Six months after a charge, most people assume the door is shut. Here's the honest picture: through standard card-network rules, six months (~180 days) is usually past the ~120-day filing window — so a routine dispute will likely be declined as late. But "usually" isn't "always." Three real exceptions can still give you a path, and it's worth checking each before you give up.
Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover publish dispute windows of up to ~120 days from the transaction date. At 180 days, you're about two months past that in the ordinary case — wrong amounts, duplicates, subscriptions that kept billing, and goods that arrived defective. The US 60-day federal written-notice window (FCBA) is even further behind you.
So if yours is an ordinary "the charge was wrong" case from six months ago, a network chargeback will probably be rejected as out of time. That doesn't mean you have zero options — it means you need one of the exceptions below, or a non-network route.
The most powerful exception for late disputes. For goods or services that never arrived, card-network rules start the ~120-day window at the expected delivery date — not the payment date — capped at 540 days from the transaction.
Example: you paid a contractor a deposit in March for work scheduled in August, and they vanished. Your window likely runs ~120 days from August, which means at the six-month mark (September) you could still be in time. The key is documentation: you need evidence of the promised delivery date — a contract, order confirmation, or written messages.
Enter your transaction date and expected delivery date — we'll compute the real window for non-receipt cases.
If the purchase was made on a UK credit card, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 may apply — and it allows claims up to 6 years from the breach of contract or misrepresentation, for purchases of £100–£30,000.
This is not a chargeback; it's a legal claim against your card provider, who is jointly liable with the supplier. The bar is higher — there must be a genuine breach of contract or misrepresentation, and the price thresholds must be met — but six months is well within the limit. If your situation fits, this is often the strongest route available.
Some issuers will submit a dispute past the published window for discretionary review by the network or the merchant's bank. Acceptance is not guaranteed — it's the exception, not the rule — but banks are more receptive when:
Frame it as a request, not a demand: "I understand the standard window has passed; I'm asking whether a late review is possible given these circumstances."
Usually not through standard card-network rules — ~180 days is past the typical ~120-day window. But check the delivery-date exception, UK Section 75 (up to 6 years), or ask your issuer for a discretionary late review.
In most cases, yes. The published network windows run about 120 days from the transaction date. The main exception is non-receipt disputes, where the window starts at the expected delivery date (capped at 540 days from the transaction).
Banks sometimes submit late disputes for discretionary review, but acceptance is far from guaranteed. Your chances improve significantly if a documented exception applies, like a late delivery date or a UK Section 75 claim.
Check the delivery-date rule, consider a UK Section 75 claim if eligible, request a late review in writing, escalate with a formal complaint (CFPB in the US, Financial Ombudsman in the UK), pursue the merchant directly, or consider small claims court.
Yes — Section 75 of the UK Consumer Credit Act 1974 allows claims up to 6 years from the breach or misrepresentation, for credit purchases of £100–£30,000. It's a claim against your card provider, separate from chargebacks.
