Expert says knowing your right as a consumer is the key to solving credit problems

Financial expert Paul Dawnson has recently stated that knowing your right as a credit cardholder will help you address problems immediately.

Dawnson starts by relating what a signature means when affixing it to any credit card application form. He says that this is the basic stage at which rights of parties can either be waivered or protected.

He says that the signature affixed by an individual to his or her credit application form when opening an account at any financial institution means acceptance and understanding of the terms and conditions set forth.

With this, Dawnson reminds applicants applying for credit card accounts to fully understand and to be clear about the contract they enter into. This will help the applicant determine if they can carry out contractual obligations be realistically once their accounts are opened. Morgan says that this is also the best opportunity for the rights of the applicant to be fully explained in relation to the jurisdiction of the financial institution.

Secondly, Morgan assumes that upon signing the credit card application there are still other things to consider. This has to do with billing disputes. For instance, when a merchants charge a card holder for non purchased items, or for items that were not delivered or was delivered but damaged.

Dawnson says that when encountering these kinds of problems, the most important thing to know is non-payment rights for the consumer. Dawnson says that no cardholder is required to pay for disputed items and the charges or fees associated with them especially when billing disputes are being investigated by the credit card issuers.

In this case, Dawnson says that consumers must communicate in writing with their credit card issuer. This should happen within the first 60 days after receiving the billing statement that includes the disputed items. The letter should basically include the cardholder name, account number and a description of the problem and of course the action desired (refund, make sure the item is delivered, etc...).

The next thing to do, Dawnson says is to sign the letter and make personal copies for your reference. Most important are relevant, supporting documents like receipts and billing statements. He then advises to wait for an acknowledgement letter by the financial institution.

Doug Nicholas

Doug Nicholas, a financial consultant by profession with a Masters degree in International Business from Brown University, is also an ardent writer. Though he has a full time job at one of the companies listed on Wall Street, he does manage to squeeze in time to follow his passion. He puts his ideas to words in his articles related to finance and business.