Avoiding Late Payment Fees

Debt is fine, if you can manage it effectively, but that is something that a lot of people fail to do. It is the mentality of most to simply bury their heads in the sand if they have financial difficulties as opposed to either dealing with it or seeking help from  professional debt advice. In today’s world, lots of people have debt be it on store cards, credit cards or even personal / secured loans - it’s a way of life. Unfortunately for most, they do not keep track of what debt they have and are often only too happy to miss payments here and there and not worry about the overall consequences.

When it comes to missing payments, be it on a credit card, store card or loan, there are two major penalties. The first is the infamous late payment charge. Lots of people miss payments and end up paying significant charges and fees because of this which only leads to more and more debt. The second penalty and what I consider to be the most serious, is the mark on your overall credit report. If you miss a payment for a single month, it’s noted, but it’s not that serious. But, if you start missing payments on an on going basis, then your credit report and overall credit rating will suffer.

The best thing to do to avoid late payments is to make sure that all of your month to month outgoings are setup to use Direct Debit or a similar service. This way, the payment is always made automatically. Of course, you still need to have the funds in your bank account to cover the payments. If you don’t, you’ll end up incurring overdrawn fees from the bank itself - which can often be more than your credit card charges! If you’re in this situation, you need to consider debt management.