Bill Payment Missed? How to Fix Bounced Checks, Missed Credit Card Payments, and Missed Utility Payments
You’ve always made your credit card payments on time since you got the card. However, life got in the way, and you realized you missed your last credit card payment. Missing a credit card payment never happened before, and you’re worried about how it’ll affect your credit. You know that the lender reports any late payments to the credit bureaus. You also know this can negatively impact your credit. This article will go over what happens if you miss your credit card payment, and how to minimize the damage. We will touch on missed checks and utility bills because they’re part of your life and can affect your credit. We will also talk about how you can prevent a bill payment missed from happening again.
What Happens if You Miss a Payment?
According to the Washington Post, more than 75 million Americans have debt in collections. This number amounts to over 30 percent of the people who have credit on file with the credit bureaus. These statistics all start one bill payment missed and spirals down from there. You can stop yourself from becoming one of these statistics by following this article.
Bouncing a Check
You use your checks to pay for everything because it is convenient. Perhaps, you thought you double checked your account, so you knew your balance. You remembered the incorrect balance and wrote a check for the amount you thought was in your account. The check bounced, and your bank sent you a notice of your bounced check.
What Should You Expect from Your First Bounced Check?
The first thing that can happen is the person or institution you wrote the check out to may not receive it. If the check bounces, a lot of banks won’t process the payment. They may also add a fee onto each bounced check. Your bank will charge you one of two fees as well. The fees are either an overdraft fee or an insufficient funds fee. These costs total out to around $32 each.
Bill Payment Missed – Credit Card Payment
Let’s say your credit card payment is due on the 20th of each month. The 22nd comes along, and you realize you haven’t submitted the payment. A bill payment missed on a credit card isn’t the end of the world if you correct it quickly. This section will outline what you should expect with your first missed credit card payment.
Please note that the time of day you make a payment can also cause a late payment. When making a payment online make note of the online payment cut off time.
What Should You Expect from Your First Missed Credit Card Payment?
The first thing you should expect after a missed payment is the possibility of a penalty fee being tacked on. The first missed payment fee is $27, and each subsequent missed payment after that is $38. The lenders can hit you will a higher APR rate, anywhere from 20 to 35 percent. The law requires lenders to send you a notice 45 days before your APR goes up. You have 60 days of the due date to make a minimum payment. If you fail to do this, the lender can then add the increased APR to your existing balance.
Bill Payment Missed – Utility Bill Payment
Life can get busy, and you can make out a payment to your utility company and forget to post it. If you don’t correct it, this missed payment can result in your utilities being shut off. It can also negatively impact your FICO score.
What Should You Expect for First Missed Payment on Your Utility Bill?
Your utility company will send you a notice of a bill payment missed. They may send a notice threatening to turn off your services if you don’t post a payment within a set period. Utility companies typically won’t report you to the credit bureaus for one missed payment. However, if you miss several, you will be reported to the collection agencies. These agencies will report you to the credit bureaus, and your score can decrease by several points.
How do You Correct a Bill Payment Missed?
If you find that you have a missed payment, post the payment as soon as you can.
Important: Catch any bill payment missed quickly. It can prevent it from being reported to any credit bureaus and ruin your credit score.
Rectifying a Bounced Check
You should deposit enough money to cover the bounced check and any fees. Do this as soon as you notice a problem, and don’t wait for a notice from your bank. If you have another account at the same bank with funds available, transfer them to your checking. This is the faster way to fix this issue. As soon as you cover the bounced check and any fees, call the bank or financial institution. You can request a one-time waiver of the additional fees.
Rectifying a Missed Credit Card Payment
If it is possible, call the company within 48 hours of the bill payment missed. Your credit card company could credit you the late payment fees. You should check to see if your credit card company has 24-hour customer service. If they do, call them and post the payment. You can usually pay online, or overnight it to the company as a last resort. Once you pay the missed payment, call the lender and request they waive your late fee. Be sure to ask them about keeping your APR rate the same as well.
Rectifying a Missed Utility Payment
Contact your service provider and ask for a payment arrangement or pay the bill in full. Make sure you don’t have any more missed payments and pay them on time. If you do this, you will continue to have service. You also won’t be required to pay a deposit on any future utilities.
Bill Payment Missed and how to Avoid?
You can avoid having missed payments by setting up alerts or reminders. These will go to your email or phone, so you know a few days in advance that the payments are due. You should also look into setting up automatic credit card bill payments. As long as you have money in the account they’re withdrawing from; you can set it and forget it. If your credit card due date is causing you to miss payments, call and request a different day. You should keep in mind that this due date change can take a few billing cycles to switch. Sign up for online banking to prevent missed payments. You will be able to check your balance and holds online or on your smartphone.
We are all human, and all prone to make mistakes. Missing a credit card payment or any payment isn’t the worst thing that could happen. If you follow the steps in this article, you can fix a bill payment missed. You can also prevent it from happening again by following the suggestions that are listed here. It’s your credit, and you have to protect it to ensure you have a good credit history.
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