Help Centre - Personal Account
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What should I do if my balance is negative?

Your PayPal account balance could be negative for many reasons, such as:

• We issued a refund on your behalf to cover a dispute / claim from the buyer.
• You received a chargeback and did not have any available balance in your PayPal account.
• A payment that does not qualify for Seller Protection has been reversed.
• An unauthorised payment was made from your PayPal account.

If your account balance is negative, check your recent activity to find out why.

If you think your account shows an amount owing to us because someone used your account, report it immediately in the Resolution Center.

You can resolve your balance that shows an amount owing to us by logging in to your PayPal account and clicking the "Resolve Balance that Shows an Amount Owing to Us" link. You can choose the amount and how to add it, to bring your balance to zero.

Here’s how to mail us a cheque, a postal order, or a banker's draft:

  1. Make the payment payable to PayPal Inc.
  2. Write your name and the email address registered with PayPal on the payment.
  3. Send the payment to:
PayPal
EuropeP.O. Box
9473Dublin
15Ireland

Please note:

  • A cheque normally takes 7 working days (from the date we receive it) to be credited to your account.
  • A banker's draft or a postal order usually only take 2 working days to be credited to your account once we receive it.

Accounts paid by a personal cheque must remain in good standing for 30 days before the account can be reviewed.

While your account balance is negative, any payments you receive in your PayPal account will be applied to the outstanding balance, and any refunds you attempt will be funded by your primary bank.

If you don't resolve the balance that shows an amount owing to us within 120 days, your account will be locked, and you won’t be able to log in.

If your PayPal account balance is negative for an extended period of time, we may pass this debt to a collection agency.

The debt collection agency may contact you on our behalf. They’ll ask you to repay the amount owed, while providing you with a range of payment options. You may also be charged a fee by the debt collection agency. We urge you to work with this agency to resolve the matter.

More ways we can help

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