While I agree there needs to be incentives to be credit-worthy, isn't that what the credit report is for? I think you'd probably argue the fees are better than it hitting their credit report, but I'm not sure those people would agree. Those late fees are then unable to be paid as well, causing further damage to the credit report than the actual debt. They get punished twice for it.I have a friend who's in that situation. Medical bills for his entire family have basically crushed him. Without the late fees, he'd be just scraping by with bad credit. With the late fees, he's still got bad credit. But now he's got late fees, too.
Alupis|2 years ago
Whenever I hear these stories, I often think they're made up, or the person has spent zero effort attempting to remedy their situation (and therefore are being financially irresponsible).
Has this friend contacted the hospital/insurer and worked out an affordable payment plan? Universally they'd rather work out an affordable payment plan and get on track vs. not get paid at all. Whatever this friend is doing right now is clearly unsustainable.
What about securing a loan at an affordable monthly payment with longer terms to help lessen the monthly impact on their budget?
There are many options to get back on track - and none of them involve perpetually stacking up late fees.