Credit card usage is rising in the UK, with around borrowing increasing from £61.3 billion in January 2015 to £66.6 billion by the end of 2016.
Much of this has to do with the accessibility of financial products with specialist cards available to individuals with a poor credit history.
This has also increased the rate of lost or stolen cards, and with this in mind, it’s crucial that you take the necessary precautions to protect your money if you lose your credit card.
- Retrace your Steps Before Reporting the Loss
It’s crucial that you report the loss and cancel your credit card as quickly as possible, but before this you should take a moment to retrace your immediate steps and see if the card can be located.
The key is to do this with haste, visiting the last location in which you used your card and retracing the route as comprehensively as possible.
In most instances, this will probably result in your card been found, preventing the need to take further steps or cancel your account.
- Report the Loss and Protect your Finances
If your brief search does not yield results, the next step is to contact your service provider, report the loss and cancel your card.
You may be required to contact different numbers depending on whether you believe the card to have been lost or stolen, but the key is that you speak to the company urgently and alert them to the situation.
This will ensure that you’re eligible for any fraud liability protection associated with your specific card, which means that you will not owe anything in relation to the unauthorised charges that are made on a stolen card.
In most cases, you’ll need to share the last place in which you used the card, while it’s also good practice to request a new card at the same time.
- Update your auto-repayments
While this will protect you against any unauthorised costs or charges, you’ll also need to update any automatic payments associated with your credit card.
If you use your card to repay specific monthly bills automatically, for example, you’ll need to update the necessary businesses with the new account information as quickly as possible.
Remember, companies will continue to try and take payments from the original card, so updating this will prevent any missed or late repayments and accompanying charges.
If the next payment is due before you have time to arrange a placement card, contact your creditor urgently to explain the situation. From here, you can either change the payment date or organise an alternative payment method in the short-term.
