Called Credit card company to reduce rate; they refused

15% is pretty standard for a settlement company. But if you can get settlements for 40%, you're still only paying 55% of your total debt, which isn't bad. And often, as in my case, the settlements have been less than the 40% so far. By the time I'm done, though, they could average that. And my monthly payment is about $1000 less per month than paying on the credit cards would be. BUT, a lot of people do settlements on their own, thereby saving that extra fee. It's not a walk in the park, but it can save you a lot.

and some companies won't apply benefits of lower interest rates/etc for 6 months after being on a program. no guarantee of a lower payment. didn't realize that when I signed up. however, companies can't promise what cc companies will do.

Does it pretty much boil down to stop paying CC's for now just to "force" them to negotiate?

I used a calculator that was provided on ACCC site; it seems like the monthly payment will increase a little, but the number of payments will decrease by about 8 years or so. Does this make sense? I am hoping to be able to reduce the monthly payments if I can. Am I too optimistic?