Maintaining a good credit score is usually easy under normal circumstances where you have a job and living within your means. The problem arises when unprecedented events occur, such as a global pandemic that disrupts or takes away many people’s income, leaving them unable to keep up with their expenses and debt repayments, which in turn affect their credit score.

Many people are going through such challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps they contracted the virus or someone dear to them did so and had to go through quarantine and medical care at a hospital where they covered the cost with their credit card. Unfortunately, the pandemic is still going on, and jobs have been halted or lost, which affected your income. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to avoid losing your credit score.

Call your creditor

Remember that your creditor will assume that things are normal and they expect you to continue making your credit card repayments on time regardless of the situation out there. Take a proactive approach where you call them to let them know how the situation affected your income, and from there, you can negotiate something at least until you get on your feet financially.

Continue making payments

Do not make the mistake of telling your creditor to consider expecting you not to pay but instead tell them what you can afford to pay every month even if it is a little as $10. The goal is to show the credit card company that you take responsibility for your debt regardless of the situation and that you value your credit score. This might encourage your creditor to agree to an interim deal that will not affect your credit score.

Get the credit company to put the deal into writing

It is easy to be conned or tricked out here, especially for corporate gain. Getting a form of evidence for a deal is the best way to avoid getting the short end of the deal. Make sure that the credit card company puts that interim agreement into writing and confirms it via email. That way, you will have legal proof of the deal which you can present, in case they attempt to say otherwise.