Defaulted on Credit Card Payment

JLHE

Ok, I admit, I made a mistake by not checking my bank statements - I left where I was living and didn't collect the mail for a couple of months for good reasons. Things were hectic. Anyway, enough excuses, I was stupid.

Apparently, I went overdrawn and the bank canceled the Direct Debit and the only time they phoned me about it was to tell me they were about to take it to the Debt Collectors. I don't understand why they didn't phone sooner, but they've closed my account and consider it a default. I tried to explain what happened - that I thought Direct Debit was taking care of itself - but they didn't want to know. They wanted money to get up to date or take it to the Debt Collectors, so I paid half for now.

What I want to know is, am I completely screwed me up as far as Credit History goes? Might I as well just dig my heels in, plead hardship and say - you're not getting any more money from me; just zero the interest and accept what I give you? I would like to improve my credit history and preferably keep the card open, but I'll be damned if I'm going to keep paying like I used when the card is no good anymore and I'm up the creek.

What's my best move here?
Thanks for any help!