Debt Settlement With American Express (AmEx)
Debt Settlement With American Express (AmEx)
How is debt settlement with AmEx?
Legitimate financial or debt consultants would almost always answer this question with another question first: What is your financial situation? Meaning, is your account still with American Express or with a third party collection agency? If it's still with AmEx, is the account current, almost past-due, or already past-due? For how long? See, these questions matter a lot in terms of whether AmEx would settle or not.
For consumers that are desperate to be debt free and are looking for debt settlement for it, another factor to be considered is the amount of debt or the total balance. Collectively, debt settlement companies require consumers to have a $10,000 debt or above to be accepted in the program. The reason behind this is simple: creditors would not settle with low balances. It just would not make sense because they can offer something else, depending on the consumer's financial situation (ex. in a hardship with proof) the creditor can offer to alter the interest rates instead. There are a host of programs that they can offer, on interest rates matters only and not the balance itself. At best, they can offer to freeze the interest rate, for a time, or they can reduce it, or prolong the payment period. But don't take our word for it because not until the consumer is dealing with the creditor would they know what the creditor would allow.
There's a professional program dedicated to the negotiation of interest rates alone. It's called Debt Management Plan and it's run by credit counseling agencies. You might have heard of credit counseling before. Yes, it's a consumer debt education that is free, but if during the consultation period, it's found out that the consumer needs more than just budgeting, which is staple in credit counseling, then the counselor would encourage the consumer to sign up for the Debt Management Plan (DMP).
A DMP is about negotiating what the consumer can afford to pay the creditors after subtracting, from his income, the necessary expenses (mortgage, rent, utilities, food, etc.) --aside from the negotiation of the interest rates. But for the creditors to agree to it, the consumer must provide proof of hardship, and they usually reserve the right to kick the consumer out of the program for even a single skipped payment. A DMP runs for 3-5 years and is reported in the credit report, for as long as the the consumer is in the program, after which, it should cease to reflect.
How much would a DMP cost? $25/month.
Can it be done DIY? Yes.
How much is the average debt settlement (in percentage) with AmEx?
Again, that would depend on several factors. Aside from the ones mentioned above, debt settlement percentages differ per negotiator and per period, as well. But AmEx, comparatively, has been one of the more favorable creditors to negotiate with.
It's said that if the account is still in their collections department (90-120 days) they can offer debt settlement of up to 85% and if it's with a third party collection agency, it should be 50% more or less.
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