Credit scores/ratings and late bills

ChillyWilly · February 2013

My wife and I recently got a couple of bills confused with each other and paid one when we should have paid the other. Now, one of our utility bills is going to be 3 days late (water/electric, if it happens to matter).

Now, knowing nothing about how credit ratings are composed and knowing that this will affect them in some way, what should we expect to happen to them? My wife was pretty distraught about the situation, but I don't know the ins and outs of such things enough to know whether to be worried about it right along with her.

Background: The bill is in both our names, neither of us have ever paid anything late in our entire lives and both of our credit scores are in the 700s (from all 3 of the major credit score agencies).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Daenris · February 2013

In all likelihood, a 3 day late payment is not going to have any impact unless your utilities company is a goose about it. The only way something impacts your credit report/score is if the company reports it to the credit agencies. For something that's only a few days late they're probably not going to do that. In the past I've had similar mix ups or lapses and paid things several days late and it's never shown up when I've looked at my credit reports.

ChillyWilly · February 2013

Then allow me to add this: I just called the utility company and they said they report delinquent bills to the credit agencies on the day it becomes a late bill.

So apparently, they are major geese.

FireWater · February 2013

Generally its after 30 days, they start getting antsy. However every company is different.

zerzhul · February 2013

Some places will report immediately when something is late, and then report again if it is paid off within a certain amount of time. Some credit reporting agencies will only bother factoring in payments to your credit score that are > 30 days late. As always, YMMV.

HeraldS · February 2013

If it were possible for one 3 day late bill to destroy an otherwise spotless credit record it wouldn't be a system worth having. Relax, take a deep breath, pay the bill, and follow up with your utility company and the relevant credit bureaus for some peace of mind. You'll be fine.

ChillyWilly · February 2013

Thanks for the messages, folks. While I wasn't freaking out, I have heard some horror stories about these simple kind of things turning out to be bigger issues than people thought they would. Perhaps this will reassure my wife.

Djeet · February 2013

It won't destroy your credit, but it would show up as an upto 30-day late pay unless there is some remediation between creditor and the CRBs (the late categories are all 30 day increments).

And the system isn't worthless, just incredibly hostile to credit consumers.

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