Some of the bills you pay are reported to credit bureaus and others are not. Your payments on credit cards, mortgages, and other loans, for example, are reported each month, so paying them on time can help boost, or maintain, your credit score.
Utility bill payments, including those for cable TV and cell or landline phone service, generally are not reported unless they become seriously delinquent and are sent to collections—a move that can have a serious negative effect on your credit score.
Key Takeaways
- Cable TV, phone, and other utility bills usually aren't reported to credit bureaus or reflected in your credit score.
- However, if you are seriously delinquent in paying your cable bill, that may show up on your credit report.
- You can ask to have your utility payments included in your credit report if you want to show you pay your bills on time.
Exceptions to the Rule
There are, however, a couple of exceptions. FICO, the company behind the most widely used credit scoring models, offers one score, called the FICO XD 2, that takes into account certain nontraditional data, such as utility payments. The goal is to create credit scores for consumers who might not otherwise have enough data in their records so that potential lenders can assess their creditworthiness.
Consumers can also choose to have their utility bill payments reflected in their credit reports at Experian, one of the three major national credit bureaus, by enrolling in the Experian Boost program and allowing the company to access their utility and telecom bill payment history. A person might want to do that, for example, if they don't have enough other accounts in their credit reports and are trying to build a solid credit score by showing they pay their bills on time.
What’s a Payment Worth?
Payment history is the single most important factor in your credit score. A basic FICO score, for example, is made up of:
- Payment history (35%)
- Credit utilization (30%)
- Account age (15%)
- Inquiries/new accounts (10%)
- Credit mix (10%)
The VantageScore, a credit scoring model developed by the three major credit reporting agencies as an alternative to FICO, is based on similar criteria:
- Payment history (40%)
- Depth of credit (21%)
- Credit utilization (20%)
- Balances (11%)
- Recent credit (5%)
- Available credit (3%)
Late Payments and Your Credit
All creditors want to know that a borrower will pay their debt as agreed. They use credit reports and scores in a backward-looking fashion to assess how much of a risk a consumer is likely to pose. If a person has established a pattern of paying their bills on time, they are viewed as a responsible user of credit and not likely to cause the creditor any financial losses. Having a history of late payments, on the other hand, signals unreliability, financial instability, and greater financial risk.
The consequences of late payments escalate in severity as the account becomes more and more delinquent. The consumer’s credit report shows payment history with degrees of lateness: on-time, 30 days late, 60 days late, 90 days late, and 120 days late. Each degree of lateness causes incrementally greater damage to the credit score than the previous one.
Collection, repossession, charge-offs, bankruptcy, and other notations that signify a failure to fulfill a financial obligation may also be listed, and they result in an even greater blow to the consumer’s score than late payments.
As mentioned earlier, a cable or other utility bill will generally not be reported at all unless it is seriously delinquent and in collections. That usually happens around the 90-day mark after a missed payment. Before that, the consumer is likely to be hit with late fees and ultimately a suspension of service.
The longer you fail to pay a bill, the more damage it can do to your credit score.
How Long Do Late Payments Hurt?
Credit reports reveal the payment history on all the accounts (open or closed) that they cover, but the impact of any particular late payment on your credit score will diminish over time. Recent and multiple late payments will do more damage to your score than a single late payment that has faded from memory.
VantageScore further explains that the greatest damage comes to the consumer’s credit score in the first month after the late payment is reported. Then its impact diminishes over about two years, after which it ceases to have much effect (although the late payment stays in the consumer’s file for seven years). If you're struggling with several recent late payments on your credit report, one of the best credit repair companies might be able to undo the damage to your credit score.
How Long Does a Cable Bill Stay on Your Credit?
When a bill, such as a cable bill, is not paid, it is sent to a debt collector for collection. From that point on, the outstanding debt will remain on your credit for seven years plus 180 days since your bill was due.
How Much Does an Unpaid Bill Affect My Credit Score?
A late payment is one of several things that can drop your credit score by 180 points. Your payment history makes up 35% of your FICO score.
Do Cable Companies Run Your Credit?
Yes, cable companies run your credit because they want to ensure that their customers can pay their credit bills. The cable company wants to know what kind of customer they are doing business with and the likelihood of any default.
The Bottom Line
Not paying any of your bills will impact your credit score. If you're having trouble paying your bills, the best option is to reach out to your provider and see if a deal can be reached. If it is an item that you can do without, or do without for a short period of time, such as cable, then you could consider stopping service until your finances are back on track. Either way, it is important to ensure your credit score remains as high as possible so it doesn't impact any other aspects of your life, such as taking out a mortgage or an auto loan.
FAQs
Key Takeaways. Cable TV, phone, and other utility bills usually aren't reported to credit bureaus or reflected in your credit score. However, if you are seriously delinquent in paying your cable bill, that may show up on your credit report.
Does not paying a cable bill affect your credit? ›
Consistent on-time payments for those credit-related bills helps improve your credit score. But unless they become very late, everyday utility, cable, or cellphone bills are generally invisible to credit reports – and therefore not counted in your credit score at all.
What happens if you don't pay the cable bill? ›
Utility companies typically don't report your payments to the three major credit bureaus, so being late on a payment shouldn't hurt your score. However, if you don't pay your bill for an extended period, it's likely that your service will be disconnected and the account will go to collections.
Can unpaid bills affect credit score? ›
Debt collection companies, which pursue bills in default, also report payments they're seeking to the credit bureaus. Collections can include any unpaid bills, not just those related to loans or credit, and, as you'd expect, they tend to hurt your credit scores.
How does not paying bills affect credit? ›
On-time payments are the biggest factor affecting your credit score, so missing a payment can sting. If you have otherwise spotless credit, a payment that's more than 30 days past due can knock as many as 100 points off your credit score. If your score is already low, it won't hurt it as much but can still do damage.
Does paying a cable bill build credit? ›
Are you hoping to build your credit by paying your cable bill on time? Unfortunately, most cable companies, like many other utilities, don't report payments to credit reporting agencies. With no information, it's impossible for these agencies to use this information when calculating your credit score.
What happens when a cable bill goes to collections? ›
Late cable bills affect credit scores if they're marked as a charge-off by your provider or are sent to a debt collector. Accounts with these statuses are reported to credit bureaus and harm your score.
How do I get my cable bill off my credit report? ›
Ask for a goodwill deletion
You may be able to ask the collection agency, the original creditor or both to request the credit bureaus delete the delinquency from your credit reports as a courtesy. Of course, even a goodwill deletion will only remove the collection account from your credit report.
Does cable check your credit? ›
“Internet and TV providers often request credit checks for prospective customers because they want to know how likely that person is to pay their bills each month,” said Rossman. Like when you sign up for a new credit card, companies want to know what type of customer you have historically been.
How long can you be late on your cable bill? ›
A subscriber's account can be considered delinquent if payment has not been received by the cable operator thirty days after the due date shown on the subscriber's bill.
Failure to pay charges by the due date on the billing statement (including checks returned for insufficient funds) may result in suspension or disconnection of all Services, the removal of all Equipment and/or imposition of a late payment or service charge.
Is it true that after 7 years your credit is clear? ›
In general, most debt will fall off of your credit report after seven years, but some types of debt can stay for up to 10 years or even indefinitely. Certain types of debt or derogatory marks, such as tax liens and paid medical debt collections, will not typically show up on your credit report.
How to dispute a cable bill in Collections? ›
If you write a letter, instead of using the tear-off form, the debt dispute letter should include your personal identifying information; verification of the amount of debt owed; the name of the creditor for the debt; and a request the debt not be reported to credit reporting agencies until the matter is resolved or ...
What happens if I don't pay my cable bill? ›
As mentioned earlier, a cable or other utility bill will generally not be reported at all unless it is seriously delinquent and in collections. That usually happens around the 90-day mark after a missed payment. Before that, the consumer is likely to be hit with late fees and ultimately a suspension of service.
Does not paying the internet bill affect credit? ›
Utility, cable, internet and phone bills
Paying your utility bills or bills related to cable, internet and the phone typically won't help your credit score. That's because these types of companies typically don't report payments to the credit bureaus. But this, too, is starting to change.
Do unpaid bills go on your credit report? ›
Unpaid bills may not go to Collections immediately, but may end up there eventually. Collection items can follow you and can stay on your credit report for up to seven years or more.
What happens if you don't pay your Comcast bill? ›
Depending on the circ*mstances, your service could be interrupted or disconnected due to late payment or missing payments. If this happens, you will need to make a payment to re-activate your services. This payment may include late fees and a reactivation charge, and it will take 48–72 hours to restore your services.
What type of bills affect credit score? ›
You may know that credit scores are based largely on how you've handled things like loans and credit cards. But according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), paying your utilities, rent and cell phone bills could also be a factor.
Does not paying spectrum affect credit? ›
Once Spectrum Collections Agency has your debt, they might contact you through mail or phone to seek payment. Having a collections account listed on your credit report can lower your credit score, affecting your ability to secure loans or other financial approvals.
Do overdue bills affect credit score? ›
Even a single late or missed payment may impact credit reports and credit scores. But the short answer is: late payments generally won't end up on your credit reports for at least 30 days after the date you miss the payment, although you may still incur late fees.
If your account remains unpaid your Services may be disconnected. You can avoid incurring late fees by paying your monthly bill promptly.
What happens if I don't pay my Xfinity bill? ›
Depending on the circ*mstances, your service could be interrupted or disconnected due to late payment or missing payments. If this happens, you will need to make a payment to re-activate your services. This payment may include late fees and a reactivation charge, and it will take 48–72 hours to restore your services.
