Talking to credit card companies

[hailiesmom515]

Hi all!
Due to an insane series of events in the last year, which include two surgeries (one that is a rare fetal surgery that we had to live in another city for a month to have), me being unable to work, being hospitalized for two months, a funeral, and a child being in the Nicu for 3 months 45 minutes away, our savings have been completely depleted, and our credit cards maxed out.
We were keeping up with the bills until my husbands hours got cut last month, and we got behind on the credit card payments (which as you know is a hard cycle to get out of).
He is starting a second job so we will have more income, but now it seems impossible to dig out. The payments that were $70, now that a payment has been missed they want over $200 just to get current, and when we miss the next one, which we will, it will be close to $400. Is there a way to call and talk to the credit card companies and get them to work with you without paying all that at once to be current?
I have always been a saver and have never been in this bad of a spot before, if they all make us pay the whole amount I will never get caught up.
Thanks in advance!

[Nutria]

Hi all!
Due to an insane series of events in the last year, which include two surgeries (one that is a rare fetal surgery that we had to live in another city for a month to have), me being unable to work, being hospitalized for two months, a funeral, and a child being in the Nicu for 3 months 45 minutes away,

I hope things have worked out on the health front.

our savings have been completely depleted, and our credit cards maxed out.
We were keeping up with the bills until my husbands hours got cut last month, and we got behind on the credit card payments (which as you know is a hard cycle to get out of).
He is starting a second job so we will have more income, but now it seems impossible to dig out. The payments that were $70, now that a payment has been missed they want over $200 just to get current, and when we miss the next one, which we will, it will be close to $400. Is there a way to call and talk to the credit card companies and get them to work with you without paying all that at once to be current?
I have always been a saver and have never been in this bad of a spot before, if they all make us pay the whole amount I will never get caught up.
Thanks in advance!

Any home equity (left)?

Borrow (more) from family? (I had to do that when I was underemployed. My grandfather kept track of the loans and I paid him back when fully employed.)

Have you cut spending to the bone (cable TV, gym memberships, etc, etc)? Buying store brands from Wal-Mart instead of premium brands at Whole Foods, etc. You need nutrition, but your husband can eat ramen. Raised the deductible on your car insurance, switched to minimum coverage. Bought any whole life insurance? Cancel it and put (most of) the cash value against the cards.

Visit a local food bank for a few months.

And before you do miss that second payment, call them about their
credit card hardship programs.

Good luck.

[hailiesmom515]

I hope things have worked out on the health front.



Any home equity (left)?
that was my first thought, but going from $0 to $22000 in credit card debit in less than 9 months has put our credit scores under 600, so they said they can't help us even with putting up land that is not currently involved in the mortgage.

Borrow (more) from family? (I had to do that when I was underemployed. My grandfather kept track of the loans and I paid him back when fully employed.)
Unfortunately we were the ones that helped other people in our family, we were the only ones with any kind of savings, my sister has bought us groceries once and my mother in law will give us $100 every now and then, but she is not interested in loaning us anything that could get us caught up

Have you cut spending to the bone (cable TV, gym memberships, etc, etc)? Buying store brands from Wal-Mart instead of premium brands at Whole Foods, etc. You need nutrition, but your husband can eat ramen. Raised the deductible on your car insurance, switched to minimum coverage. Bought any whole life insurance? Cancel it and put (most of) the cash value against the cards.
We have been bare bones for quite a while, by making things from scratch I feed us pretty decently on 150-$200 a month. No whole life insurance, I did not even think about raising our deductibles, thank you!

Visit a local food bank for a few months.

And before you do miss that second payment, call them about their

Good luck.[/QUOTE]
No food banks, food stamps or anything will help us because my husband makes "too much", Medicaid has came in as a secondary insurance for my 4 month old though so they have paid some of her bills, which has helped a lot.

Thank you for that info, I guess I should have called them when the hardship started, but bills weren't even on my radar. Thank you for all of your suggestions!

[Nutria]

Unfortunately we were the ones that helped other people in our family

And apparently no in-kind reciprocal help...

my sister has bought us groceries once and my mother in law will give us $100 every now and then, but she is not interested in loaning us anything that could get us caught up

More

No food banks, food stamps or anything will help us because my husband makes "too much"

I was afraid of that.

