Have I wrecked my Credit rating?

[redddraggon]

Basically I have a credit card which I use to make purchases instead of my debit card, for security/safety etc. Every month on payday I pay it off totally, which has worked well for me. However because of Xmas my December pay day was about 10 days early, so I paid the card off relatively early. I'm a bit of a fool and tend to ignore the proper statements, I just pay it off every month and peruse the transactions online to make sure I'm not getting robbed.

Paying it off every month tends to mean I pay once per statement period, however this time I've paid it off, then continued to spend on it before the statement for that period has come out. payment window goes from 24th month to 24th month roughly, so In Decemeber I paid twice, (1st & 20th) but my January pay didn't come til Jan 30th, so I've been hit with a late fee and interest (which is fair enough as it was my ignorance that caused the issue).

Have I knackered my credit rating? I feel like a right idiot as it was my prompt paying off that's caused the issue.

[kalniel]

Have I knackered my credit rating? I feel like a right idiot as it was my prompt paying off that's caused the issue.

No. Giving them the opportunity to charge you interest won't hurt your credit rating much at all. You're not defaulting or anything.

[jackvdbuk]

as long as you pay off the minimum per month which you have, i would of thought it is OK?

[redddraggon]

as long as you pay off the minimum per month which you have, i would of thought it is OK?

Because I got paid early in December, I paid twice in December, but "nothing" in the January payment window.

[BobF64]

Over the years, I think I've missed payments 3 times in total, on 3 different cards.

As far as I know, it hasnt had any negative effect on me, at least not according to the credit reference agencies.

1 I just plain forgot, and Capital One got really really arsey with me.

1 was because I tried to pay it, but apparently the transaction failed and Barclaycard didnt notify me at all, and I only noticed when the next statement arrived.

And 1 was because I did what you did, and paid too twice in a month, and too soon for the next statement to include it.

[TooNice]

I don't think that a single missed payment is going to "wreck" your credit history badly, though the CC company might penalise you with a charge (it might be worth paying it back and notify them as soon as you can). Why not set a direct debit to pay the minimum required each month (if you don't want to pay in full in case something urgent comes up) and carry on topping it up with manual payments as you have been doing?

[tiggerai]

Have you called them to explain?? I would have thought talking to them would be the best bet.

You might have put a dent in it... but if you call up you might be able to get them to reverse it...

[Agent]

Almost all CC's will have a window in which you can pay and it won't alter your credit rating. I was in the same situation not too long back with my Tesco CC and got hit with a £12 charge.

I rang them and had a chat because I was looking at getting a short term loan. They quoted some figure like 60 days before they even flag it on your credit score, but of course this is likely to be different for every company. HSBC even reversed one of my charges when I (genuinely) didn't get the letter to pay it off.

Lessons learned though - set up a minimum payment via Direct Debit and then just pay off any extra you want. Takes a lot of worry off.

[Saracen]

....

Have I knackered my credit rating? I feel like a right idiot as it was my prompt paying off that's caused the issue.

IMHO, no, you haven't. As others have said, a single mistake is most likely going to be seen as that.

Do that persistently. however, and you sure won't improve it.

It is, of course, [possible that one mistake signals a change in circumstances and that money is tighter, so if I were you, I'd just be careful to keep things back on an even keel for the next few months. It'll then be a minor aberration in an otherwise (presumably) clean record, and of no real import at all. IMHO.

[Saracen]

....

Lessons learned though - set up a minimum payment via Direct Debit and then just pay off any extra you want. Takes a lot of worry off.

Very good advice. For most people anyway.

[redddraggon]

I've got it set up to pay the minimum amount now, I won't get mixed up like that again!

Will give HSBC a ring later and see if they reverse the charges, got to be worth a shot.

[peterb]

No, it won't and if you have a good payment record and you write and explain what happened, you may get the penalty refunded as a gesture of goodwill. Nothing (but the cost of a stamp) to lose by trying.

[scaryjim]

As others have said, one missed payment over the entire life of a credit card isn't going to stuff your credit rating. More than once I've missed a couple of payments on my card (before I did the sensible thing and set up a direct debit ), and it didn't stop me passing credit checks. Also definitely worth contacting them and asking if they'd be willing to waive the charges: I used to bank with HSBC and they were always very reasonable about that sort of thing with me, so well worth trying it.

[Galant]

Someone can correct me but I think there's actually chance you improved your score.

I haven't lived in the UK in a while but whilst in the USA I was rather frustrated to learn that you can improve your credit score by not paying everything off immediately. This is because although you prove yourself to be reliable, you don't bring them as much money as someone who pays progressively with interest etc. That being the case, a technique often used was to pay in self-imposed installments which demonstrated reliability but also profit potential.

[scaryjim]

I know that I didn't get an increase to my credit limit whilst I was alternately paying it all off or forgetting to pay at all, but since I've only been paying the minimum each month I have had an increase. Don't know if that's down to an improved credit rating or just my card company deciding I'm the kind of sucker they can make more money out of, though!

[Agent]

Someone can correct me but I think there's actually chance you improved your score.

I haven't lived in the UK in a while but whilst in the USA I was rather frustrated to learn that you can improve your credit score by not paying everything off immediately. This is because although you prove yourself to be reliable, you don't bring them as much money as someone who pays progressively with interest etc. That being the case, a technique often used was to pay in self-imposed installments which demonstrated reliability but also profit potential.

This is true in terms of 'keeping a bit of your card and paying it off later / over a period', as long as you pay the minimum amount. The OP is talking about missing that minimum amount though, which isn't ever going to help.