Credit Card Refund Calculator

If your card issuer kept raising your limit while you were only ever making minimum payments, or gave you a card you could never realistically clear, the interest and charges you paid on that lending can be refunded. This page estimates what that refund could be worth and explains how the calculation actually works.

Estimate your credit card refund

In this guide

• When a credit card becomes a claim
• What a successful credit card refund includes
• A worked example
• Why the interest figure changed in 2026
• What the calculator cannot know
• Frequently asked questions

When a credit card becomes a claim

A credit card is not unaffordable simply because it is expensive. The complaint turns on the lending decisions: the decision to open the account, and — far more often — the decisions to increase your limit.

Under CONC 5.2A of the FCA Handbook, a card issuer must carry out a reasonable and proportionate creditworthiness assessment before opening the account and before each limit increase. An increase granted to someone already struggling — only making minimum payments, using the card for essentials, near the limit month after month — is exactly what those checks exist to prevent.

There is a second set of rules on top. Since March 2018, the persistent debt rules (CONC 6.7.27R to 6.7.40G) have required issuers to identify customers who have paid more in interest and charges than they have repaid of the balance over 18 months, prompt them to repay faster, and ultimately step in — suspending the card or restructuring the debt. A card that sat in persistent debt for years while the issuer did nothing but collect interest is the pattern a complaint is built on.

The signs that usually matter:

• Limit increases you did not ask for, granted while you were only making minimum payments
• A balance that sat close to the limit month after month, never really falling
• Using the card for essentials — groceries, fuel, bills — because your income did not cover them
• Paying more in interest each month than you were clearing off the balance
• Missed or late payments, or borrowing elsewhere to make the card payment

What a successful credit card refund includes

The Ombudsman's usual approach is to put you back in the position you would have been in had the unaffordable lending not happened. For credit cards, that normally means the complaint succeeds from a specific point — the unaffordable limit increase, or the account opening if the card should never have been granted. From that point:

1. Interest and charges are refunded on the portion of your balance above the last affordable limit. Interest on the part of the balance you could afford is not refunded.
2. Ombudsman interest is added on each refunded amount, from the date you paid it to the date of settlement, at the Bank of England base rate plus one percentage point for complaints referred from 1 January 2026 — currently 4.75%. See how redress is calculated.
3. Basic-rate tax (20%) is deducted from the Ombudsman interest element only — see tax on redress.
4. Your credit file is corrected — defaults and late payment markers linked to the unaffordable portion of the balance are removed.

If you still owe money on the card, the refund pays down that balance first, and only what is left over is paid to you in cash.

A worked example

Suppose a card was opened with a £500 limit and increased over the years to £6,000. The complaint succeeds in respect of the increases beyond £1,500 — the last limit that was actually affordable. The customer carried a balance of around £5,000 at 29.9% APR for four years before complaining.

• The portion of the balance above the affordable limit is £5,000 − £1,500 = £3,500.
• Interest and charges on that portion: £3,500 × 29.9% × 4 years ≈ £4,186.00 refunded.
• Ombudsman interest at 4.75% simple, averaged over the period: ≈ £397.67.
• Less 20% basic-rate tax on the interest element: −£79.53.
• Estimated total: ≈ £4,504.14 — paid against any remaining card balance first, the rest in cash.

The calculator above runs exactly this calculation with your own figures.

Why the interest figure changed in 2026

For nearly 25 years the Ombudsman added a flat 8% a year to redress awards. That changed on 1 January 2026: complaints referred from that date carry interest at the Bank of England base rate plus one percentage point, calculated as a weighted average from when the loss occurred to when redress is paid. Base rate has been 3.75% since 30 July 2026, so the current figure is 4.75%. The old 8% still applies to complaints referred before 2026, and as a penalty where a firm pays an award late. Interest on your refund explained covers which rate applies to you.

What the calculator cannot know

The estimate assumes a steady balance and a steady rate across the whole period. A real calculation works from your actual statements: the actual interest charged each month on the portion above the affordable limit, actual late and over-limit fees, and the actual dates each amount was paid — which also drive the weighted-average interest calculation. It also cannot know where the Ombudsman would draw the affordability line: you might say the £1,500 limit was affordable and the adjudicator might decide it was £3,000, which changes the refund substantially.

One situation changes the picture entirely: if the issuer has stopped trading, a complaint goes into the administration instead, and payouts can be a fraction of the calculated redress — see claiming when a lender has gone bust.

Frequently asked questions

Which limit counts as "the last one I could afford"?

The last limit at which you could make more than minimum payments without borrowing elsewhere or going without essentials. Be honest with yourself — the Ombudsman will look at your bank statements and credit file from the time, and the complaint succeeds from the first increase those records show you could not sustain.

The card was fine at first and only became a problem later. Can I still claim?

Yes — that is the most common shape of these complaints. The claim is not that the card should never have been issued, but that a specific limit increase should not have been granted. Enter that limit as your affordable limit and the calculator estimates the refund on the lending above it.

I only ever paid the minimum. Does that help or hurt my claim?

It helps. Persistent minimum payments are the clearest sign of the pattern the FCA's persistent debt rules exist to catch — see what is persistent debt. An issuer that kept increasing your limit while you paid the minimum has a hard time showing its checks were adequate.

How far back can I claim?

The usual limits apply: six years from the lending decision, or three years from when you realised (or should have realised) you had cause to complain — see how far back can I claim. Old limit increases are often still claimable under the three-year rule if you only recently understood the lending was unaffordable.

Do I need my old statements?

No. The card issuer holds the account history and must produce it when a complaint is made. Our guide to claiming without paperwork explains what to do if the account is old or closed.

Related guides

• Credit card claims hub
• Were your credit limit increases unaffordable?
• What is persistent debt?
• How redress is calculated
• Interest on your refund explained

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