Dear Mary: Recently I made a credit card payment on time using online bill pay but later received a late payment fee and interest charge. I complained, and it was removed, but the woman on the phone told me to pay the account five days before the due date. Why? Because they don't "process" the payments necessarily on the day they receive them, even electronically! Where in the information are we instructed to make the payment at least five days ahead to avoid fees? — Lucy K., Tennessee

Dear Lucy: From what you tell me, it appears your creditor is in violation of the Fair Credit Billing Act of 1974, which regulates credit cards, also known as open end credit. Section 164 of the FCBA requires businesses that offer open end credit to credit all payments to your account on the date they're received. (They may post the payment on a later date if doing so would not cause you to incur any late fees.) Creditors are permitted to set some reasonable rules for making payments, such as setting a reasonable deadline (time of day) for the payments to be received if they are to be credited on the same date. You can read the FCBA online at www.ftc.gov.

If your credit card is issued by a national bank, you can file a complaint with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the federal office that regulates national banks. (National banks usually can be identified because they have the words "national" or "national association" in their titles or the letters "N.A." following their titles.) See "Filing a Formal Complaint" at www.occ.treas.gov/customer.htm for instructions. If your card is not through a national bank, contact the Federal Reserve Board (www.federalreserve.gov) to make your complaint.

Dear Mary: Is there a credit card that covers insurance when you rent a car in a foreign country? — Mary, e-mail

Dear Mary: Many credit cards purport to cover car rental insurance anywhere. (Visa Gold is one the last time I checked.) But I would not rely on this because, as you know, credit card companies can change their terms and conditions at will. At best, the deal is that they will reimburse you. So if you have an incident, you will have to come up with the money to pay the car rental company at the time you give back the car anyway.

Imagine yourself in a foreign country, most likely not fluent in the language, and you're shaken up from an accident. When you realize what the credit card company requires from you to make a claim for reimbursement (copies of police reports, damage estimates, etc. — the list is remarkably long), it is more than worth it just to pay for the local car rental insurance and chalk it up to part of the expense for your trip. Why ruin your trip this way? Just pay the excessive fees and forget it.

Do you have a question for Mary? E-mail her at [email protected], or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 17 books, including "Debt-Proof Living." To find out more about Mary and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.