Tag Archives: late charges

Keeping Your Credit Alive During the Postal Strike

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The postal strike starting Friday is the most common way vast numbers of people destroy their credit. You have to remember that every debt that you signed for has a clause that states that the company is not responsible for sending you bills or statements. It’s YOU that’s responsible for paying every month by the due date!

Yes, most do send statements, but they don’t have to. Yes, many of your bills may be automatic payment from your account. But you have to get a list together of the bills that are not auto pay.

That’ll include your credit cards, maybe your cell bill, utilities, etc. In fact, credit card issuers love a postal strike. It’ll have a massive impact on their profits because they’ll charge you $30 to $40 the day after you missed a payment.

Call the 800 number on your credit card to get the date your payment is due and the balance, or minimum payment amount.

Make sure your cell bill is paid. The report to the credit bureau and can destroy your credit over a $40 or $50 issue. You can pay it at your bank or pay it at one of their retail locations.

Pay your utility bills, property tax installments, or insurance at your financial institutions as well. You just need the account number and they’ll be able to process it that day.

If you manually pay your vehicle payment to Ford, Honda, or whoever, you can drop it off at a dealership. They have a courier going to Ford Credit, Honda Credit or whoever once a day. Just make sure you get a receipt that you did drop it off. If it doesn’t get to your loan, you need proof you did pay it or you’ll never get your late charges reversed or your credit rating restored!

It’ll take you five minutes to list the bills you need to pay. If you don’t, saving that five minutes can cost you five to seven years of problems with your credit ratings! You should have this list and a plan on how to pay your bills anyway. In the Money Tools book, it’s one of the top 20 things that actually make you a financial adult!

I Didn’t Know – But You Need To!

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I would bet that the two fastest changing industries are probably the medical field and the world of finance and credit. What was true one month gets changed, amended, legislated, or moved around, in one way or another.

Over the last couple of days I came across a number of things that are brand new, and that we all need to know:

-Scotiabank has changed their credit card agreement. That means others have, or will, follow soon. Starting in September, if you miss, or are late, on three payments in any 12 month period, your rate will go through the roof. The statement I saw jumps it by 7%.

-The two-tier interest rate charges started in the U.S. and is now here. Along with that, you will no longer receive credit limit increases automatically. You will now actually have to OK them. And that’s a good thing. Almost none of us NEED a bigger limit. The card issuers will send you the limit offer and you can accept or decline. Of course, you can still contact them to request one, if you need to.

-Scam phone calls are something that happens to millions of people. But you can no longer rely on call display for the accuracy of the number popping up. With internet calling, fraudsters can now spoof phone numbers being displayed to read almost anything they choose. You THINK you’re getting a call from your bank, because that’s what it reads on the call display, but it’s not. Always, always, get their name and department, hang up, and call the number on the back of your credit or debit card. It is the ONLY way you know you are actually reaching your bank.

Millions of us deal with Shaw, as do I. But I found out two days ago how nasty they get with one month past due. My company pays the bill, but there wasn’t a statement in April. May got paid, June got paid, July got paid, but it was always dragging by a month. My fault – no doubt. But they simply went in to disconnect my internet one morning.

All companies love you when you pay – and I’ve paid them close to $30,000 over the years, but don’t care when there’s a slight problem – no matter what the reason. Media relations chose not to respond to my inquiry, but their computers can only tell I’ve dealt with them since September 2008, instead of April 1995. Whether it’s Shaw, your bank, or your mortgage company – they’re ruthless on any past due amount, no matter what the reason, track record, etc. So, as the kids say: Don’t go there.