Discover Card debt settlement programs.
While Discover Card has a reputation of being difficult to get credit card assistance from, they do offer some hardship type services and also debt settlement programs to certain customers. Note that if you don’t pay them on time or proactively notify them of your financial challenges, then Discover will aggressively pursue unpaid bills. The company will often send the balances to collection agencies, in particular Zwicker and Associates PC.
That being said, find below some examples below of how people are receiving help from the Discover Card debt settlement programs. While they will strictly enforce the terms of your credit card agreement, you can usually negotiate with them. In addition some other ways to get assistance from Discover can include a lower interest rate, or debt management plans. Learn more on these Discover card hardship program.
Examples of Discover Card debt settlement programs
One customer had two accounts. They started the debt settlement process and program with Discover during the fall of 2008. While it was not possible to get some of the debt waived, they did come back and offer a hardship program. The program is to last for a period of one year. It was a great offer in that it reduced their minimum monthly payment by about 50% and it also lowered the interest rate down to 5%. While it wasn’t their top goal of getting the principal reduced, cutting the rate down and the monthly payments was a tremendous help.
Another example is someone who was having difficulty with Discover. They tried to negotiate and other approaches, all with no luck. So they hired a credit counseling company to help settle their unpaid balance. When all is said and done, they ended up getting a deal that required them to settle for 39 cents on the dollar. Especially if they send it to collections, a lawyer may be the best option.
A customer was having difficulty negotiating with the company on their own. They stopped paying, called multiple times, spoke to supervisors, and more. They had a 24.99% APR after missing a payment or two. After the multiple calls and attempts, they were eventually put on a debt management plan and offered an interest rate of 15.99%. They also had about 25% of their unpaid balanced waived.
A consumer used the services of a third party settlement company. When they joined they were told Discover would not work with them, however he asked the company to try regardless. What ended up happening was surprising. They turned out to offer the person the best deal, better than the other card issuers they were trying to work a deal with. The fact is in this case they provided the best deal, even though they may not be the easiest to work with.
The original credit card debt was around $5,000, then they want ahead and added all sorts of late charges and fees, which ended up bringing the total to over $6,000. Unfortunately the debt settlement company they were working with would only negotiate on the original starting balance of $5,000. The end result was an agreed upon settlement of just over a thousand dollars.
Another story was a customer saying that as far as negotiating APR rates, you might as well forget it. As long as you are paying your monthly bills, they are going to keep charging the interest rate and won’t budge. Find some tips to negotiate credit card debt.
Discover card did offer another consumer a hardship, or debt settlement program that had terms of a one year deal. After that time period, provided payments were made on time, they further reduced the payments on balance on the account. They also offered a 9.9% interest rate.
After trying to negotiate a settlement over several weeks with Discover, and after being a few months behind on a credit card bill, an individual received a certified letter from Discover Card to settle their debts at 30%. They were struggling so much that they even sent a calling card for the company to use to contact them because their phone was disconnected. While 30% was great a deal at the time, they also learned about a person who also received a 20% settlement letter. So while the person who received a great deal, 20% was obviously even better.
Another person received a settlement letter from Discover Card that was offering to settle and reduce the debt for 40% of their unpaid bills. They called them up after they received this. They told them that they could not pay the entire amount all at once, and negotiated to pay a set amount on the agreement for 4 months.
Discover also has several different types of credit cards, and settlements may be possible on all of them. A customer that lives in California had the card that provides a rebate on their gasoline. They had about a $3500 balance on their account and missed a couple payments. The individual called the company multiple times, asked for a supervisor, and explained their situation. After about 10 calls, the company eliminated about 30% of their balance and provided two years for them to pay the balance on the account.
In December 2019, a Discover Credit Card Holder lost their job and their wife was in the hospital. The balance due at that time was $12,371. The customer called Discover and asked for a settlement, which did not work. The customer than turned to a non-profit credit counseling firm in their state of Florida, and that firm worked with Discover Card (and other creditors) to get relief, and the interest rate was reduced to 7% from over 14%.
Discover Card Debt settlement programs
You can work with a debt settlement organization or try dealing with the company yourself. customer service representatives can be a starting point of contact, but it is often necessary to ask for a supervisor or to escalte the issue. Discover Card can be contacted at (866) 567-1660.
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