Am I liable for fraudulent use of my bank card?

Q My Cahoot replacement card was sent to my previous address, as I had not managed to update my address details in time. The card, which was sent out in an active state, was fraudulently used and my account is now close to ?1,000 overdrawn. I instructed Cahoot to put a stop on the card as soon as I discovered this, however, I've been informed that only transactions within the last 60 days can be disputed and that I am now liable for all transactions prior to this time.

PJ

A Your letter struck a personal chord. I was unexpectedly sent a new chip and pin card, which was intercepted in the post and used fraudulently.

Thankfully, my bank queried the transaction the second time the card was presented for payment and put a stop on the card. But both this problem and yours could have been avoided if either bank used some form of validation system when posting out new cards.

Why don't the banks stop sending out activated cards and instead instigate a system that requires customers to call the bank and verify receipt of new cards? Could it possibly be because this would mean banks having to shell out for staff to actually answer those phone calls?

I'm afraid you are partially at fault here because you didn't update your address details with Cahoot, although as my own experience goes to show, cards can go astray even when sent to the correct address.

Cahoot's terms and conditions clearly state that the bank will charge a customer only ?50 of any fraudulent transactions made, provided he or she hasn't acted fraudulently or allowed someone else access to the account by acting without 'reasonable care'. This tends to mean not telling anyone your PIN or writing it down, not letting anyone else use your card, and so on.

But Cahoot might well argue that by not updating your address details promptly, you were careless with your account security and therefore liable for the loss.