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Among the bills that can affect your credit score are medical bills and, to a lesser extent, utility bills. You have to be in a rather problematic situation if it has gotten to the point that your utility bills are affecting the score. In other words, you have to be really behind on your payments. If the utility company has approached a collection agency to deal with you, then you could say you have a cause for concern. Where this is the case, your credit report will reflect the situation. As everywhere, Murphy’s Law is in place here too. Nowhere will it be reported that you are paying your utilities on time, even if you were never late nor skipped a payment your entire life. The reason is that these bills are not considered a loan and hence, you can’t expect to be building up credit by being a regular payer. Miss one payment, and the credit report may reflect it. This is not normally the case, but if you fail to pay for an extended period of time, it will be reflected in your report. For example, if you have a cell phone and don’t pay your phone bill a couple of months, the company will cancel your account. Then, the delinquent account will be reported to a collection agency. Once that has happened, the agency will open a collection account, and your credit score will suffer.

One of the worst things on a credit report is a collection account. The good news is that companies will refer you to a collector only if your bills have been left unpaid for a long time.

Gas, electricity, and cable bills are the ones you should be most careful about. They will contact the collectors if you are more than three months late. Water bills are rarely reported, because this is a public utility and as such, it is regulated by city councils, not collectors. Usually, they just shut you off or place liens.

Another aspect to consider in terms of adverse effects on credit scores is child support. Missing payments or delaying them, even if it happens just once, is reported immediately and stays on your record for seven years. Seven years is actually the minimum, given that you do not repeat the felony. Imagine how long it will stay if you did.

Now, a word about medical bills is necessary. Unpaid medical bills can do a world of damage to your score. The bad news is very quick to spread, and each and every lender will soon know about these unpaid bills. They can affect your credit history as well. The impact on your credit score can be viewed in several dimensions. For instance, a lowered credit score may result in you being charged a higher interest rate. You will be paying higher finance charges at any rate.

Despite these facts, do not be quick to panic. If you have a credit history of, say, 20 years, and most of your other bills were paid on time, one unpaid medical bill will not have all that much significance.

Finally, other considerations in this regard include how much debt you have, and the type of credit accounts you are associated with.