What to do when you forgot to send a payment on time

by Jen (February 13, 2008)

If you normally pay your bills on time, but once in a while you forget or something gets lost in the mail, many creditors appreciate a phone call about it so much that they will make a note on your account not to count it as a late payment and charge you the fees that go with that.

I call them and tell them what happened, and that the payment is already in the works and they should have it in their system within days. Then I ask if they could put a note in my account to overlook it this once, since a glance at my payment record will confirm I normally pay everything in plenty of time and have been a good customer. I can only think of one case where they wanted their late fee so badly they refused my request - I paid it and canceled the card. (Later they went out of business - go figure!)

Of course, if you habitually don’t pay on time, this may not work. If you have a record of late or skipped payments and you’re trying hard to correct it, I still recommend calling and asking what they can do to help you. Most creditors respond pretty well to someone trying to straighten up, and they may offer solutions you haven’t thought of.

If you have the money to pay your bills and your late payments are just a case of disorganization, set up a monthly draft from your bank account to each creditor, if at all possible.

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