The research was conducted by the market research company Norstat, surveying 1,000 Latvian residents aged 18 to 60.
While most pay for services before the due date, every tenth resident (10%) admits that they make payments on the last date set by the service provider, and 4% after the due date, while 8% of respondents found it difficult to answer this question.
Unsurprisingly, residents with poor family financial status (12%), respondents with basic education (11%) and respondents with income below 400 euros per household member tend to pay late more often than those with more earning power.
"The data show that a relatively large proportion have no objective reasons for late payments, and it is more related to the habit of postponing the payment of bills to a later date and then forgetting about it. Unfortunately, such forgetfulness can backfire unpleasantly if there is a need to receive other services, but the information about the delays will have already entered the credit information registers and affected the customer's credit rating," commented Intars Miķelsons, commercial director of Kredītinformations Birojs.
Nearly half of respondents (47%) with payment delays admit that they have taken on credit obligations at least once to pay the bills. According to Miķelsons, this is a very dangerous and undesirable action: "The burden of debt can pile up like a huge snowball until it really cannot be gotten rid of and after that the path will only go downhill. In this case, it is much wiser to review the services received or their volume and evaluate whether all of it is really necessary."
More than half (55%) of late payers say an extended payment period would help them pay their bills on time, while just over a quarter (27%) wanted more regular reminders when bills are due.
