What is the percentage rate Care Credit uses to settle?
First off I find these inquiries and replies so informative. I have a Care credit card with a balance of 2,958.19 from 2011. My understanding is that Texas has a 4 year statue of limitations, which I am nearing. I have yet to be served. Should I try to avoid being served until I reach the month of when the account was opened, or should I just settle?
If settling is my best option what percentage should I begin negotiations with?
I'd be willing to pay 800 in full. Is that reasonable?
What is the percentage rate Care Credit uses to settle?
—vanessa
Your Care Credit account can be negotiated and settled for less, no doubt. Determining a realistic target to aim for in your negotiations can depend on more than how long it has been since you last paid.
Given the age of your account, it is highly likely you will no longer be dealing with Care Credit in order to reach a settlement. That is because unsecured creditors tend to drop unpaid accounts into their established collection pipeline after they recognize your account as one that is likely to never pay again.
Care Credit Hires Debt Collectors
There are a handful of debt collection agencies that Care Credit will place your account with. The amount of time for each placement (how long the debt collector may have your CC account) is measured in months. If the first debt collector cannot get you to pay, Care Credit collection policies can yank the account back, and then they could place the account for collection with another agency.
I tend to target direct settlements with Care Credit within in the same range when negotiating other GE Capital accounts, which is around 40%. But the collection agency that may have the account can move that target up or down. If you know the name of the debt collector who has your account at the moment, post that in the comments below, and I can offer further feedback.
Settling your Care Credit debt with a collector is going to be accomplished in a similar manner to what I discuss here: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/settling-charged-off-credit-card-debts-with-collection-company/.
A Debt Buyer Now Owns Your Care Credit Account
Debt buyers are investors who look to buy up unpaid debts at a steep discount in order to turn a profit. Not all debt buyers try to collect their own debts, but many do. Companies like Portfolio Recovery Group, Midland Funding/MCM, Cach LLC, and other assorted big name debt buyers, have an elaborate infrastructure to collect on the debts they buy up. Other debt buyers will assign the debts they buy out to debt collectors on a contingency basis, (they get paid if they succeed in getting you to pay). This could result in the account shuffling from one debt collector to the next similar to what I explained Care Credit does themselves above.
How you negotiate a deal with a debt buyer that picked up your Care Credit card is not much different than when dealing with debt collectors. Your realistic savings to target when negotiating is not going to drift too far from the 40% average you can often get direct from Care Credit. There will be some differences from one debt buyer to the next, so post who it is that now owns your account, if that applies, in the comments below, and I can offer more feedback about proceeding.
If you are not sure if Care Credit sold your account, call them and ask who is collecting for them, or if they sold it. They will generally offer those details. You can also look on your credit reports to see if the Care Credit, now showing as a collection account, shows as a zero balance owed. That is usually a clear indication the creditor sold your account, as no money is owed to them any more, because they sold the legal rights to your account. If this is the case, look to see if there is a corresponding collection showing on your credit report from a company you have never heard of.
I prefer just calling the creditor to get the information about debt collectors or debt buyers directly.
Waiting for Your States SOL to be Sued to Pass
Your states SOL to legitimately sue and try to collect through the courts is 4 years for this type of debt. If it has been that amount of time since you last made a payment on your Care Credit account (to anyone), or is getting close to it, you do have a reason to stop and consider your next step.
If the roughly 800 dollars you estimate you can come up with settle is not going to set you back, or cause a hardship elsewhere in your budget , it can make sense to negotiate the deal, pay it, and get your credit reports updated to show that Care Credit, or the debt collector, is now paid. But if that money can be used for more pressing concerns, and the risk you can be sued is either gone, or fading fast, it may be a better idea to hold off.
Settling or not settling is a function of math (your ability to come up with money), and timing (is it a good time to get the best deal negotiated). Your timing is good from one perspective – it has been years since your Care Credit account was paid. As you get closer to the SOL expiring, it can also make sense to let that happen, and then circle back to settle, as the leverage they have of suing has been removed.
Negotiating settlements on debts that are passed the SOL still makes sense when you are looking to rebuild your credit, or are going to apply for credit, such as a home loan, or a refinance, before the bad mark on your credit falls off (typically after 7 to 7.5 years on nonpayment).
If it were me, and I had not heard from a debt collection attorney licensed to practice in my state about this debt, I would probably let it pass your state SOL, then look to settle at what would potentially be a much better savings.
