COVID-19 - Information on Late Fees and the COVID Protected Status

Updated on: 03/30/2022

Information on Late Fees

Late fees assessed on late monthly installment payments due between March 1, 2020 and August 1, 2021 will be automatically waived. Our waiver of late fees through August 1, 2021 is a courtesy we extended to our customers as a result of potential impacts of COVID-19. Notwithstanding this waiver of late fees, your regular installment payments remained due as set forth in your retail installment contract.

Beginning August 1, 2021, late fees will be assessed on late monthly installment payments in accordance with the terms of your retail installment sales contract, provided your account is not in the COVID Protected Status or protected from the assessment of late fees for another reason.

Information for customers who previously informed us they had been impacted by COVID-19

If you notified us prior to July 1, 2021 that you were impacted by COVID-19, we took several steps to help you navigate the impact of the pandemic. For a minimum of 90 days, we stopped late fees, we froze the status on your credit reporting, and we suspended certain collection activities. We call this the COVID Protected Status. Although you are still responsible for all monthly payments while your account is in the COVID Protected Status, our team members can work with you to set payment arrangements if you are having difficulty making your monthly payments.

If your account has been in the COVID Protected Status for at least 90 days, in order to stay in the COVID Protected Status you will have to make your full standard monthly payment (the monthly payment set forth in your original retail installment contract) each month. If you already have payment arrangements that are sufficient to make a full standard monthly payment for the month, you can continue with those arrangements to meet the full standard monthly payment requirement. If you already have payment arrangements that are not sufficient to make a full standard monthly payment for the month, you will need to either alter your payment arrangements or pay an amount in addition to your payment arrangement so that all payments made for the month equal a full standard monthly payment.  

We will review your account status at the end of each month to ensure your account stays in the COVID Protected Status for at least 90 days. Once your account has been in the COVID Protected Status for at least 90 days, we will send you a letter or an email telling you when your account will have been in the COVID Protected Status for at least 90 days, and when you will need to begin making your standard monthly payment.

For example, if your account had been in the COVID Protected Status for at least 90 days as of January 31, 2021, we sent you a letter or email before the end of January, 2021 telling you that as of January 31, 2021, your account had been in the COVID Protected Status for at least 90 days, and to remain in the COVID Protected Status, you had to make your standard monthly payment during the month of February, 2021, and then each month thereafter.

However, you are not required to bring any past due balance current while in the COVID Protected Status. Although you are not required to bring a past due balance current while in the COVID Protected Status, any past due balance must be brought current once the account leaves the COVID Protected Status. Additionally, any account that is interest bearing may continue to accrue interest on the outstanding unpaid principal balance, even when in the COVID Protected Status.

If you do not make your standard monthly payment as directed by us in a letter or email, your account will be removed from the COVID Protected Status.

Upon removal of an account from the COVID Protected Status, we will:

• resume collection activities that may include repossession;
• remove the credit reporting freeze (see the FAQs below for what happens when the credit reporting freeze is removed); and
• resume assessing late fees on late monthly installment payments after August 1, 2021, in accordance with the terms of your retail installment sale contract.

Beginning July 1, 2021, if you file a bankruptcy related to your Credit Acceptance account, we will automatically remove your account from the COVID Protected Status. Upon conclusion of the bankruptcy proceedings, your account will not be placed back in the COVID Protected Status.

Beginning April 1, 2022, we will remove your account from the COVID Protected Status if your account meets all of the following conditions:

• Your account has been in the COVID Protected Status for at least 90 days;
• Your account does not have a past due balance; and
• You have paid an amount equal to or greater than three full standard monthly payments over the past three months.

We are removing these accounts from the COVID Protected Status because the status does not provide any benefits where the account does not have a past due balance, and where payments are being made.

If you have any questions, including a question about the date you were first placed in the COVID Protected status, please call one of our representatives at 1-800-634-1506. Information about your account is also available through our online Customer Portal at https://customer.creditacceptance.com/login.

To make a payment, please call one of our representatives at 1-800-634-1506, or click here to learn about all of our payment options.

Finally, if you need assistance with personal finances or would simply like to learn more about personal financial management, we have personal financial educational resources available to you. Please visit https://www.creditacceptance.com/financial-education to access these resources.

Information about Credit Reporting

For each month you are in the COVID Protected Status, we will report your account to the credit bureaus with the status your account was in when you notified us that you were impacted by COVID-19, essentially freezing the status of the account. We will also report a special code that indicates your account has been affected by a declared disaster. For customers whose credit reporting was frozen, we will report a "D" in your payment history during the months credit reporting was frozen, which indicates that no information is available for that reporting period.

Please review the FAQs below for additional information.

Q. What does it mean to have my credit reporting frozen?

A. During the time your account was in the COVID Protected Status, we will report the status your account was in at the time you notified us that you are impacted. For example, if your account was reported as current when you notified us, it will continue to be reported as current, even if you do not make a payment. However, if your account is being reported with a frozen delinquent status and you bring the account current while you are impacted, we will report the status as current. As of the date we resume normal credit reporting, your account status will no longer be frozen, and the account will be reported with the status your account is in at the time it is unfrozen. Even after the account status is unfrozen, we will continue to report a "D" in the payment history for the months credit reporting was frozen.

Q. When will reporting on my credit be frozen?

A. We will report the frozen status of the account in the next monthly reporting period immediately after you inform us that you have been impacted.

Q. How long will credit reporting on my account stay frozen?

A. How long we report the frozen status is dependent upon your state of residence. However, all accounts will report a frozen status for at least 120 days from the date the account entered the COVID Protected Status. Additionally, if you make payment(s) sufficient to close your account while the account is in a frozen status, we will unfreeze the account to report the account closure. Even after we unfreeze the account to report the account closure, we will still report a "D" in the payment history for the months credit reporting was frozen.

Q. Will freezing the reporting in any way negatively impact my credit score?

A. The purpose of freezing your account status while you are impacted is to help reduce the negative impact to your credit. However, each credit reporting agency considers different factors in determining your credit score, not just your account status with Credit Acceptance. Please contact the appropriate credit bureau for specific questions relating to your credit score.

Q. If I wanted the freeze to be removed from my credit report, can I do that?

A. If you would like the freeze to be removed from the credit report, please call one of our representatives at 1-800-634-1506 and state that you no longer want to have your credit report frozen. Our account representative will take steps to remove the freeze and the special code indicating you have been affected by a declared disaster. We are unable to retain the special disaster code if the reporting freeze is also removed.

Q. If I wanted the freeze to remain on my credit report, but I want the special code removed indicating I have been affected by a declared disaster, can I do that?

A. If you would like the freeze to remain on your credit report, but you want the special code removed, please file a dispute by completing and submitting to us the dispute form on our website.

Q. What will happen once my credit reporting is no longer frozen?

A. When Credit Acceptance stops freezing your credit reporting in accordance with the schedule described above, your account will stop reporting the frozen status and instead will report with the status it is in at the time it is unfrozen. For example, if your account had been frozen in a current status over the past few months, but you stopped making payments and became delinquent, your account will go from reporting current in the last month we reported the frozen status to reporting the appropriate delinquent status in the following month. After the account status is unfrozen, we will continue to report a "D" in the payment history for the months credit reporting was frozen.