Things do happen, and emergencies are inevitable. It’s possible to spend more on emergencies or the hustles and bustles of life that you fall behind on your ADT’s service bills. When this happens, you can be left worried, wondering if ADT will jeopardize your credit score by reporting the delinquent account to credit bureaus.
ADT can ruin your credit score by reporting your account to credit bureaus if you don’t pay for their services as agreed. If you fail to make your minimum monthly payments for ADT services, your ADT account becomes delinquent, forcing the company to report it to credit bureaus.
In the rest of this article, I’ll discuss what you can do to avoid ADT ruining your credit score. I’ll also cover how you can rebuild your credit once you’ve been reported to credit bureaus for payment delays. Let’s get started!
How Does ADT Ruin Your Credit?
Like any other business, ADT expects to have customers who can honor their agreements by making timely payments. When you fail to make your minimum monthly ADT service payments, your account falls behind, costing the company extra money to serve you.
To protect the business and remain in good standing, ADT will report your delinquent account to credit bureaus. If this happens, your credit score will drop significantly, making it difficult to get loans, open new lines of credit, or even rent an apartment.
It’s worth noting that ADT reports even the accounts in good standing to credit bureaus. However, unlike the delinquent account, ADT will not report any negative information about your account to credit bureaus. This works in your favor since it will help increase your credit score.
Some benefits of having an excellent credit score include:
- You’re more likely to get approved for loans and lines of credit.
- You can get loans at lower interest rates, saving you money.
- You may be able to rent an apartment or buy a house easily.
How ADT Uses Credit Scores
Credit scores are essential metrics for any business. According to Nerdwallet, companies rely on customers’ credit scores to determine how likely they are to pay back in a timely fashion.
ADT is no different. The company relies on your credit score to determine whether you’re a high-risk or low-risk customer. High-risk customers are those with poor credit scores, while low-risk customers have good or excellent credit scores.
If you have a poor credit score, ADT may:
- Charge you a higher interest rate.
- Require a larger down payment.
- Impose stricter late payment fees.
- Report your account to credit bureaus more often.
Since security equipment is expensive, ADT may also require that high-risk customers purchase their equipment outright. On the other hand, low-risk customers may qualify for ADT’s monitoring services with little to no money down.
How To Prevent ADT From Ruining Your Credit Score
There are three basic ways to remain in good standing with ADT and prevent it from ruining your credit. These include:
Keep Up With Your Monthly Payments
Businesses enjoy serving clients who keep up their payments. This allows the company to provide uninterrupted services since they get their money on time.
To avoid ADT ruining your credit score, keep up with your monthly payments. This means paying the minimum amount due by the date specified in your contract.
Keeping up with your monthly ADT payments means the company will report your account to credit bureaus as one in good standing. Therefore, ADT will help increase your credit score instead of ruining it.
Monitor Your Credit Score Regularly
The second way to prevent ADT from ruining your credit score is by monitoring it regularly. This allows you to catch any negative information being reported about your account and take steps to correct it.
It’s worth noting that mistakes do happen, and your account may be fraudulently reported as delinquent without your knowledge.
There are a few ways you can monitor your credit score:
- Check your credit score for free at least once a year. You can do this by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Sign up for a credit monitoring service. This way, you’ll be notified of any activity on your account, such as late payments or new lines of credit being opened in your name.
Contact ADT If You Can’t Afford to Pay the Full Amount
You should contact ADT to let them know when you can’t afford to pay the full amount. The company may be willing to work out a payment plan that’s more affordable for you. You may be able to use ADT without monitoring services, which will significantly decrease your monthly bill.
It’s important to remember that ADT is a business, and businesses want to make money. However, they also understand that life happens, and people sometimes fall into hard times. As long as you’re honest with them and communicate your situation, ADT should be willing to work with you.
How to Rebuild Your Credit Score
Your credit score is a crucial part of your financial life. However, it may get ruined when you fall behind on your bills like ADT services and others. If this happens, it’s your responsibility to work and increase it for future opportunities.
To rebuild your credit score, make sure you:
- Don’t fall behind on your bills. Paying your bills as required impacts your FICO score significantly. It’s worth noting that payment history accounts for 35 percent of your overall score. Thus, the more timely bills you make, the higher the chances of increasing your credit score.
- Keep your balances low. Overborrowing is a trap that reduces many people’s credit scores. Paying off each month’s balances in full is an excellent step towards a higher credit score. Apart from increasing your credit score, paying off balances each month excludes you from the credit card interest, which averages 19.20 percent.
- Use secured credit cards. A secured credit card requires a deposit, which the issuer uses to extend credit. The good thing about this type of card is that it reports your payments to the credit bureaus monthly, thus helping you rebuild your score over time.
Final Thoughts
If you’re not careful, ADT can ruin your credit. This happens when you fall behind on your monthly payments, making your account delinquent. In this case, ADT is forced to report you to credit bureaus as a defaulter, ruining your credit.
The best way to avoid such a scenario is by keeping up with your monthly payments and monitoring your credit score regularly.
