One of the ways to minimize the effect of deferred payments on your score is to add a 400 word or less explanation to your credit report known as a consumer statement. For example, “Be advised that the negative accounts on my credit report are related to the coronavirus. I intend to make these up as soon as I can,” Equifax shows on its website. If you add a statement to your credit report, every time your file is accessed, your statement will be included. So you'll always have to explain it to a financial institution or an underwriter when you apply for credit.  Unfortunately, as we can see by Equifax and TransUnion’s reports, this is no guarantee that you won’t suffer a negative credit effect as a result of deferred payments.  What we can recommend is to monitor your credit report in the months ahead and call and ask questions about anything that doesn’t seem right. You can always call the credit agencies to challenge or ask questions about anything on your file. If you see anything that doesn’t look correct on your credit report, contact credit bureaus immediately.