I'm sure many of you have your bills paid automatically. Almost all of mine are, and I have plenty. Because it makes life easier, and because my business keeps me hopping 17+ hours a day, sometimes my statements and such don't get checked regularly.
My son fell victim to a (what I call) autopay scam a few years ago. Due to a bankruptcy he had a high interest car loan, and the bank automatically paid the lender on the first of the month. My son got slack in checking his statements, and it was over a year before he found out the lender changed the due date backwards to the 25th. Nothing about this was ever mailed to him. This meant every payment included a hefty late charge, and with the high interest he was paying, by the time he found out his loan balance was more than the original loan.
Since that happened I vowed to keep an eye on MY bills, but sometimes I get a little slack...
Case in point, my Chevron bill-- Since I work at home, and I'm always working, our gas bills aren't all that high, so while I DO check the amounts due each month, I don't always check out the whole statement. Chevron recently 'upgraded' my cards, and because of this I DID check out my statement closely yesterday...
Much to my surprise, I find a $75.00 late fee and $2.05 interest on the late balance added to the bill..
Now wait a minute, I'm on autopay! And Chevron drafts the money (vs the bank just paying them on a certain date)...
A phone call to a perplexed CS agent remedied the situation, she could find no reason for the late charge in the first place and credited my account it and the interest.
But had I not checked the statement closely, I'd never have known that. Chevron would've received a bonus. Like they need any more of my money!
And what did this "late payment" do to my credit score?
Check your autopays!