Late payment on an AT&T satellite receiver/service account would probably affect their credit rating.
It is a little surprising that AT&T has refused the couple extra time to pay their bill while waiting for their homeowner's insurance to reimburse the loss of the AT&T equipmment.
In this case, however, it may be a matter of AT&T being the only company in town, or at least for that service area. If the couple rebuilds their house on that same land, they may have no choice but to choose AT&T again, or do without.
Having just lost their house and everything in it, I'm sure that this is right at the very to of their priority list.