7.8 Reporting your credit card lost or stolen

Following on from the information in Section 7.5 ‘Keeping your credit card safe’ you should now realise that it is very important to know where your credit card is at all times.

The main reason for this is so that you can report it lost or stolen as soon as possible after the loss or theft has occurred.

If a credit card, such as Visa or MasterCard, is used by another person without your express permission, the extent of your liability is laid out in Sections 83 and 84 of the Consumer Credit Act.

To report your card lost or stolen you will need to contact the credit card company immediately. The details of the person to be contacted, including their name, address and telephone number, can be found in the written credit card agreement you received when the card was issued. If these details are not prominent in the agreement you will not be liable if the card is misused.

The quickest way to report your card lost or stolen will be by telephone. When you ring the credit card company you will need to choose the option ‘if you want to report your card lost or stolen’ from the menu that is given to you.

The number for customer services can be found in a number of places including the back of your card, on your credit card bills and on any other correspondence you have from the card provider. The number on the back of the card is going to be useless to you if your card is lost or stolen so one thing you can do is enter the phone number into your mobile telephone in case you ever need to report a lost or stolen card. This is especially important if you are going abroad as you are unlikely to have access to one of your bills or the internet to look up telephone numbers.

Once you have contacted the card company by telephone you may need to confirm the oral notice in writing within seven days. If a company requires this, the oral notice will only be valid if followed up by the written notice. Be sure to ask the customer service advisor if you need to do this or not.

Your card does not have to be lost or stolen in order for it to warrant you calling up customer services and telling them there has been a potential fraud risk.

If your details have been compromised in any way, you will need to make your card company aware or else risk being liable for any money stolen by fraudsters in the time it takes you to realise the theft has occurred and report it.

Once you have reported that your card has been lost or stolen you will not be liable for any future misuse of the card.

The credit card company will cancel your credit card once you have reported it lost or stolen and then issue you with a new one. The new card will normally get to you within 2-5 working days.

Whether or not your PIN will change will depend on the circumstances of the loss or theft.

If you think your PIN has been compromised and it is possible that it could be used in conjunction with your credit card, you will need to tell your credit card company who will then issue you with a new PIN number.

If you are certain that you PIN remains a secret, it will stay the same and can be used with the new credit card you receive from your card provider.

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