Last december I changed power companies, then life drama came (and subsequently went) and I forgot to pay the final bill. I was never notified of the outstanding payment (<$30 )or I would have made good. Now they sent the bill to a collections agency. I will gladly pay the bill, but I want to know how bad this is going to hurt my credit score .
Anonymous
Favorite Answer
If you have bad credit, one more collections isn't going to hurt much more.
If you have good credit, you can easily see a 150 point drop. A collections is the next worse thing to a BK that you can do to your credit. With the latest FICO model, medical collections are no longer included but there are a variety of FICO scores out there for different industries, don't know if they all exclude medical collections.
curtisports2
First, pay the bill plus any additional charges that may have been added, but get a statement from the creditor (which may be the collections agent) to the effect that your payment satisfies the matter in full.
Send a copy of that statement along with your concise letter (leave out the drama) explaining the situation, to the three big agencies. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. For under $100, your score won't be severly impacted and providing the info may shorten the time of impact.
Because so many different things go into a score, no one can tell you with any accuracy how much impact or for how long.
Steve D
Do two things - call the collection agency and make arrangements to pay immediately (this may forestall reporting in which case, you should not get hit at all). next ask them which credit bureau they report to (you can also ask nicely since you are paying immediately not to report it, although they are under no obligation to grant your wish). then go to annualcreditreport.com and pull that bureau's report to see if it has hit (if it has, there is not much that you can do except add a statement which may or may not be taken into account when new creditors pull your report).
P
It's highly unlikely this utility bill has hit your credit, since it's not normally a debt that would hit your credit until they file something on you in court. Pay the bill along with any late fees as soon as possible and it will go away forever. Just make sure you are sending the payment to the correct party. These things usually have to be coordinated through the collection agency at this point otherwise the payment may not be counted.
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i would call your credit card company and ask them this question