Amex Gold Card advice please

Zulu_Dawn

I am on a self administered DMP following advice from CCCS. All my debts are now sorted to the extent that reduced payments have been agreed and interest and charges have been frozen.

I delayed contacting Amex as I had been using the card over the summer and wanted to wait a few months to clear my summer spending.

I have now done this and contacted them to explain my predicament.

They have told me that they never freeze interest and the only way I can get a reduced payment is to stop paying completely. They will then default me, pass on the debt to a third party and I can negotiate with the third party. The guy from amex said they would never negotiate themselves.

I am slightly wary about this. I have negotiated with all my other debtors directly and none have yet sold the debt on. In fact the process has really been quite painless.

Does anyone else have experience of Amex and can advise me what I should expect over the coming weeks?

Thanks,


ZD

Broken_hearted

I would put it in writing with a token payment and see what response you get.

file_wizzard

Amex are notorious for their harsh stance on this, they either want you as a fully compliant (and profitable) customer or not at all.

You can go through the process of offering token payment as suggest but I think you will find they refuse point blank and will just default the account and pass to a 3rd party agent for recovery.

Sorry I cant be more positive, but as I said this response seems to be standard practice for Amex

Broken_hearted

File_wizzard I would tend to agree but at least they can show they tried. I found with Halifax I had to stop paying altogether before they would listen to me and the phone calls were unbelievable.

file_wizzard

I totaly agree, I cant understand the logic myself, if you consider the associated cost of adding to the collections department, phone calls, letters Ect Ect, and then perhaps selling the debt on for a fraction of the true value.

chevalier

Can CCCS help with this at all? If not then I would suggest the token payment approach, as it does show you are trying. You could also enclose a copy of your Statement of Affairs, that you did with CCCS to show them the figures.

Zulu_Dawn

Thanks for the comments all.

They already have my SOA and CCCS reference details. I think I'm going to put my conversation in writing and send on to them and see what happens.

My guess is that if it goes to a third party it will be a bit painful but I may have a better chance of securing a F&FS in the long run.

It's a bit scary but I really have no alternative.


ZD