What happens if you miss a buy now pay later payment

Miss a Klarna payment and there’s no fee for 14 days, then up to £6, and never more than £12 on one plan. What Klarna, Clearpay and PayPal do after a missed payment under the UK rules from 15 July 2026, what goes on your credit file, the US, and a planner that shows when all your plans are due.

HanaHow10 minute read
3:11 videoWritten steps below

If you miss a buy now pay later payment in the UK, what happens next depends on the provider, and on when you bought. Plans taken out from 15 July 2026 are regulated by the FCA, and Klarna, Clearpay and PayPal all have new terms for them. Plans from before then stay unregulated, on the terms you agreed to at the time.

On a new Klarna plan there’s no fee for the first 14 days, then up to £6, and never more than £12 on one plan. Clearpay charges sooner, and PayPal doesn’t charge late fees at all. All three can put missed payments on your credit file.

The fees in this guide are the providers’ own published terms as of September 2026. The planner further down shows when all your plans are due, and what a missed payment could cost on each.

How a Pay in 3 plan works

Say you buy £90 trainers with Klarna’s Pay in 3. You’d usually pay £30 that day, then two more payments of £30, 30 days apart. There’s no interest, and no fees if you pay on time.

Klarna’s terms say the first payment can be taken when your order ships rather than when you buy, so the dates can move by a few days.

Who pays for it

Mostly, the shop does. Stripe, which handles online payments for a lot of shops, publishes its UK prices. For a customer in the UK, a Klarna payment costs the shop 4.99% plus 35p, so £5.34 on a £100 order. A standard UK card costs the shop 1.5% plus 20p, which is £1.70. Stripe’s UK pricing.

In February 2021, the Woolard Review, a report to the FCA’s board on unsecured credit, put it this way: “In a sense, the real target customer of BNPL providers are not the borrowers, but the retailers with which they partner.”

If you miss a Klarna payment

This is what Klarna’s terms for Pay in 3 plans from 15 July 2026 say happens:

  • On the day it’s due: if Klarna can’t take the payment, it tries again, up to twice in the next 14 days. There’s no fee yet, but you can’t use Klarna until it’s paid.
  • 14 days after the due date: if it’s still unpaid, Klarna can charge a late fee of 25% of the order total, up to £6. It has to let you know before it charges you, and it won’t charge the fee if you owe less than £1. On the £90 trainers, 25% would be £22.50, so the fee is £6.
  • The next payment: Klarna adds the missed payment to the next one and tries to take them together. On the trainers, that’s £30 plus £30, so £60.
  • If you miss again: Klarna only charges two late fees per agreement, so £12 is the most in late fees on any one plan.
  • If it’s still not paid: Klarna can end the agreement with 14 days’ notice, ask for the whole balance, and pass the debt to a regulated debt collection agency. Its terms say it’ll contact you and try to sort it out first.

Missed payments can go on your credit file as well. There’s more on that below.

Klarna’s Pay in 30 days works the same way on a shorter clock: it tries again within 7 days, and the late fee can come 7 days after the due date.

If you took the plan out before 15 July 2026, it stays on Klarna’s older terms, which have different fees. The agreement in the Klarna app says which terms your plan is on.

Clearpay and PayPal

Clearpay

Clearpay splits the cost into four payments, two weeks apart, with the first when you buy. For plans from 15 July 2026, its terms and help pages say:

  • You have until 11pm the day after the due date to pay before there’s a late fee.
  • After that, it’s £6, then another £6 if the payment’s still unpaid 7 days after the due date.
  • There are no late fees on orders under £24.
  • Late fees on one plan are capped at 25% of the order or £24, whichever is less.

So on a £120 jacket, one missed payment can cost £12 and the whole plan up to £24. Because of the 25% cap, the second £6 is only charged in full on orders of £48 or more. On a £30 order, for example, the most is £7.50.

Clearpay says it pauses your account as soon as you miss a payment, and that missed payments may be reported to credit reference agencies.

PayPal Pay in 3

PayPal’s Pay in 3 takes the first payment when you buy, then the next two on the same date in each of the following months. Its terms say: “There are no late fees with Pay in 3”. If a payment fails, PayPal tries again within 2 days, and after that you pay it yourself. But its terms also say: “If you miss a payment we will report you to one or more credit reference agencies”. You won’t be able to borrow any more from PayPal, and it can end the agreement, after telling you first, and ask for everything you owe.

Will it hurt your credit score?

