How badly will one missed payment going to collections hurt my credit score?

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.

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.

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).

credit karma has some kind of a simulator that might be of help. Look at it and see.

First thing to do is pay it, that will help

If you talk to the collection agency and promise payment, good chance the credit reporting bureaus will not even know it. And for $30.00, they just want it off the books

If it has not gone to court and there was no judgment, then the reporting bureaus do not even know it yet, they will only know if the collection company turns it in, so call them NOW and get it paid off

If by chance they do turn it in, you are entitled to add a statement of explanation that has to be shown to any company that runs your credit, and for $30.00 it is an obvious error, not intentional.

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.

Literally no one can tell you the exact damage. Your credit score is based on a proprietary formula with nearly 200 variables. Because we do not know the formula nor your full credit history, your question cannot be accurately answered.

i would call your credit card company and ask them this question