How Long Does A Late Credit Card Payment Stay On Your Credit Report?

A credit report includes your credit history, repaying method, spending structure, credit score, financial health, etc. All these features are directed toward your credit health, if you have been a continuous credit card user, you have been given a credit score for the same. The credit report is something that makes your credit card issuer or lender build trust in you.

Any delays in credit card payment, be it on a credit card bill or a loan EMI, can impact your CIBIL score badly. This also gets mentioned in your credit report. The credit score or CIBIL score you have decides your financial future. These late payments being recorded can also impact your chances of qualifying for future loans.

There is no set rule for late payment, it depends on your lender. The banks usually have per-month payments or EMIs which they take as a form of payment. These payments are to be made punctually which can be pretty tiring as well to remember all the dates.

How long does a late payment stay on the credit report?

Late payment remains on your credit report for at least 7 years from the delinquency date. For example; if you had a late payment in April 2016 and bring your account to current on May 2016, then the late payment will be removed from your credit report in April 2023. This happens after seven years after it was initially reported.

In case you have two or more late payments then it will apply to the payments in the same way. After seven years from the day of delinquency, your report will drop the late payments.
We can also say that whatever we do with our credits and tools is mentioned on our credit report for seven years.

How do late payments affect credit scores?

There is a different impact of late payments, depending on the person’s profile and the reason for the late payment. However, certain rules for late payments are general for everyone and can help you determine the severity of the impact.

• The first impact happens when delinquency is first introduced. This first report has the largest impact on your credit report. The longer the delinquency stays on the account, it stays and ages and the impact might start to fall off.

• The longer the delinquency remains on your account will have a more negative impact on the score than a shorter one. For example, if one has two delinquencies one for 90 days and another one for 30 days, the 90 days delinquency will hurt your scores more than the other one.

• The number of delinquencies on the reports also makes a significant impact on your credit history and score. The more delinquency you have, the more negative impact it will make on your scores.

Each credit bureau has its own set of rules to evaluate your information and assign you a score. And your credit score also may vary from one credit bureau to another. In India, there are some bureaus such as CIBIL, Equifax, Experian, CRIF Highmark, etc. Out of these, the most popular bureau is CIBIL.

Can anyone remove the late payments from the credit report?

Not in a certain manner but yes you can try to get your late payments removed. The most important part is to pay the outstanding amount first. But yes, in case you wish to get your late payments removed from your credit report, you can try doing so. Here are a few methods which you can try to remove the late payments –

• Negotiate – You can try to negotiate with your lender regarding the payments. If you have been with the lender for a long period, maybe you can try convincing the lender to remove the late payment. Maybe you will have to pay the whole amount in full or you can try for partial settlements. And if they did agree to remove it from your history, make sure to have it in writing.

• A goodwill letter – Try writing a goodwill letter to your lender. Although there is no guarantee that the letter will work. You can still try and explain your situation as to why you were unable to make the payments on time and try and explain your history. This method can work if you have a history of making payments on time. But otherwise, don’t count on it much.

• Dispute error on your credit reports – If you have any payment which is marked as late, you can also raise a dispute regarding the same. You have the right to challenge the lender in case of any error found in your credit report.

In any case, it is better to avoid late payments. This will help you avoid all these hassles. If it is troublesome to remember the dates, you can try for autopayments and even set reminders for the same.

Conclusion

Credit cards are very important nowadays but you can only get the best in the market with a good credit score. In case you have any delinquency marked in your credit report, this might take your chances of qualifying for a loan and financial help from a financial institute. Although you can try and ask for your lender to give you a way out and remove the late payment from your report, you can never be sure whether they will do so or not.

The credit report is impacted for 7 years and has your late payment mentioned on it the same way. This makes your score impacted to a very good length and makes you not so promising candidate to give a loan to. Rather than going through all the hassle, it is much easier to schedule autopay and make timely payments.

Although if you are a first-time offender, sometimes the lender can help you remove it from the credit. And there can be other reasons as to why you are unable to make the payment, but this will have to be conveyed to your lender.