It can. Here’s what Experian, MoneySavingExpert, Klarna and Halifax say:

  • Each plan is its own agreement. Experian says: “With BNPL each new purchase is usually recorded on your credit report as a new credit agreement.” Three plans can mean three new entries.
  • The scores don’t use it yet. MoneySavingExpert, in September 2026: “While BNPL doesn’t currently impact the credit ‘score’ you get from Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, BNPL usage often appears on the credit report”.
  • Missed payments can still count against you. Klarna’s Pay in 3 terms say it may report late or missed payments, that other lenders may see them, and that “Missed or late payments can reduce your credit score and make it harder or more expensive for you to borrow in the future.”
  • Mortgage lenders ask. Halifax’s lending criteria for mortgage brokers say to “Include any deferred payment credit (DPC) e.g. pay in 3 or 4 payments” as a monthly commitment.

Not every provider reports to every credit reference agency, so a plan can show on one report and not another. The FCA said in February 2026 that coverage of these plans was “highly inconsistent” across the three big agencies.

Stacking plans

The bigger risk is having several plans at once. Say that on Saturday 3 October 2026 you buy the £90 trainers on Klarna Pay in 3, a £120 jacket on Clearpay and £60 headphones on PayPal Pay in 3, and each first payment is taken at checkout.

That’s £80 on the day. Then, over the next month, from 4 October to 3 November, it’s £110 on four dates, from three apps:

Date App Payment
Saturday 17 October Clearpay £30
Saturday 31 October Clearpay £30
Monday 2 November Klarna £30
Tuesday 3 November PayPal £20

After that, there’s another £80 to pay in November and December, so £270 in all.

A lot of people miss payments. In July 2025 the FCA said firms had reported “over three million customers missing payments and more than 700,000 customers with debt collection events against them in 2024”. The FCA notes that some people will have been counted by more than one firm.

Buy now pay later planner

Add each plan you have, with the app, the amount and the day you bought it. The planner lists every payment by date, adds up what’s due over the next month, and shows the most a missed payment could cost on each plan. It starts with the three plans above.

Your plans
Due on Sat 3 Oct
£80
The day you bought them
Due 4 Oct to 3 Nov
£110
The next month, on 4 dates from 3 apps
All the plans together
£270
10 payments, the last on Thu 3 Dec

Every payment, by date
DatePlanAmount
On the daySat 3 Oct£80
Sat 3 OctKlarna Pay in 3payment 1 of 3£30
Clearpay Pay in 4payment 1 of 4£30
PayPal Pay in 3payment 1 of 3£20
The next month4 Oct to 3 Nov£110
Sat 17 OctClearpay Pay in 4payment 2 of 4£30
Sat 31 OctClearpay Pay in 4payment 3 of 4£30
Mon 2 NovKlarna Pay in 3payment 2 of 3£30
Tue 3 NovPayPal Pay in 3payment 2 of 3£20
After that£80
Sat 14 NovClearpay Pay in 4payment 4 of 4£30
Wed 2 DecKlarna Pay in 3payment 3 of 3£30
Thu 3 DecPayPal Pay in 3payment 3 of 3£20

What a missed payment could cost

  • Klarna Pay in 3£90

    One missed payment
    Up to £6
    Most on this plan
    £12
    • No fee while Klarna tries again, up to twice in 14 days, but you can’t use Klarna until it’s paid.
    • Still unpaid 14 days after the due date: a late fee of up to £6, and Klarna has to tell you first.
    • If payment 2 fails, it’s added to payment 3, which becomes £60.
    • Missed payments can go on your credit file.

  • Clearpay Pay in 4£120

    One missed payment
    Up to £12
    Most on this plan
    £24
    • No fee if you pay by 11pm the day after the due date.
    • Then £6, and another £6 if it’s still unpaid 7 days after the due date.
    • Clearpay says missed payments may be reported to credit reference agencies.

  • PayPal Pay in 3£60

    One missed payment
    £0
    Most on this plan
    £0
    • No late fees.
    • PayPal reports missed payments to credit reference agencies.

Most in late fees across all these plans: £36.

These are the providers’ published maximums as of September 2026, for plans taken out from 15 July 2026. They’re not a quote: your own agreement sets what you’d pay.

The planner assumes each plan’s first payment is taken the day you buy, so that day counts as the first date. Klarna can take its first payment when the order ships instead, which moves its dates later. Klarna payments are 30 days apart and Clearpay’s 14 days apart. PayPal’s fall on the same date each month, and the planner uses the last day of a shorter month. The next month runs from the day after your first purchase to the same date a month later.

