How to Settle Debt with American Express

Edited by Hannah Locklear

American Express is one of the largest and oldest credit lending institutions globally. The company first opened in 1850 in downtown Manhattan. According to Forbes, AMEX is one of the most valuable companies in the world.

The company offers traveler’s cheques, credit cards, loans, banking services, and financial services for business customers. If you’re one of the millions with an American Express card, you know how easy it can be to fall behind on payments.

American Express requires customers to make higher minimum payments toward their balance than other creditors. Clients with financial problems sometimes have difficulty meeting the minimum payment and fall behind on their obligations.

Fortunately, you have options if you can’t pay your American Express bill. Let’s discuss potential solutions for paying off your debt or settling it.

Start a side hustle to pay off American Express debt

Taking on a part-time job, or starting your own side hustle, can help you earn the extra money you need to stay current with your monthly American Express bills and eventually pay off your balance. A part-time job with flexible hours is best if you already work full-time.

There are many opportunities for earning extra money if you look for them. Driving for Uber or Lyft is an easy job that makes cash quickly, and you can set your hours according to your availability. You can also look at remote freelance opportunities or a part-time role in a retail store.

While most people don’t relish doing more work on top of their full-time job, you can look at it as the solution that will allow you to become debt-free much faster than simply making minimum payments. You’ll save money on interest and fees from American Express and your other creditors while improving your credit score.

However, extra work isn’t the solution for everyone. People with young children or other responsibilities may not have the time to commit to a part-time job or side hustle. If that’s the case, you can consider other options.

Can I consolidate my debt with American Express?

Debt consolidation is a great way to save on monthly minimum payments to American Express and reduce interest fees. People interested in debt consolidation take out a special loan from certain providers, allowing them to pay off all their creditors at once.

Instead of making monthly minimum payments to various creditors, you’ll make a single monthly payment to your debt consolidation lender. Most debt consolidation loans have a low-interest rate, so the opportunities for savings are significant.

Debt consolidation does have its drawbacks. People who don’t have a decent credit score will find it challenging to obtain a loan. If they find a lender willing to support their debt consolidation efforts, the provider may charge a high interest rate, which can make the savings negligible.

If you decide to use debt consolidation to pay off American Express, be wary of running up a new balance with the company. Sometimes, people return to using their credit cards once they pay them off with a debt consolidation loan, which can lead to future financial problems.

Settle an American Express debt lawsuit

American Express is one of the most litigious banks out there, meaning that there is a high chance they will take you to court over non-payment.

If you’ve been sued by American Express for a debt, you can reach out to negotiate a debt settlement at any stage of the lawsuit process. That’s right; you can settle your debt with American Express even before your court date. You’ll want to follow some specific steps.

First, review the court Summons and Complaint filed by American Express. Compare the amount American Express is suing you for with your records. You should also check the statute of limitations for debt lawsuits in your state.

If you haven’t taken any action on the debt for a period longer than the statute of limitations, you may be able to ask for a dismissal of the court case.

Draft and file an Answer to the Complaint and send a copy to the lawyers representing American Express. In your Answer, you’ll respond to each of the points in American Express’s lawsuit against you and assert your affirmative defenses.

An Answer protects you from a potential default judgment, even if you intend to settle the debt with American Express before your court date.

Next, you’ll want to determine how much money you can afford to pay American Express in a settlement agreement. Remember that if you can’t reach a settlement agreement with American Express, you may owe the entire amount if the court issues a judgment in their favor.

For that reason, you’ll want to start your negotiations with a fair offer—perhaps around60% of the total amount you owe.

Let’s consider an example.

Start the settlement process with American Express

American Express is known to pass off accounts with late payments to debt collectors pretty quickly, even as short as a month after the missed payment. Since American Express doesn’t have an internal debt collections department, you might have to discuss debt settlement with a third-party debt collector.

Regardless of who you have to communicate with, offering to settle can help you get out of your debt obligations and save some money. Send your first settlement offer to begin negotiations. You might say something like:

“I see you’re suing me for [$500] for [case number]. I don’t have that kind of money and I don’t agree with the amount. But I do have [$250] that I can pay within 30 days to settle the debt in full. Let me know if you accept.”

Allow American Express or the debt collectors some time to consider your offer. They’ll likely send a counteroffer of their own. It’s not unusual to go through a few rounds of negotiations before reaching an agreement.

Once you come to an agreement, request that American Express put the settlement in writing. That way, if anything comes up in the future regarding your debt, you have proof that the matter was already resolved.

Make sure to abide by all the terms of your settlement. If you don’t pay on time, American Express may cancel the agreement and restart the legal process against you.

Here is a debt settlement agreement example, for your reference.

Negotiating a settlement agreement with American Express may seem intimidating, especially if you haven’t done it before. SoloSettle can assist you with the process. We handle the negotiation for you, including the payment process.

Let’s take a look at another example.

Learn more about our solution to help settle your debt with American Express in this video:

Settle your American Express debt on your own with SoloSettle

SoloSettle, powered by SoloSuit, uses a tech-based approach to negotiate a debt settlement with creditors like AMEX, as well as debt collectors.

SoloSettle’s software sends and receives offers on your behalf so you can avoid the stress of dealing with debt collectors. It will also manage your settlement agreement documents for you and send off your payments in order to keep your financial information private and secure.

Instead of working with debt settlement companies, which are frequently known to scam or give bad advice to consumers like you, use SoloSettle to settle on your own. SoloSettle is a branch of SoloSuit, a well-trusted company that helps people respond to debt collectors in and out of court. You can trust SoloSettle to take care of you.

Check out this review from a real SoloSettle customer:

“I'm very thankful for SoloSettle.. Having a third party negotiate the settlement was instrumental in resolving this case and saved me from two giant headaches: 1) I didn't have to deal with the plaintiff's lawyer and 2) I didn't have to go to court. I also love that the payment was processed through SoloSettle. I was nervous about sharing my personal financial data with the other side, but SoloSettle protected that for me. I hope I never get sued again, but if I do, I would use SoloSettle again in a heartbeat.

SoloSettle really saved me a ton of time and heartburn and kept me from having to be my own lawyer in court.”

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate

>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit. (We can help you in all 50 states.)

How to answer a summons for debt collection in your state

Here's a list of guides for other states.

All 50 states.

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Guides on how to beat every debt collector

Being sued by a different debt collector? Were making guides on how to beat each one.

• Absolute Resolutions Investments LLC
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• Revenue Group
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• Second Round Sub LLC
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• Sherman Financial Group
• Suttell and Hammer
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• Tulsa Teachers Credit Union
• UCB Collection
• Velo Law Office
• Velocity Investments
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• Weinberg and Associates
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Win against credit card companies

Is your credit card company suing you? Learn how you can beat each one.

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