subject: A Proven Debt Negotiation Tactic - How to Negotiate Credit Card Debt Like a Pro [print this page] A huge credit card debt can make you feel as if you have no control over your finances. However, there is no reason to feel so desperate. It is possible to negotiate anything starting from the interest rates to the total amount that needs to be paid. Credit card companies have made provision for customers who cannot meet up with their payments.
If you are planning to negotiate with your credit card company the following tips might be helpful.
1. If you are one of those customers who have been regular with your payments it is possible to negotiate on the interest rates. Creditors can reduce the interest rates by as much as 2 percent than the average interest being charged. In case your payment history is not up to the mark you can still make a call and check if a similar arrangement can be made for you.
2. You can ask your creditors to waive off the late fees or the ATM usage fee from your account. If you can give them an appropriate reason most creditors would be co-operative. However, there is no grantee as some of the creditors refuse point blank.
3. If you have not been regular with your payments, you might be able to work out a payment plan with your creditors. Creditors are willing to set a payment plan with customers whose payment record has not been good.
4. You can offer the credit company a lump sum payment offer to get your account settled for that amount. A good negotiation can get you a debt reduction of about 40% to 60% of the total outstanding amount. However a debtor will have to have a minimum of ten thousand dollars in unsecured debt in order to get a debt settlement.
A huge credit card debt can make you feel as if you have no control over your finances. However, there is no reason to feel so desperate. It is possible to negotiate anything starting from the interest rates to the total amount that needs to be paid. Credit card companies have made provision for customers who cannot meet up with their payments.
If you are planning to negotiate with your credit card company the following tips might be helpful.
1. If you are one of those customers who have been regular with your payments it is possible to negotiate on the interest rates. Creditors can reduce the interest rates by as much as 2 percent than the average interest being charged. In case your payment history is not up to the mark you can still make a call and check if a similar arrangement can be made for you.
2. You can ask your creditors to waive off the late fees or the ATM usage fee from your account. If you can give them an appropriate reason most creditors would be co-operative. However, there is no grantee as some of the creditors refuse point blank.
3. If you have not been regular with your payments, you might be able to work out a payment plan with your creditors. Creditors are willing to set a payment plan with customers whose payment record has not been good.
4. You can offer the credit company a lump sum payment offer to get your account settled for that amount. A good negotiation can get you a debt reduction of about 40% to 60% of the total outstanding amount. However a debtor will have to have a minimum of ten thousand dollars in unsecured debt in order to get a debt settlement.
Debt settlement is not a new method of debt relief. It was available even earlier, however most people did not opt for it as filing for bankruptcy was more convenient.
The recent changes in the bankruptcy laws have made filing for bankruptcy a difficult option. Under the new law most people would not qualify for bankruptcy under chapter 7. Also the stigma of bankruptcy remains on a customer's credit report for at least 10 years.
Debt settlement on the other hand is a simple and legal way of reducing the debt amount. Most of the debtors can deal with their debt if the amount of the debt is reduced. This method allows a debtor and a creditor to negotiate a reduced amount of total balance which can be considered as full payment.
A debtor benefits from this method as he can avoid bankruptcy. The process is simple hence a customer can go ahead with the settlement by himself. Another way to handle the process is with the help of a reputed debt settlement company.
A settlement company can help the customer convince the creditor of his financial difficulties. Then the debtor can pay a lump sum amount of money to get a certain percentage of debt removed.
If the debtor does not have that much amount of cash available then he can take the help of the settlement company to open up an account in order to save for certain amount of time.
Any customer who has ten thousand dollars or more in unsecured debt utilise this debt relief method to come out of debt. A customer can expect a debt reduction in the range of 40 % to 60 % of the total amount
A Proven Debt Negotiation Tactic - How to Negotiate Credit Card Debt Like a Pro
