Occasionally you might notice a payment or transaction on your account that you don't at first recognise. There could be a number of explanations for this:

• The company that you made a payment to may have a different trading name. A quick internet search can often help with this, or alternatively take a look at our list of common trading names to see if the company showing on your account is listed there.
• Do you have a joint account? If so, could the other account holder have made the payment?
• Have you recently signed an agreement or contract with a supplier who has then charged you for a service?
• Have you signed up for a free trial that has then become a paid service? Monthly subscriptions are often set up this way.

Have you tried to contact the supplier in question? They might be able to explain the transaction or help you to resolve the problem. We're happy to look at your claim, but it's helpful for us to know of any contact you've had with the supplier beforehand and the outcome of this.

If you believe that the transaction is unauthorised, please contact us immediately and we'll do our best to help.

If you'd like to cancel a recurring payment, please contact us with the name of the company, the amount and the date of the last payment. We may also advise you to contact the company in question.

Please contact us with the name of the company, the amount, the date of the last payment and the details of when and how you cancelled the payment. We may be able to claim back any payments taken after that date.

Just let us know the name of the company and the date that the payment appears on your statement and we'll be able to look into it for you. To help us initiate the dispute, we'll need evidence or confirmation of what the price should have been (such as a receipt or order confirmation via email).

If you've made a purchase online or over the phone and the supplier has charged you twice in error, get in touch with us as we may be able to assist you.

When contacting us, please have the following information ready to hand:

• Transaction date
• Trading (merchant) name
• The amount you wish to dispute

If the agreed date for delivery of the goods has passed, please get in touch as we may be able to help.

So that we can assist you, it would be helpful for us to have a description of the goods or services and to understand what contact you have already had with the supplier.

If you receive goods that are different to what you ordered, we may be able to assist you. In order to do so, it would be helpful for us to have evidence that the incorrect goods have been returned by you to the company, and confirmation as to whether you have received a replacement from the company.

If you receive goods that are faulty or damaged, we may be able to help you get your money back. So that we can assist you, it would be helpful for us to have details of any contact you've had with the supplier, and to know if you've tried to return the goods.

If you receive goods that appear to be fake (and can provide evidence of this) then we may be able to assist you. It would be helpful for us to have evidence showing that the goods you've ordered are counterfeit.

If you receive a letter from Customs and Excise stating that your goods have been seized, we can use this as supporting evidence.

If you've ordered a free sample or trial from a company, you may have been asked to enter personal details to cover such things as postage and packing. However, the company could also have been asking for permission to take further payments from you (your agreement to which could possibly have been contained within their terms and conditions).

If you cancelled the agreement with the company before they took the payment, or if you wish to stop further payments, then please contact us. You may also wish to contact the company, as many are very helpful in refunding payments that have been made.

If you've noticed an extra charge from one of these suppliers, they may be able to provide a valid reason for the charge or provide you with a refund themselves. We may also be able assist you with this by raising a dispute.

If the available balance on your current account differs to your actual balance then it could mean that you have a pending transaction on your account. A pending transaction is a payment which has been authorised and removed from your available funds but hasn't yet been charged to your account. This could be caused by a Visa payment or cheque which is still being processed.

If it's a Visa payment, the transaction has been authorised and removed from your available funds but hasn't yet been charged to your account. Until the payment has been charged, this amount will not show on your statement – this will usually happen within 7 days of the transaction.

If it's a cheque, it will show on your statement as paid in on the day it is deposited in the account, but can take some time to clear. Whilst it's clearing, it will show in your account balance but will not be part of your available balance. To know exactly when your cheque will clear and become available, you can use our cheque clearance calculator.

So for example, if your available balance is £100, and your actual balance is £110, then you currently have a pending payment of £10 waiting to be charged to your account. This could be made up of any number of Visa transactions made within the last 7 days that are not on your statement, or any cheques paid in recently.

To begin your claim, download the Credit Card Visa Dispute form (PDF), fill in the details required and send it back to us along with the necessary evidence to help support your claim.

You'll need to provide a few pieces of information before we can process a Visa dispute claim. This will include some details about your account and the transaction in question, along with the reason for your dispute.

Please note: If the supplier or company challenging your claim is able to provide valid evidence to defend their position, any money that we have credited to your account may have to be re-debited and returned to the company.

Unpaid item fee – this applies when you’ve asked for a payment to be made from your account but don’t have the money available to pay for it, so the item is returned unpaid (or 'bounced').

Paid item fee – again, this applies when you’ve asked for a payment to be made from your account, but don’t have the money available to pay for it. In some cases, we’ll pay the amount on your behalf and charge you a paid item fee.

Unarranged overdraft fee – this applies when you borrow money without our prior agreement, for example by borrowing more than the amount available within your agreed overdraft.

For more information, including when you’d be charged a paid or unpaid item fee please read our Understanding overdrafts (PDF) and Current account rates and charges (PDF) leaflets, which you can also pick up from any Nationwide branch.