What amount can you settle for with Care Credit?
It will vary from one situation to the next. All of what I outlined about about whether you are dealing directly with Care Credit, or a collection agency, or a debt buyer is part of it. But how collectable you look can come into play as well. If your credit reports (which all of these players have real time access to) shows that you pay all of your bills on time now, and you are carrying low balances, it can be difficult to get them to accept lower settlement offers. If your credit reports are showing several other unpaid debts, or shows very little credit history at all, your collect-ability will appear lower, and dynamic deals of 30% and under become a bit more possible.
Once your accounts are passed your states SOL to legitimately use the courts, and if you are not in a hurry to get some other credit goal accomplished (home ownership), I would target my negotiations at around 25%, and not be in a hurry.
Anyone dealing with a Care Credit account that is delinquent, with a debt collector, or sold off to a debt buyer, is welcome to post in the comments below for direct answers and feedback about your situation.
About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
I am curious if you have ever encountered Care Credit Cards and if those are something that can be discounted in settlement. I have their collection attorney suing me & it much more than I can ever come up with in a lump sum. The charges were for dental work. After the card fell delinquent, I then tried paying monthly to my dentist until his new billing lady decided to threaten collection – I know I’ll never get ahead of that. Together these are close to $10,000. We have another $18000 in other unsecured debts – judgments- and we’ve considered Ch 13 but 5 years is just too long and I know the statistics that most people don’t complete it. I’d like to proactively deal with all our debt at a reasonable payment and term without being babysat by a court. Is this something you can help with? Some of the debt has already turned into judgements against my husband & liens on our house. We’re self employed so it isnt’ a simple situation for us or the creditors come collection. We need to protect ourselves and get our debt manageable.
I moved your comment to this page. Care Credit is Synchrony. I target settlements with Synchrony at 40%, or less in some situations. But now that an attorney has your account, that changes things.
I suggest you call in for a consult at 800-939-8357 ext 2, or email me at the address you get these comment notifications from. I will go over your total sebt situation and help you draw a map you can follow to the other side of your debts.
I just got a FedEx from Atlantic Credit re carecred ACCT with $11,397 balance. First letter from them. I can pay once $10258 or 100 payments of $113 for full balance.
Should I ignore and wait for better offer?
Should I call and try to pay $50 on 40%?
What should I do to get the best deal?
I have made payment within past year and sol in Louisiana is 3 I believe.
Already being sued by the Eaton Group Baton Rouge for a Barclays card $2910 and dealing with that issue as well.
I would look to negotiate a lumps sum pay off of 50% or less with Atlantic Credit and Finance if it were me.
Do you have other accounts showing as in collections on your credit reports besides Care Credit?
Do you have credit cards being kept current, and if so, how many accounts and what balances?
Question & its so urgent, run of bad luck etc…. you know the rest of the story. Anyhow Opened my Care credit account in Feb 2016 Wasn’t able to pay anything, returned bank draft in June but still says on my credit report last payment in June, Called October 19th to pay it off They said a collection agency had it but it was just done & id have to call back to find out which one. finally two weeks later I find out its Calvary Portfolio. My balance is 2248.00 my credit is showing charge off/derogatory. I had a co-signer, he’s got almost perfect credit & this is showing up. I’m willing to pay them it all but I need it off for his benefit.
Your cosigner’s credit report will be updated to show a paid collection if you pay or settle the balance. That is as good as can be expected in these situations.
All things considered, if someone has awesome credit except for one paid collection ding, they can still accomplish all of their credit and finance goals.
I co-signed for a Carecredit card for my adult daughter. She was supposed to have dental work and make monthly payments. Ii recently realized my credit score had dropped and this card was the cause. She has spent close to$7,000.00 between charges and interest and late payments. I want to settle this debt with the best effect on my credit but would like to get the late fees and possibly some of the interest forgiven. Is this possible!? What is the best way to approach this
How long has it been since a payment was sent to Care Credit? If it has been several months, the credit damage is what it is. If it has only been late a month or two, you can get set up to reage the account with a payment plan.
I am fond of settling for less than what you owe when the credit damage bell cannot be unrung.
Let me know how late it is and lets go from there.
My Carecredit Balance was charged off this month and I am currently in the process of rebuilding. It was the largest of my debits ($1200) so I saved it for last. It will be devastating for it to hit as a collection now after all the work I have put in on my credit overall. Any suggestions?? I also read a little bit on the class act and believe i could be part of that. How do you find out for sure?
