Negotiating current accounts is, according to our investigation, almost impossible. The creditor must have a good reason to want to settle. If the account is paid current, and there is no recent history of late payment, it will be difficult to convince the creditor that it is in their best interest to settle.
Therefore, technically speaking, a consumer or a professional cannot negotiate current accounts at all – the accounts must first be delinquent*. This is not a recommendation that any consumer stop paying their credit card accounts. Once payments stop on current accounts, the credit rating will almost certainly be negatively impacted. There are cases where consumers believe that temporary bad credit is not an issue and feel strongly that they must stop paying bills in order to settle the overbearing accounts to gain control of their debt load and avoid bankruptcy.
A consumer with current account should be aware of their credit standing because the debt itself can negatively effect. If the credit is already damaged because of the debt and the only option is to continue making only minimum payments for 30 years then the benefits of debt negotiation or credit counseling may be worth allowing the accounts to be late.
If the credit score is good, from what we have seen the consumer should consider other alternatives such as debt consolidation. Though the consumer will end up paying more than through debt negotiation, they will not expose themselves to the hazards of the process.
* We did find one bank that was willing to allow current accounts into their hardship program that would reduce the rate of interest for 18 months). We did find banks in cases of severe medical hardship that would consider a "short-pay" but significant documentation of the terminal condition was required, and no commitment was ever obtained.
