Sample Billing Dispute Letter

As you handle your debt, you may come across false charges on your credit card. Always check your bills for errors. Creditors sometimes make mistakes, and credit-card theft may have occurred without your knowledge.

If you discover a billing error, you should provide the creditor with written notice of the error. It could reduce your debt amount or take you out of debt completely.

Creditor Requirements in Billing Disputes

Written notice to most creditors forces them to comply with federal requirements in resolving billing disputes.

Some of these requirements place time limits on the creditor, such as:

• The creditor must acknowledge receipt of an error notice within 30 days
• The creditor must correct or explain an account within two billing cycles (90-day maximum)

Other requirements prevent the creditor from taking certain actions. Actions cannot happen until the creditor complies with the requirements of resolving a billing error claim.

The creditor may not:

• Close your billing account
• Make (or threaten to make) a bad credit report on your nonpayment of the debt
• Attempt to collect the amount in dispute

Send In a Written Notice for Billing Disputes

To trigger federal requirements, the written notice must provide the creditor with the following:

• Account identification information
• Identification of the specific bill (or bills) in dispute
• A statement that you believe the bill is in error
• The reason(s) why the bill is disputed

The notice must be sent within 60 days of getting the bill containing the error. You can use this billing dispute letter template: