Does not paying my medical bills on time can that affect my

Submitted by sunil on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 14:45
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Does not paying my medical bills on time can that affect my credit?

Yes, if your medical providers report to the credit bureaus then it will certainly impact your credit score if you miss payments. Payment history is actually the largest variable when calculating your credit score.

Since you are asking about credit updates, you might be interested in how your credit score is calculated. Your credit ratingis calculated based on several variables, including: your payment history (do you have any late payments, charge-offs, etc.), the amount and type of debt that you owe, if you have maxed out any of your trade lines, and then several other secondary factors like the length of your credit history and how many recent inquiries have been made to look at your credit history. Paying off delinquent or maxed out trade-lines will almost always help your credit score.

There are five key factors that go into calculating your credit score, with certain items carrying more weight than others. These factors are as follows:

1) Payment history, which counts for approximately 35% of your score, is the most heavily weighted factor used in calculating your credit score. Consistently paying your bills on time has a positive influence on your score, while late or missed payments will hurt you in this area. If you have delinquent payments, the older the delinquency the less the negative impact on your score will be. Collection accounts and bankruptcy filings are also taken into consideration when analyzing your payment history.

2) Total debt and total available credit, which counts for about 30%. This section looks at how much debt you have compared to the total available credit on your accounts. If all of your accounts are maxed out, you will be considered a poor credit risk, because it appears that you are struggling to pay off the debt you have already incurred. If your account balances are relatively low compared to your available credit, this part of thrisk analysis should help your overall credit score. The score calculation also looks at these two factors independently. Having too much available credit, whether you have used it or not, could hurt your credit score, as statistical studies have shown that people with excessive amounts of available credit are a higher credit risk. Unfortunately, the bureaus do not define exactly what they consider excessive, so best tip is to use credit conservatively and to keep your debt to credit limit ratio low.

3) Length of positive credit history, which counts for about 15%. The longer you maintain accounts in good standing, the better your score will be. This shows that you are able to make a long-term commitment to a creditor and are consistently responsible about making your payments.

4) Mix of types of credit, which counts for approximately 10%. Having several different types of credit, such a credit cards, consumer loans, and secured debt, will have a positive influence on your credit score. Having too much of one type of credit can have a negative impact.

5) The number of new credit applications you have recently completed, which accounts for about 10% of your score. Applying for too much new credit in a short time period makes indicates that you could be credit risk, as you may be desperately trying to keep your head above water. The models make an exception for people who are shopping around for a loan, so if you are simply applying to see who can give you the best rate on a new loan, you need not worry too much about damaging your credit score

Also, factors such as age, sex, income, and length of employment, have no direct affect on your credit score, and are not considered when the bureaus calculate your score. Keep in mind that for most lenders, your credit score is only one aspect, albeit an important one, of your overall “credit worthiness,” meaning the creditor’s view of your ability to repay a loan. Your income, for example, is not considered in the calculation of your FICO score, but most lenders will ask you what you earn to analyze your ability to repay the loan. Even if you have an 800 FICO score, if your income is only $10,000/year, a lender will probably not loan you a large sum of money, because despite your past credit habits as measured by your FICO score, the lender can see that you probably cannot afford to repay the loan

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 14:52 Permalink
pawood4@att.net` (not verified)

If you are making regular monthly payments on your medical bill, unable to pay the account in full at one time, can they still turn you over to a credit agency?

Fri, 06/25/2010 - 08:07 Permalink

Sometimes, even with Medical bills, you can make arrangements with the Hospital/Dr's office to make payments and still NOT have the account 'negatively' reported to the CB's. However..you would have to speak to whomever 'owns' the account.

Mon, 06/28/2010 - 07:30 Permalink
vfrn (not verified)

These companies are such a joke and control so much of our ability to get loans. Trans-dipstick still lists my employment as the military. I was discharged in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam war. The other 2 have me living in a place I haven't seen for 11 years.
And these yoyos are the guys who dictate who gets what loan-wise?
We've been bamboozled...

Tue, 05/17/2011 - 22:35 Permalink