In the US

The US has no national rule like the UK’s. In 2024 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said buy now pay later lenders counted as credit card providers under US law, then withdrew that in May 2025. Fees come from each provider’s own terms, as of September 2026:

  • Klarna Pay in 4: a late fee of up to $7 if a payment is still unpaid 10 days after it was due, with total fees never more than 25% of the purchase (terms from June 2026).
  • Afterpay: up to $8 for each late payment, charged once it’s 10 days overdue, and capped at 25% of the order (terms updated September 2026).
  • Affirm: no late fees. Its annual report in August 2026 says it has “charged $0 in late fees” since it started.
  • PayPal Pay in 4: “no late fees”.

What to do

  • Keep one list of every plan and its dates. The planner above does this, or write them down. Each app only shows its own plans.
  • If a payment’s going to fail, tell the provider before the day. Under the FCA’s rules, “A firm must treat customers in or approaching arrears or in default with forbearance and due consideration”. Klarna’s terms say that help “might include agreeing a new payment plan or temporarily pausing your payments”.
  • Returning something? Report the return in the app. Klarna pauses the bill while the return is sorted out, so you’re not paying for something you’ve sent back.
  • Know your Section 75 cover. On plans from 15 July 2026, a single item costing over £100 and up to £30,000 gets Section 75 protection, the same as if you’d paid by credit card. The FCA confirms it applies. It doesn’t cover cheaper items, even if the basket adds up to more than £100.
  • Complain if something’s wrong. If the provider won’t fix a problem with a plan from 15 July 2026, including a wrong entry on your credit file, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
  • Get free debt help if it’s getting too much. In the UK, StepChange (0800 138 1111) and National Debtline (0808 808 4000) give free, confidential debt advice. In the US, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling ((800) 388-2227) lists non-profit credit counsellors.

This guide explains how these plans work. It isn’t financial advice, and your own agreement is the best guide to what you’d pay.

Sources

Read the video transcript

So you've missed a Klarna payment. What actually happens? And will it hurt your credit score? It depends when you bought it. Buy now pay later in the UK has been regulated since 15 July 2026. Older plans stay on the old terms. Say you buy £90 trainers with Klarna's Pay in 3. That's usually £30 today, then two more payments of £30, 30 days apart. No interest, and no fees if you pay on time. So how does Klarna make any money? Mostly, the shop pays. Through Stripe, a £100 Klarna order costs the shop £5.34. By card, it's £1.70. A review for the FCA said that, in a sense, the real target customer is the shop, not you. So, you miss one. Klarna tries again, up to twice in the next 14 days. No fee yet, but you can't use Klarna until it's paid. Still unpaid after 14 days? Klarna can charge a quarter of the order, up to £6, and it has to warn you first. The missed £30 is added to next month's payment, so that one's £60. Miss again, and that's the second and last fee. £12 at most, per plan. If it's still not paid, Klarna can end the agreement with 14 days' notice, ask for the lot, and pass it to a debt collector. And any missed payment can go on your credit file. Clearpay moves faster. Miss the date and you've got until 11 the next night. Then it's £6, and £6 more a week later. But on orders under £24, there's no fee at all. PayPal's Pay in 3 has no late fees, but it does report missed payments. So will it hurt your credit score? Each plan usually shows on your credit file as its own account. MoneySavingExpert says agency scores don't use it yet, but Klarna warns missed payments can lower your score, and lenders see the whole file. Halifax tells mortgage brokers to count these plans as monthly commitments. The bigger risk is stacking. Say that same day you also get a £120 jacket on Clearpay, and £60 headphones on PayPal. That's £80 on the day, then £110 over the next month, on 4 dates, from 3 apps. In 2024, firms told the FCA over 3 million customers missed a payment, and more than 700,000 faced debt collection. The US has no national rule like this. Klarna can charge up to $7 after 10 days late, and Afterpay up to $8. Affirm and PayPal don't charge late fees. So, what to do. Keep one list of every plan and its dates. If a payment's going to fail, tell them before the day. Under the new rules they have to show forbearance, which could mean a new plan or a pause. Returning something? Report it in the app, and Klarna pauses the bill. One item over £100, on a plan from 15 July, can get Section 75 cover, like a credit card. If it's getting too much, StepChange and National Debtline give free debt help. In the US, try the NFCC. That's HanaHow. See you next time.

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