Have you gotten notice of the class action? In order to have just charged off you would have to have stopped paying in the last 7-ish months (unless Care Credit made an error). Look into what that means for your ability to participate in the class.
If you are trying to improve your overall credit situation try to raise the money to settle the Care Credit account as quickly as possible. You can get back on track from there.
I have paid the required oh the taken from my bank each month for 18 mos. bill was for 3600 in June my balance was 1300. Now I find in August they have raised it to 4800. Because time period changed of which I was not aware This is devastating to me how this could be legal from June to August. What can I do. They refuse to consider anything. Please help
Who is it that you are dealing with Alex? Is it Care Credit? If not them, what is the name of the debt collection agency you are dealing with?
I was given a Care Credit account for $1000.. the balance of a $5000 payment for hearing aids for my husband. Due to some miscommunication, because I said I wanted to pay the full $5000, the doctor’s office only took $4000 and then put the remaining $1000 due on the Card. I was irritated at first but then thought, ok, I have time to pay this off.. I got it down to about $150, not knowing about the accruing interest, so when my next bill came and the balance was almost twice what I owed, I freaked. (By this time, we were deep in finanacial trouble due to my husbands health). Asked them what it was all about and they said the interest, and I didn’t know anything about that. So I didn’t pay for a while, then paid about $20 a month, which did nothing, and my balance kept going up. So seeing as over the course of almost 3 years I more than paid off that $1000, I tried speaking with them to just let me pay what I had initially had left and quit adding on all these fees and interest, and they woudln’t work with me AT ALL. I gave up paying seeing as I couldn’t make a dent. They closed the account after about 6 months, but they kept on taking on fees and interests. So it went from a low balance of about $150 all the way up to $700+. Since they closed the account I couldn’t access any records. After the 6 months or so, they sold it to Portfolio Recovery. Who have been relentless in calling. I made the mistake of speaking to them once by email, and said that I was part of the class action suit against GE Capitol (care credit) and that the debt they bought was not valid. They ignored me, but on my credit report it does say that the debt is disputed. This was almost 4 years ago. And I haven’t answered one phone call and won’t.- which by the way they call at least every other day, from all sorts of different phone numbers. Some local, some 800, most out of state area codes. I may be willing to pay $100, but Im not paying what they say they think I owe.
When was it you last paid any money to anyone on the Care Credit account?
What state are you in?
About 4 years or so. Alabama.
The SOL to sue legitimately in Alabama is 3 years for unsecured revolving debts such as credit cards. If you were to send Portfolio Recovery a cease communication letter they would have to stop calling. The biggest risk of doing that is that it leaves debt collectors only the courts to communicate with you. But with an expired SOL, that concern is removed. Many of us would prefer to get this settled and updated as zero balance owed on our credit reports. If you go that route I would target 50%. Don’t be in a hurry. Take your time if you are not trying to reach any credit goals. You will not get them to $100, but you should improve on the full balance.
Are you part of the Care Credit class?
Unfortunately not. Received the paperwork, but since I couldn’t access anything online I was unable to fill out the required information. Then family issues delayed things and the deadline passed. I honestly didn’t think anything would come of it anyway. I appreciate your attention, I thought the SOL in Alabama was 6, but I just looked up the difference in the type of accounts.
I don’t remember. Actually the first number I call inquiry about my bill the representative gave me another number to call and no one answered. I did find a bill and the number belongs to capital one. 1-866-893-7864
Have you read over the Care Credit order and can clearly see how it applies to you? Here is the release explaining the action the CFPB took: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-ge-carecredit-to-refund-34-1-million-for-deceptive-health-care-credit-card-enrollment/
You can click through and read the full order from that page.
I open care credit account in September 2012. I’m trying to find off if my account is part of the class action lawsuit . When I call to find out I was transferred to a recording. I paid one thousand on account the credit limit was 3k
What did the recording instruct you to do?
I have a 20000.00 debt with care credit tht my mom cosigned, they wouldnt accept payments via credi or debit card unless my act was 6 month delinquent, its been turned over twice to debt collector and now they are going after my mom. Is it possible to negotiate a settlement with my mom as the co-signer to get a more realistic payment plan?
What type of payment plan are you able to commit to?
Who is the debt collector you are dealing with?
I typically encourage settling the debt for as much a savings as can be achieved, and not using payment plans on debts that have gone unpaid more than 6 months (even 90 days of late payments can put you passed the tipping point to preferring settling with CareCredit).
