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Reclaiming Credit Card charges

19 May 2009

Why has claiming credit card charges in 2009 become a lot easier?

Over the past 10 years or so, up until the beginning of 2009, consumers who kept their credit card account in good order by always staying within their credit limit and always making at least the minimum monthly payment would have seen interest as the biggest expense from their card provider. Those who are not so careful and regularly surpass their credit limit, or are late in making payments, were exposed to multiple charges that can be as high as £25 - £35. These credit card charges are designed to recoup the costs of the card operator's overall business and to generate a profit thereon, rather than simply recovering the cost to the provider of the limit breach which has been estimated as typically between £3 - £4. Profiting from customer's mistakes is arguably not permitted under common law, if the charges are justified as penalties for breach of contract, or under the Unfair Terms In Consumer Regulations 1999.

In the UK many consumers have made claims against their credit cards providers for the charges that they have incurred, plus interest that they would have earned had the money not been inappropriately deducted from their account. Reconciliation of such charges typically needs to be done by carefully auditing statements for the card account. For a quick assessment of what can be recovered you can use this useful calculatorCredit Card Charges Calculator

Until the beginning of 2009 claiming your credit card charges back was a difficult process as the credit card providers were doing anything they could to get out of paying their customers back. With mounting pressure from consumers the OFT and the FSA, claiming in 2009 has become a lot easier. Currently, if a consumer were to claim their charges back from the credit card company they may be able to achieve a refund of the difference between the OFT’s recommended amount of £12 and the amount they were actually charged. However with claims management companies such as challengeyour.com, you can claim back credit card charges in full. That's all charges including the £12 recommended amount plus approximately 30% interest by taking the claim down the legal route.