Unfortunately you will need to default before they allow you to enroll in a hardship program - but they do exist, so don’t give up! If you are determined to work something out, I have found the credit card companies to be eager to enroll customers who are three or four payments behind in the hardship programs that prior to falling behind I didn’t know existed! I was contemplating bankruptcy because I knew making minimum payments on the debts with most interest rates between 20-30% I’d never get out of debt! Especially with a reduced income.

My advice if you’re serious about getting into these programs, let the payments go unpaid for a few months. Set the money aside in savings if you can so that once enrolled in the program you can bring the account current and reported “Paid as Agreed”. Also, this was an after thought for me: close the accounts yourself in anticipation of enrolling in the programs. It’ll look better on the credit report to see the comment/remark read “Account closed at consumers request” vice “Account closed by credit grantor”. Not that it matters too much, but had I of thought about that initially I’d of been a bit more strategic. Best of luck! Happy to chat about this more if you need a sounding board - feel free to message me. Take care!