Medicaid has came in as a secondary insurance for my 4 month old though so they have paid some of her bills, which has helped a lot.

Thank you for that info, I guess I should have called them when the hardship started, but bills weren't even on my radar.

I think you can only do that when you're in imminent danger of missing the second payment. And it's understandable that you didn't have the mindset to think about that: responsible savers so rarely do.

[ThinkingCapital]

It's worth a shot speaking to them and explaining yourself. They may not help you out with a better payment plan or reduced interest, but there's not much harm in trying. Good luck!

[Deepali Mohite]

Talking to credit card companies

You can speak to the credit card division manager and let them know the fact that you are willing to pay the dues however due to unemployment you are unable to do so. Maybe they will work on some of the charges for you. But yes the missed payments until today will have a bad impact on your credit score. To overcome that would advise you to personally visit the bank. Check if you can get a secured loan such as Gold loan or loan against bond or securities. To know the effects of missed emis on the score visit http://blog.creditsudhaar.com/2015/1...r-cibil-score/

[bjl584]

First thing to remember is that not paying credit cards will ruin your credit but that's about all it will do. Keep current on all other bills and put the credit cards on the back burner for now if you have to. Keep paying your mortgage, car payment, taxes, and utilities. Also, don't mix consumer debt with real estate. In other words, getting a home loan or a HELOC to pay off the credit cards is a bad idea.

I'd call the credit card companies and try to negotiate something so you can get current without a bunch of late fees piling up.

It's good that your husband has taken on more work. That should help your situation.

[PhilDanley]

Definitely talk to your credit card companies. They will be more wiling to work with you now than risk you not making any more payments. Just be honest with them and give them a realistic amount you can pay. Don't tell them a number you think they want to hear. They'll press you to agree to as large a number as they can.

What income and expenses do you have to work with? If you don't feel comfortable posting that on here then please message me privately. I'd like to see you get an emergency fund built back up so you don't need to use the cards anymore.

[sv2007]

I'm curious as to how the call with the CC company went.
Did they offer anything?

Sometimes bankruptcy is the best route. I think hospital and CC debt gets discharged; and you can keep your house and retirement accounts. Consult a lawyer (it's free).

If bankruptcy isn't your cup of tea (it's not mine), then you must pay off the CC bills ASAP. The thing about CC amounts is that you must make at least some principal payment past the interest charges otherwise the interest charges compound and it gets really bad. I'd take everything out of the house, retirement accounts, borrow from family (make sure you can pay them back otherwise do not borrow) and pay it until it is a manageable amount.

I wonder, would it be fun to file a divorce since you are a single-income household? then one of you would be 0 income and the other would be too low income to give meaningful spouse support? Then you'll get more income because husband job + gov benefits. Is this crazy idea even legal?

[Nutria]

I wonder, would it be fun to file a divorce since you are a single-income household? then one of you would be 0 income and the other would be too low income to give meaningful spouse support? Then you'll get more income because husband job + gov benefits. Is this crazy idea even legal?

You've got to be physically separated -- living at different addresses -- for some number (varies by state) of months before the divorce is finalized.

[freepricecompare]

Surely You should talk

Hi all!
Due to an insane series of events in the last year, which include two surgeries (one that is a rare fetal surgery that we had to live in another city for a month to have), me being unable to work, being hospitalized for two months, a funeral, and a child being in the Nicu for 3 months 45 minutes away, our savings have been completely depleted, and our credit cards maxed out.
We were keeping up with the bills until my husbands hours got cut last month, and we got behind on the credit card payments (which as you know is a hard cycle to get out of).
He is starting a second job so we will have more income, but now it seems impossible to dig out. The payments that were $70, now that a payment has been missed they want over $200 just to get current, and when we miss the next one, which we will, it will be close to $400. Is there a way to call and talk to the credit card companies and get them to work with you without paying all that at once to be current?
I have always been a saver and have never been in this bad of a spot before, if they all make us pay the whole amount I will never get caught up.
Thanks in advance!

I would like suggest an email rather than a call. Drop an email to public relationship or customer service head of your credit card company and put your story in short. Surely the company will arrange the repayment in easy EMIs.