Sooner or later, it happens to everyone. You procrastinated, the bill fell behind a piece of furniture, you failed to put a stamp on the envelope, or the post office did not deliver in a timely manner. These are just a few of the things that can cause your payment to arrive late, but when it does, being proactive is key to getting the matter resolved and saving you some money.

A late payment can:

Adversely affect your credit score

Cause a hike in your interest rate

Add a significant sum to your balance

If and when this does happen to you, here are some steps that you can take that will help to keep it from happening again and enhance your chances of getting the fee waived.

1. Keep your Account in Good Standing

If you consistently pay your credit card bill on time and above the minimum, this is the single best way to enhance your chances that your credit card company will waive a late fee. Most companies will waive one late fee each year, provided that you have established yourself as a customer that responsibly manages their credit.

Also, if, for any reason, you know that your payment will be arriving late, call the company as soon as possible ahead of time and let them know about it. This lets them know that the payment is on the way and if you need to contact them again in the future about it, they can refer to the notes of your previous conversation and this lends credibility to your position.

2. Get in the Habit of Sending Your Payment as Soon as it Arrives

Most people sit down once or twice a month and pay their bills after a paycheck. The problem here is, your pay period may or may not coincide well with the due date on your credit card statement.

When your credit card bill arrives, take 3 minutes right then and write your check so that you can get it in the mail the next day. Some credit card companies deliberately delay sending out their statements early so that your window for payment shrinks, and their chances of dinging you on a late fee is enhanced.

Simply put, they are in business to make money and some credit card companies will work every angle to add to their bottom line at your expense.

3. Change Your Due Date

Most people do not know that this is an option and credit card providers are very skillful at burying these facts but most companies will allow you to change the due date so that it works better with your pay period.

If your paychecks tend to run perilously close to the due date, call your provider and ask them to move the date. This is a simple but very effective way to keep those late fees from costing you money and potentially damaging your credit rating.

4. Choose an Automatic Payment Option

This might be the single best way to avoid paying a late fee ever again, but most of us are very ticklish about allowing access to our bank accounts. And rightly so! If enabled, automatic payments are deducted from your account and if there is a charge that you wish to dispute, you may not know about it until well after the fact.

Another reason to exercise caution on this option is identity theft. It seems like every time that you pick up a newspaper, there is an article on the front page describing how some database somewhere got hacked, and millions of people have had their identities compromised.

All of these steps and more are ways to get your credit card company to waive a late fee. But, the best way to keep it from happening is to proactively contact the companies as you need to, and keep your account in good standing. This will protect your credit rating and, with so many other things clamoring for your attention, give you peace of mind.