You are welcome to call in for a consult to see what a lump sum settlement with Care Credit might look like. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, option 2.
I’ve called multiple times and left a voicemail and I haven’t heard anything back yet?
I got a voice message from a Jasmine today. When I called back it went to voice mail. I left my direct office line.
Is that something I have to pay for?
Not at all.
How do I find my care credit in collections? I’ve called 8 different companies who say they don’t have it! It says it’s in collections at Atlantic credit but still can’t track it down to pay it!!
How much is it for? When did you last make a payment to Care Credit?
I’m not sure how much it is and this account was sent to collections like 6 years ago. On my credit report it says 1918 for the price at Atlantic credit but it’s not there. I’ve never made a payment
Give me a call on Monday after 8 am pacific at 800-939-8357, option to rings to me. I will help you track it down.
My care credit account is $3200, do you think they will take 1200? I have not paid it in over two years
After 2 years of nonpayment I wonder if your Care Credit account hasn’t been sold off to a debt buyer.
If you are still able to deal with GE Capital to settle I think you have a shot at settling for $1,200. If the account was purchased, and depending on who bought it, you may be a few hundred dollars low.
my care credit account was sold to Portfolio Recovery for around $4800.00. I am looking to settle with them for a lump sum of 1000.00 (when I have it all saved & can pay that in full.) I would like your advice on a) being able to reopen with care credit and b) if i do settle with the above mentioned collector, how do I get them to remove it from my credit report?
thank you in advance!!
You will not be able to reopen that Care Credit account. Whether or not you can open a new account with Care Credit will be determined by the shape of your credit when you reapply, and whether they have a black list policy. I am not aware of one.
You will not be able to get Portfolio Recovery to delete the negative credit reporting, but they will update your credit to show the bill is resolved and a zero balance.
If your account is sold to a collections agency and you pay them off through the collections agency can you still use your card after you have paid off your account?
Most accounts that get assigned out to third party collectors will have already gone 3 or more months without payment and are closed by the creditor. This means there is next to zero chance you will be able to resume using the account.
An occasional exception to this (and I do mean seldom) is with American Express accounts.
Was this a Care Credit account? How many months has the account remained unpaid?
I want to settle care credit balance of $1,900. How do I do this?
When did you last make a payment to Care Credit?
If your account is with a debt collector at this time, who is the last known agency that called or sent you a collection notice?
If I settle a debt with Care Credit, will they decline to let me open a new account in the future? If so, for how long?
It is always possible that a creditor will decline new credit accounts when you have not paid an account with them fully. American Express has always been like that, and many credit unions are.
The other side of that is Capital One issuing new credit cards to people who have settled with them in the past, or who even have unresolved accounts still.
I cannot speak to Care Credits policies on opening new accounts. No one has ever indicated to me they had a problem with Care Credit in this way.
No. I owe care credit $3,700.00, they sold my account to portfolio for $3,700.00.
Portfolio contacted me in March, we agreed to a biweekly payment of $98.00.
By automatic debt . I stop payment because of lost card. They called me and I told them what has happen and they said, well can you now pay $80.00 biweekly ?
I asked can I pay $100.00 per month because I am broke? They said yes.
So I went from $200.00 a month to $100.00.
Care credit settled a $38,000,000.00 law suit with the Feds, for misleading the consumer , which I’m apart. Maybe this is why they offered the discount ?
I do not think PRA is being more accommodating with the monthly payment amount due to the Care Credit settlement. If I had to guess, I think they care more about the CFPB civil investigation demands and would like to show they are flexible with consumers.
How do you know if your a part of the settlement? I had an account with care credit. They sold to portfolio. I paid it off in full, now I have a negative credit line for care credit and a a line for portfolio… it’s completely paid in full and I dont know how to get at least 1 of them removed… or both would be great
Does Care Credit show on your credit report as zero balance owed? How about PRA? How long ago did you pay it off?
Care credit sold my dept to portfolio recovery, I paid them two payments at 98.00 each.
I stop payment for a month, and they called me and lower my monthly payment to 100.00 a month from 200.00 without my asking. Why?
Are you saying Portfolio Recovery Associates wanted 200 dollars a month for your Care Credit account they bought; you could only pay 98 a month, so sent that; then Portfolio notified you that 100 a month would be okay?
How much was the total amount you owed on the Care Credit account?