The law requires that credit card holders receive a measure of coverage for packages that are lost or damaged. If a card does not have such coverage, you should look for another vendor. According to the Federal Credit Billing Act, if your card lender bills you for merchandise that has been lost, damaged, or stolen, you do not have to pay that bill.

If you end up being billed twice for the same merchandise, you don't have to pay that cost either. And if your credit card firm tries to force you to make payment, you have every right to file a complaint against that company. Complaints should be filed with the Attorney General or other appropriate authorities. If you receive a package that is damaged, and the merchandise is broken, you should not accept it and immediately contact the party that sold the merchandise. You must file a petition of reimbursement or replacement BEFORE you contact the credit card lender.

Insurance policies are provided by most credit card firms to protect you against damaged or lost merchandise. A few lenders impose the stipulation that the cardholder pays at least $50 if a damaged package is received in the mail. These kinds of stipulations are included in the card's terms and conditions rules. If damage occurs, you must write to the lender to explain the situation. You should ignore any fees charged for the package, if you have refused it; once you pay off the card with that bill attached, your rights decrease.

If the lender imposes a charge a month later, or if the lender adds the wrong date at which the item was bought and tries to charge higher or lower fees than the actual price of the merchandise, you do have protections under the law. If you have purchased something, but the seller does not deliver the product on the date that was stated, you can refuse to pay the charge, and if you did not agree to pay for products delivered to your home, you can refuse the charges as well.

You must know your rights under the law in regard to credit cards to avoid any problems. Because mail delivery is very unpredictable, you can never know if you are receiving what you ordered or if the product will be damaged or broken on delivery.

You must always collect evidence to prove your case. The best thing to do is get everything in writing. Make sure that you write your credit card lender to explain all the details of a situation and keep copies of your correspondence with the lender, as well as the lender's responses. Letter should be labeled 'billing inquiries' and addressed to that department. You should provide all of your personal information such as account numbers and send your letter promptly.

Get proof that you sent the letter too; mail is at a local post office and ask for a receipt. Creditors have 90 days from when they receive your letter to investigate the problem. Once the letter is in the hands of the lender, that lender cannot legally take you to court. They can use the disputed charges against the limits you have on your credit card, however.