Does Disputing A Credit Card Charge Hurt Your Credit Score?

If you see an inaccurate credit card charge on your credit report, a fraudulent charge that you didn’t make, or any billing errors, you can report and dispute the charge with your credit card issuing company. If they determine that the charge was indeed incorrect, they will correct it on your report.

What type of credit card charges can be disputed?

You can dispute:

• Credit card charges that you didn’t make
• Charges that are incorrectly billed
• Charges that are showing incorrect information
• If someone has stolen your credit card information to make a purchase, you can dispute such charges too

Does disputing a credit card charge hurt your credit score?

If the dispute is genuine and the credit bureau corrects it, it will have a positive impact on your credit report. If the charge is correct and no change is done to your credit report, then it will have no impact on your credit score. However, the dispute request will show up on your credit report.

Disputing a credit card charge does not harm your credit score, but the credit card issuer can add a note to your credit report showing that the account is currently under dispute. Filing a dispute actually does not have any effect on your credit score but the outcome of the dispute might.

Points to Remember: Credit card companies usually give you about 30 days to dispute a charge. This policy varies with the credit card company. Once the dispute has been accepted, it will take about 30 – 45 days for your credit report to be updated and show the correct information.