According to Experian, one of the credit reporting companies, making payments on time is the best way to have a good credit score. Therefore, having late payments will negatively affect your credit score, but whether or not it will be completely ruined depends on the overall payment pattern.
One-Time Incident
One late payment mixed in with several years of timely payments will not destroy your credit. If the payment is just a few days late, the credit issuer may not even record the payment as late on your credit report. If the payment was between 30 and 60 days late, it will be recorded but you can try writing a goodwill letter asking that it be removed based on your record of good payment both before and after that incident.
Habitual Late Payments
Habitually making late payments on multiple accounts will go a long way toward ruining your credit score. If you find yourself constantly paying all your bills late, you may want to consider setting up automatic payments through your bank or through the companies you are paying late. This will help to begin rebuilding your credit score, but remember that those late payments will stay on your report for seven years.
Extremely Past Due
While one payment made 30 days or so late will not destroy you, having an account that is more than 90 days past due will be extremely detrimental to your credit score. If you know that you will not be able to make a payment within 90 days, contact the company and ask them for an alternative payment plan.
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