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A debt payment that's just one day late won't appear on your credit report and therefore will not affect your credit scores. However, you may face late fees, increased interest rates or other penalties.
A One-Day-Late Payment Won't Affect Your Score
A payment made one day late—or even a few days late—may be subject to a late fee from your lender, but it won't be reported to the national credit bureaus as delinquent. (Creditors may notify the three national credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion and Equifax—of a delinquency when a payment falls 30 days or more past due.)
Since payments overdue by fewer than 30 days aren't reported to the credit bureaus, they do not appear on your credit reports, and therefore cannot affect your credit scores.
What Happens if You Miss a Payment by One Day?
Many lenders and credit card issuers impose late fees when payments are received after their due dates. Some may allow a few days' grace period after the deadline, while others charge fees as the due date passes. The amounts of these fees varies by lender, so check your lending agreements to see how much you can expect to pay.
Lenders may also apply late penalties in the form of interest rate hikes: Missing a credit card payment by even one day could be grounds for canceling a low or 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR), for instance. A pattern of late payments could also trigger a penalty APR higher than your regular interest rate. Consult your loan contract or credit card agreement for details on potential late penalties.
When Are Late Payments Reported to the Credit Bureaus?
It can take several weeks for lenders to report delinquencies to the credit bureaus and for your credit reports to be updated to reflect them. Lenders report payment status using a coding system that indicates an account is "current" if its most recent payment was on time or if it is late by up to 29 days. After a payment is 30 days late, it is coded as delinquent—a consequence you can avoid by covering the payment anytime during the 29 days following a missed payment deadline.
Learn more >> When Do Late Payments Get Reported?
How Do I Know if There's a Late Payment on My Credit Report?
To check for late payments on your credit reports, you must first obtain a credit report. You can check your Experian credit report for free or get free reports from all three national credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) at AnnualCreditReport.com.
Reports from each bureau are formatted somewhat differently, but each lists your credit accounts (credit cards, mortgages and other installment loans). Within the entry for each account is a section headed "Payment History." Any payments listed as delinquent—overdue by 30 days or more—during the last seven years will be recorded there.
Learn more >> Understanding Your Experian Credit Report
How Long Do Late Payments Affect Your Credit?
Delinquencies are considered negative entries on your credit report and, like most negative credit events, they stay on your credit reports for seven years, during which they will tend to lower your credit scores.
Credit reports may reflect delinquencies that are overdue in 30-day increments, typically up to 180 days. The faster you bring your account current, the better for your credit scores. Accounts overdue by 120 to 180 days are typically considered charge-offs by creditors and may be turned over to collection departments or agencies; accounts listed in collections on your credit reports also can hurt your credit scores.
As long as they appear on your credit reports, delinquencies and collection accounts can reduce your credit scores, but the severity of their impact lessens over time. Putting late payments behind you and avoiding them in the future can help lowered scores begin to recover.
What to Do if You Miss a Payment
If you miss a debt payment by a day or two, you can limit the damage and maybe even avoid repercussions if you act quickly.
- Pay the bill immediately. Call your creditor or go online to make a payment right away. Mailing a check after you've missed a payment deadline could put you at risk of processing delays and even going 30 days late and incurring a delinquency.
- Ask for a break on the late fee. Once your payment is confirmed, contact your creditor's customer service line and ask if they can waive the late payment penalty. Lenders are not obligated to do so but many will agree, especially if you have a history of on-time payments and you're only a few days late.
How to Avoid Late Payments
Here are some tips for avoiding late payments that can spare you anxiety and late fees.
- Enable automatic payments. It's quick and easy to enroll in autopay. Using your lender's online dashboard or smartphone app, you simply set up a link between the account and your checking account, and specify if you want your minimum balance paid automatically each month or a larger amount. (If you specify the minimum, you can always log in manually later and make a supplemental payment.) As long as you always maintain sufficient funds to cover them, autopayments prevent late fees and may even save you money, as many lenders offer interest-rate reductions to autopay customers.
- Set alarms, alerts and reminders. You can use your favorite calendar app to issue reminders a week or several days before a bill is due, and many lenders also offer text message or email alerts to remind you when your statement is available and before your bill is due. Scheduling reminders a few days before your due date can give you time to check your account balance before you make a payment.
- Organize your payment due dates. By default, payment due dates are often based on the day of the month you opened your account, but most lenders will let you change your due date to something more convenient if you ask. Setting up due dates to coincide with your paydays (and resolving to pay your bills before you spend on other things) can help you avoid late payments and simplify your budgeting.
The Bottom Line
Taking steps to avoid missing a debt payment by even one day can prevent late fees and reduce the risk of going even longer without a payment and slipping into delinquency. Payment history is the most important factor of your credit scores, and steady timely payments can help scores improve over time. You can see where your credit stands today by getting your credit score for free from Experian and checking it regularly to track your progress.
