Reasons Your Credit Might Suffer: Late Payments
There are many reasons that your credit score might suffer over time. If you’re educated in how your credit score works, then you’ll understand that certain things can negatively impact that all important number. One thing that can cause your credit score to suffer is to make late payments on your debts. Late payments can greatly impact your score as the later you wait to pay your debts the lower your credit score may drop. Here we will discuss how to avoid (or mitigate) late payments.
Avoiding Late Payments
The best way to stop late payments is to be as proactive as possible. If you know that you’re about to be late with a certain payment, then take measures to prevent that from happening. Regardless of the creditor (be it for a credit card, utility bill or other unsecured debt) it is important to get in contact with them and to let them know you’ll be late with your payment. Once they know that you’ll be late, it’ll be easier to let them know how you plan to proceed. If you can only make a partial payment, it’s better than nothing at all. Make as much of a payment as you can and let your creditor know when you’ll be able to complete your payment.
In some instances, there might be too many payments to make at one time. If you get overwhelmed with payments, you might need to make certain changes to your spending habits. Monthly subscription services, recurring payments, credit cards and all can end up falling on or around the same time of a month. If this is the case, consider making less payments by eliminating any unnecessary recurring payments you may have.
Making Up For Late Payments
In the event that a late payment is unavoidable, do your best to make it up as soon as possible. Late payments stay on your credit record for years at a time, which can damage your overall credit score. Once you get your accounts up to date, look to make your monthly payments more manageable by following some of the advice found in earlier paragraphs.