Making minimum monthly payments?

Question

Due to a unexpected emergency 4 months ago I fell behind in my monthly bill payments, before the emergency I always had excellent credit. Until I can catch back up I am sending in small payments to each creditor that is less than the requested minimum payment will this prevent them from sending my account to a collection agency?

Answer 1

a lot of credit card companys will work with you if you have had a hardship/i would call their customer service and ask. even though you are making some pymnts they are probably jacking up your interest rate as high as they can and charging more fees then you realize

Answer 2

Contact the creditors and let them know what you are trying to do.  Ask them if they will work with you.  Be up front and give them a time when you think you will be able to be current. Do not ignore the letters or phone calls from them.

When all are back up to speed you should try to get them paid off so that you do not have this problem in the future. Pay the smallest off first and then take the amount you were paying on that one and add it to the payment you have on the next smallest.

Start trying to put a few $$ aside for emergencies. Even if it is just $5-10 per pay period. Over time that will add up. When you have an emergency you will have some $$ to help pay for emergency. Plan ahead.

Answer 3

Be sure to call them and explain your situation.  Hopefully they can work something out with you.  And, be sure to write down who you talk to and what was said.  You may need the documentation later.  If the person you speak to does not give you the answer you want, ask to speak to a supervisor.  It is much better to do that than to do nothing.  Good luck.

Answer 4

NO!  In fact you are going to be getting late fees and your interest rates are going to go sky high!  Call your creditors now, tell them you are having temporary financial hardship and they will work with you.  Some of them may not because you are not 2 or 3 payments passed due, if enough of them do though, then you should be able to rearrange payments to at least make the minimums with a few of them.  If you ever took any of the "insurance" programs that many of them offer, look into that, too.  Almost all of them cover various type of hardships such as medical, or unemployment.

If you do this now, your credit will only be minimally hit and you can totally recover!!

Answer 5

I would call each of them and explain your situation.   They may cut you some slack if you've always made your payments on time before this.  It's worth a shot.   good luck to you.

Answer 6

You need to call the creditor and see if you can make arrangements.  I am not sure if you would get into late fees by not paying the minimum.  Even if you were just making the minimum payment it is doing nothing to reduce your balance.  I learned that in college.  I was paying the minimum and after a year my balance was actually higher.

Answer 7

They can still send your account to collection.    So, try to make some kind of arragments with your delinquest accounts.