You can ask your credit card company to freeze the interest on your credit card, but there is no legal obligation for it to agree. The good news, though, is there are several voluntary codes of conduct most credit card companies have signed up to, which encourage them to help you if you are in financial difficulty.
If you find yourself in a situation where your income no longer covers all of your usual outgoings and creditor repayments, you can negotiate with your credit card company and ask them to freeze interest charges. In order to do this you will need to write a letter to each of your credit card providers.
Transfer your balance to a 0% APR credit card
One of the easiest ways to stop incurring credit card interest is to transfer your balance from your current card to one with a 0% introductory APR. You won't be charged interest on the transferred balance for a set period of time, usually 12 to 18 months.
Typically, a creditor will agree to accept 40% to 50% of the debt you owe, although it could be as much as 80%, depending on whether you're dealing with a debt collector or the original creditor. In either case, your first lump-sum offer should be well below the 40% to 50% range to provide some room for negotiation.
Ask for a raise at work or move to a higher-paying job, if you can. Get a side-hustle. Start to sell valuable things, like furniture or expensive jewelry, to cover the outstanding debt. Ask for assistance: Contact your lenders and creditors and ask about lowering your monthly payment, interest rate or both.
Debt Negotiation in a Nutshell
Thankfully, speaking to creditors can help—even if you haven't followed through on a previous payment plan. Lenders can be surprisingly forgiving, and many settle for much less than their customers owe. You don't need a debt management company to do the work for you.
It's worth noting that interest rates aren't reported to credit bureaus and have no direct impact on your credit score. A hard inquiry is the only reason your credit score would drop after requesting a lower rate, and asking your card issuer for a lower rate won't always trigger a hard inquiry.
I respectfully request that you forgive my alleged debt, as my condition precludes any employment, and my current and future income does not support any debt repayment. Please respond to my request in writing to the address below at your earliest convenience. Thank you in advance for your understanding of my situation.
In finance, generally the more risk you take, the better potential payoff you expect. For banks and other card issuers, credit cards are decidedly risky because lots of people pay late or don't pay at all. So issuers charge high interest rates to compensate for that risk.
In order to pay off $10,000 in credit card debt within 36 months, you need to pay $362 per month, assuming an APR of 18%. While you would incur $3,039 in interest charges during that time, you could avoid much of this extra cost and pay off your debt faster by using a 0% APR balance transfer credit card.
They may agree to freeze interest for an agreed length of time if you tell them about your financial difficulties. There are no banking guidelines that say that a creditor must stop interest and charges. It's usually up to the creditor to decide if they're happy to do this.
Generally, writing off some or all of your credit card debt is done through a debt solution. There are multiple debt solutions that can allow you to write credit card debt off, including: Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) Debt Relief Order (DRO)
After 180 days, your credit card company may close your account and charge off your debt, resulting in an additional negative mark on your credit. At this point, your card issuer could sell your debt to a collection agency, which adds a collection account to your credit information.
Most credit card companies are unlikely to forgive all your credit card debt, but they do occasionally accept a smaller amount in settlement of the balance due and forgive the rest. The credit card company might write off your debt, but this doesn't get rid of the debt—it's often sold to a collector.
For most debts, the time limit is 6 years since you last wrote to them or made a payment. The time limit is longer for mortgage debts. If your home is repossessed and you still owe money on your mortgage, the time limit is 6 years for the interest on the mortgage and 12 years on the main amount.
What credit score do you need for the best mortgage rate? A credit score of 700-plus will usually land a borrower a lower interest rate, and while mortgage industry experts say you can still qualify for certain loans with a score under 680, the 700s are where you can expect to pay the lowest rates.
A good APR for a credit card is anything below 14% -- if you have good credit. If you have excellent credit, you could qualify for an even better rate, like 10%. If you have bad credit, though, the best credit card APR available to you could be above 20%.
Under those circumstances, even if you don't make any additional charges, accruing interest can drive up your balances and utilization rate, and ultimately hurt your credit scores.
The first step to stopping debt collectors from calling you is telling them the 11-word phrase - “Please cease and desist all calls and contact with me, immediately.”
If the collection agency refuses to settle the debt with you, or if the agency or creditor agrees to settle, but you renig on your end of the agreement, the collection agency or creditor may decide to pursue more aggressive collection efforts against you, which may include a lawsuit.
Generally speaking, having a debt listed as paid in full on your credit reports sends a more positive signal to lenders than having one or more debts listed as settled. Payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO credit score, so the fewer negative marks you have—such as late payments or settled debts—the better.
You could end up with a debt collection lawsuit and a judgment if you don't pay your credit card bill over time.