Reclaiming Charges on your Credit Card
You may have heard about the thousands of customers who have been reclaiming unfair charges levied by their banks, but what about the charges imposed by your card issuer? The principles for claiming back credit card charges is the same as bank charges.
According to the Office of Fair Trading, a credit card charge cannot exceed £12, which is ample to cover any administration costs the issuer will incur as a result of a late payment or failed transaction. This should be outlined in your contract and/or statement. If you make payments on time you should never need to claim anything back but in case you do, here are some steps to follow.
If it's the first time you've missed a payment, and you can make it within a few days, your issuer may reverse the charge if asked. They tend to be more lenient than banks and recognise that everyone makes mistakes now and again. Call them and request for the charge to be removed, and you could be pleasantly surprised. It's in a card issuer's best interests to keep a good customer happy, so they will more than likely do as you ask.
If the issuer refuses your request – and if you make a habit of missing payments then they probably will – then you will need to look into whether your charges are lawful. As stated above, anything up to and including £12 is seen as acceptable, but if each charge incurred is more than this, you can take further action.
Contact your issuer again and ask them for a comprehensive list of charges for the last 6 years (maximum), stating that you think the charges imposed are unfair and you intend to look into it. By law the issuer must provide you with this list within 40 days, although they may charge you around £10 to do so – this is allowed.
Once you have your list, sit down and work out how much you have paid in charges. Call your issuer requesting these be refunded. If they refuse, put it in writing, and then follow this up with a phone call. Make sure you address it to the right department, send it recorded delivery, and keep a dated copy.
At this stage, your issuer has two weeks to respond. You may get a cheque or credit for the full charges, a partial refund, or a rejection. If you receive an offer of a partial refund you are not obliged to take it. Indeed, if you accept this, you cannot then try and claim the rest. If your request is rejected, write again and set a response deadline.
If this still doesn't work, you may have to consider the small claims court. Once again, write and inform your issuer of your intentions; sometimes the threat of a small claims court will be enough to make them refund your charges totally. If not, make good your threat; experience shows that the bank or issuer generally ignore small claims or call your bluff. If this happens, you can win by default. Provided you are sure the charges are unlawful, there is no reason why you cannot claim them back as long as you are willing to stand your ground.
Your credit card issuer will be made to pay any charges if they do not respond within 14 days. If you think the charges on your credit cards are unfair, consider switching. You can transfer your balance to 0% credit cards which may have lower charges. Look online for details.
About the Author: J Tillotson is a financial author in the UK
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Print Article | Download PDF | 17 views | Jul 16 2008
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