the disputed charge
The reason why you believe the charge in question is an error

To ensure that they have what they need to investigate, you should also include a copy of your statement with the letter.

Stay patient

The creditor has 30 days from the moment they receive the letter to respond, confirming that they’ve received the request. They then have no longer than two complete billing cycles to investigate the issue and either confirm that the charge is correct, or remove the erroneous charge and correct any additional charges (interest, etc.) that may have occurred as a result of the error.

Continue to monitor your account activity while the investigation is ongoing, but otherwise there isn't much for you to do at this stage.

Don’t withhold payment

Assuming there are other, legitimate charges on your account, don’t neglect to pay your bill. While the creditor is investigating the error your account is not frozen and you can still become delinquent if you fail to make required payments on legitimate debts.

Struggling with credit card charges? Do Debt Differently with MMI. Our personalized repayment plans can have you out of credit card debt in as little as 24 months. Begin your free analysis and see how much you can save.

Tagged in Creditor fees, Reducing expenses, Negotiating bills and fees

Jesse Campbell is the Content Manager at MMI, with over ten years of experience creating valuable educational materials that help families through everyday and extraordinary financial challenges.

Better Business Bureau

MMI is proud to have achieved an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), a nonprofit organization focused on promoting and improving marketplace trust. The BBB investigates charges of fraud against both consumers and businesses, sets standards for truthfulness in advertising, and evaluates the trustworthiness of businesses and charities, providing a score from A+ (highest) to F (lowest).
Financial Counseling Association of America

MMI is a proud member of the Financial Counseling Association of America (FCAA), a national association representing financial counseling companies that provide consumer credit counseling, housing counseling, student loan counseling, bankruptcy counseling, debt management, and various financial education services.
Trustpilot

MMI is rated as “Excellent” (4.9/5) by reviewers on Trustpilot, a global, online consumer review platform dedicated to openness and transparency. Since 2007, Trustpilot has received over 116 million customer reviews for nearly 500,000 different websites and businesses. See what others are saying about the work we do.
Department of Housing and Urban Development

MMI is certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide consumer housing counseling. The mission of HUD is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD provides support services directly and through approved, local agencies like MMI.
Council On Accreditation

MMI is proudly accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), an international, independent, nonprofit, human service accrediting organization. COA’s thorough, peer-reviewed accreditation process is designed to ensure that organizations like MMI are providing the highest standard of service and support for clients and employees alike.
National Foundation for Credit Counseling

MMI is a longstanding member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling® (NFCC®), the nation’s largest nonprofit financial counseling organization. Founded in 1951, the NFCC’s mission is to promote financially responsible behavior and help member organizations like MMI deliver the highest-quality financial education and counseling services.