Top Reasons for Late Bill Payments and How to Avoid Them

According to an article on Thestreet.com, 56 million Americans do not pay their bills on time—that’s about one quarter of adults in the United States.

Late payments could be the result of many reasons, as specific reasons are as unique to the individual as personalities are to different people. However, there are a couple of reasons common amongst people for late bill payments.

What exactly happens if you pay a bill late? You will face a late payment fee with almost every bill. This can be in the form of a lump sum, or is based on the total amount of your bill through an interest rate predetermined by the provider. Each service provider should have terms for late payment fees clearly laid out in your contract. As well, did you know that even bill payments that are only a day or two late can have a severe impact on your credit score?

In severe cases, you could also be facing cancelled service—Internet providers can shut off your connection, or you will no longer be able to make calls from your cell phone. This often results from multiple late payments, or payments that you miss entirely.

What are the most popular reasons people pay their bills late, and how can you fix the issue?

Forgot

Forgetting to pay a bill can happen to even the most organized mind. Maybe your life is quite hectic and you could not find the time and forgot to set up an automatic payment. Maybe you just forgot the date when your bill was coming due. In certain instances, people have actually forced themselves to forget about a bill. Alternatively, maybe they lost their copy of the bill and it slipped from their mind as a result. Out of the many reasons people do not pay their bills on time, this is perhaps the most common.

Complex Payment Process

An article on Forbes indicates that it takes an average of 150 taps to purchase something on your mobile phone. It goes on to talk about waiting times for in-store purchases affecting whether or not someone actually buys something.

A complex payment process is another reason behind late bill payments. Paying by the phone, for example, is one parallel to waiting in line at the store. If a consumer must be on hold for more than a few minutes, they may simply hang up and try again later, even if that means a late payment. Additionally, many service providers require that you input all of your information each time you have a bill due, or even when you are making multiple payments for the same bill, instead of just once.

Not Enough Money

There are quite a few reasons that may result in a consumer not having enough money to pay their bill on its appointed due date—a reality facing many consumers. Some common underlying factors are all bills due at the same time, irregular paychecks, insufficient paychecks, paychecks that come after the due date, or overspending. Additionally, there is the potential that a service provider is overcharging the consumer on their bill.

Overcharging

The most expensive bills stem from service providers, particularly those dealing with Internet, CableTV, and cell phones. Service providers are notorious for charging high rates for their services. Unfortunately, these high rates mean that these service providers are overcharging many of their consumers.

However, consumers still subscribe to these offerings because many of these services have become a necessity to daily life. In cases where there are different plans, consumers may require a certain amount of data or bandwidth in order to properly conduct all of their business.

Four Tips to Avoid Paying Your Bills Late

Sometimes, avoiding late bill payments is a simple fix. Try out some of the following tips to help you pay your bills on time!

• Create reminders in your calendar or on your smartphone. Alerts to impending due dates remind you that you still have to pay them. Google Calendars can do this for you for free!
• If possible, stagger your due dates so that you do not need to pay all of your bills at the same time.
• Set up pre-authorized automatic bill payments for the bills that are the same amount each month.
• Negotiate with your service provider about the high rates. Consider talking to a Billshark expert and streamline this process.

How Can A Shark Help?

Many people pay their bills late due to high service charges and not enough money to cover the bill on its due date. Luckily, the team at Billshark is able to help you with avoiding late bill payments! If you want our service, we will get on the phone and negotiate with your service provider in order to lower the cost of your service bill (ex: Internet and cell phone plans). If we are successful in lowering your bill, we simply split the first year of savings with you. Otherwise, you do not need to pay us.

The negotiation process can be difficult as well as long, which is precisely why many consumers never open up these discussions with their service providers, even if they are quite unhappy with the price they are paying. Our team of professional and experience negotiators are primed to stay determined when on the phone with your service provider. We know their strategies and are able to counter it.

By using our service you are demonstrating to your provider that you are serious about these negotiations. More often than not, the provider is able to avoid lowering their fees because the consumer negotiating is not able to continue with the process.

Call Billshark today for more information!