# What happens if I miss a payment Plans don't fail because of one missed payment. Here's what happens when one slips, and what you can do. ## Why a payment might fail A payment fails most often because of: * An expired card. * Not enough funds in the bank account. * A bank's daily limit hit. * A card declined by the bank for fraud-protection reasons. (Today's portal isn't auto-charging anything — each installment is a fresh payment you initiate through the [pay page](/for-debtors/debtor-portal/making-a-payment.md). So a "missed payment" usually means you didn't get to it on the agreed date, or the Stripe charge you submitted failed.) You don't owe a fee for a failed payment. There is no fee from us. ## What you should do 1. **Get back on the portal as soon as you can** and retry the payment. 2. **Update the card or bank** if the issue was with the payment method. 3. **Talk to us** if you can't pay this month. Reply to any of our emails or [send a message](/for-debtors/debtor-portal/messaging-the-creditor.md) explaining the situation. Tell us what you need — a week to make this payment, a smaller payment this month, a pause. Don't ignore the situation. The longer it goes, the more likely the account moves from "on-plan" back into active collection. ## What happens behind the scenes When you committed to a plan, the system recorded a payment commitment with the payment date and a follow-up timestamp set to one business day after the agreed date. If we don't see the payment by then, the commitment goes onto our follow-up list and someone (or the agent) will reach out. If too much time passes without a payment, the placement moves out of "pending payment" and back into the active collection workflow. ## What "default" means If a plan defaults: * The plan is no longer in effect. * The full remaining balance becomes due. * Collection activity resumes — calls and emails. You can still recover from default: * **Catch up.** Pay the missed payment(s). The plan can be reinstated by talking to us. * **Renegotiate.** Agree to new terms that work better. * **Pay in full.** Pay the remaining balance and close the account. ## Things that aren't a default These things are not the same as a missed payment: * **A request to defer.** If you ask for a deferral and we agree, the payment is moved, not missed. * **A modification to the plan.** If you change the plan terms, the new terms are what counts. * **A dispute.** Opening a dispute pauses all outreach on the account. Anything that happens during a dispute doesn't count as a missed payment. ## What's logged Payment attempts (succeeded, failed, pending) are recorded against the account, and audit events capture the lifecycle. This is your record and it helps avoid disputes later if there's confusion about what happened. ## Talking to us If you're going to miss a payment, the best thing to do is talk to us **before** it happens. We work with you. We do not punish you for being upfront. ## TODO * Add an in-portal "I'm going to be late" form that creates an audit-tracked deferral request. * Wire up automatic retry logic on failed plan payments once recurring charges are supported. *** Last reviewed: 2026-05-12 by Customer Success. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.moderncollections.io/for-debtors/payment-plans/what-happens-if-i-miss-a-payment.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.