I Forgot to Make a $10 Payment. It Wrecked My Credit Score

Somehow, autopay got switched off. My credit score tanked by 100 points.

Dear Robin,

To keep my credit score as high as possible, I keep my oldest credit card open. I only use it for a $10 monthly subscription to keep my usage active and have it set to autopay.

Somehow my autopay got switched off, and the bill became three months delinquent. My credit score dropped over 100 flipping points – over a $10 monthly payment. How do I fix that?

-Delinquent Over $10

Dear Delinquent,

Ouch. It’s incredible how much havoc a single slip-up can wreak on your credit score, even after years of responsible usage.

You could try writing your bank what’s known as a goodwill letter, which is where you ask a creditor to remove negative information from your credit reports. You can find a sample template here.

Include the details of the autopay mix-up, along with any other extenuating circumstances, like if you were sick or dealing with a natural disaster when you missed the payment.

Your creditor doesn’t need to respond to the letter. And some banks, like Bank of America and Chase, explicitly state that they won’t consider goodwill letters. But since it only takes a few minutes, it’s worth a try.

Unfortunately, a delinquency stays on your credit report for seven years if you can’t get the creditor to remove it. But you can still add a statement to your credit report explaining the circumstances, which may be helpful to a human who’s assessing your creditworthiness.

The impact on your credit score is most severe immediately after the black mark appears. The effect will diminish fairly quickly, particularly if you have several open credit accounts, you keep your balances low and you make otherwise on-time payments.

You may want to avoid applying for a new credit card for a few months while the damage is still fresh. But if you want to finance a major purchase, like a home or car, you may not have too much difficulty.

A human is typically involved at least to some extent in underwriting decisions for mortgages and car loans. If you have a long credit history, they’ll probably be able to conclude that a minor one-time delinquency doesn’t make you a high risk of defaulting.

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