Personal Finance

At 50, missing one payment dropped my credit score by over 100 points — how can I recover?

Maurie Backman

Published: December 23, 2024 11:22 am

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Key Points from 24/7 Wall St.

• A single late payment can cause a big drop to your credit score.
• The higher your score to begin with, the more impact a single late payment can have.
• Contact your credit card company for help and focus on paying all debts on time going forward.
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Having great credit could make it easier and more affordable to borrow money when you need to, whether it’s signing a mortgage or taking out a loan to finance a car purchase. But sometimes, even a seemingly innocent mistake could cause your credit score a world of damage.

Such was the case for a 50-year who saw their credit score drop by more than 100 points due to a single late credit card payment. As their Reddit post explained, they had a great credit score of 775 but missed one payment, and then boom — their score took an absolute dive despite it being a first-time offense.

If you’re in a similar boat, it’s important to know how to handle this type of situation.

When a single mistake comes back to bite you

You’d think a single late credit card payment wouldn’t have such a detrimental effect on your credit score. But you should know that your payment history, which speaks to how timely you are in paying your debts, carries more weight than other factor that goes into your credit score.

Furthermore, the higher your credit score is to begin with, the more of an impact a single late payment is likely to have. You’d think the opposite would be true — that you’d be dinged less for a single late payment if your score was excellent, and that you’d be dinged more if your credit was poor.

But when you have a strong credit score, a single late payment seems more out of character for you. So for that reason, the damage tends to be more extensive. It may seem unfair, but that’s how these things tend to work.

How to repair your credit after a late payment

The good news is that over time, the impact of a single late payment will start to wane. But you may not need to wait that long.

If you were late making a credit card payment due to sheer forgetfulness but have the money to make your minimum payment (or, better yet, your whole payment), call your credit card issuer, offer to pay on the spot, and ask for some grace.

If you’ve been an account holder in good standing for a number of years and this is your first late payment, they may be willing to withdraw the delinquency they reported to the credit bureaus if you’re able to settle up. You may even be able to get your late fee back.

But if that doesn’t work, you can still take steps to get your credit score to a better place. Make sure you’re paying all of your debts on time, and to avoid being late, put as many bills as you can on autopayment. For those you can’t pay automatically, set calendar reminders so you don’t miss a deadline, or in case your reminder email from your credit card company lands in your spam folder.

You may also be able to give your credit score a lift by reducing your credit card balances, as that plays a big role in your credit score, too. But if your credit score was strong before a single late payment drove it down, then chances are, your credit card balances weren’t too problematic to begin with.

Everyone makes mistakes, and it’s unfortunate that the Reddit user above saw such a massive hit to their credit score for one error. If your credit score has recently tumbled, you may want to put off large loans like a mortgage in the near term until it’s in better shape. But in time, your score is likely to bounce back provided you uphold the good habits that made it high in the first place.

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.