Lost Your Wallet? What to do Next..

 

 

Imagine this: You go down to our local grocery store to pick up a packet of milk on your way back home from work, and when you dip your hand into your handbag you find your wallet missing!

Now, you are breaking out in cold sweat because you have lost all your credit/debit card(s) as well as your PAN card. Panicking at times like these is natural, but good news is you can go about cancelling all your cards and retrieving them in a short span of time. The money in the wallet, however, is gone for good.

If you find your wallet missing, first things first, don't panic as it's not the end of the world. You may have lost the money, but you can still still straighten it out. Read on to know about a step-by-step process to check, cancel and replace all the contents of your wallet (except money!).

1. Cancel all your cards immediately

It matters little whether your card issuer is a public sector bank or a private sector bank, because you have to cancel all your cards at once as soon as you can. Calm down and make a list of the banks that you hold cards of. If you do not have their customer service numbers handy, go to their websites and find out the numbers one by one. Once you are sure you have the contacts numbers of cards issuers jotted down, it's time to start making the calls.

When you call them, mention/ask the following things clearly:

• That you have lost your wallet and your card was in it

• The date and approximate time of the incident

• Ask if any transactions have appeared on your card ever since

• Tell them to cancel your card immediately and apply for replacement

2. Wallet protection plans

The procedure mentioned above is the first thing you need to do if your wallet has gone missing, but needless to say, this is a time taking procedure that will take up at least half a working day if you have four or five cards. In the day and age that we live in today, you obviously would not like to spend a lot of time calling up your card issuers. A solution to this problem has been brought forth by service providers such as One Assist and CPP India which provide comprehensive assistance in the event of card loss.

In order to avail of such services, you need to be registered with them and pay them an annual subscription fee that may be around Rs 1,500-2,000 per annum.

In the event of card loss or theft, all you need to do is make a call to your wallet protection service provider and it will take care of blocking your cards on your behalf to prevent misuse. In case you find yourself in such a situation while travelling, they could even help you in settling your hotel bills and arranging a return ticket for getting back home. You would not have to worry about the replacement your PAN card or driving licence either as they go through the documentation required to replace the same for you even free of cost. While it is good to be optimistic and wish that your wallet will never get stolen, it is a good idea to sign up for such wallet protection plans. For a small sum of money you will be required to pay annually, you can be saved of a lot of hassle if you do happen to lose your wallet.

3. List out all your subscription services

These days, if you are an active netizen, chances are that you use your credit cards for a host of online services. It's a good practice to maintain an excel sheet of all your online subscriptions generally, and in the event of the loss of your credit cards, this list will seem like a boon. You still have to take the trouble of notifying these service providers though and may lose out on a subscription or two till you update the information about your new card.

4. Check your Cibil report

Even after you have cancelled all your active credit cards, it may be a good idea to pull out your Cibil report after 30 days of the date on which you lost your card. Once you receive this report, comb through it for any suspicious transactions or enquiries for loans or credit cards that you have not applied for after the incident. If you find anything at all that seems like a fraudulent transaction, notify both the concerned card issuer or lender and Cibil about it immediately.

CONCLUSION

Going through these steps are by no stretch of imagination fun things to do, but if you do happen to lose your wallet, they may come in handy and reduce your stress.