@comebackjimmy thank you for the insight i will give that a go I have never defaulted on a payment before and my credit score has always been excellent but I have no doubt this will probably tarnish it for a while. Do you know how long it takes for credit reference agencies to update on defaulted payments etc?

Hello, To give a little insight - While I was abroad in Thailand last year I was the unfortunate victim of an elaborate s cam which saw me having to max out my 2 Amex credit cards in order to pay the money the Thai people said I owed or they would not give back my Passport (police there were no help because I had signed a botched contract to rent out a boat for a few hours from these people). Not looking for sympathy just want to make it clear I had good reason to max out these cards (although i know Amex and the DCA will not give a flying f**k). this saw me max out almost £6,500 in total (they had said I owed nearly £9000) but were quick to release the debt after I paid the initial £6.5k. since August, I have been paying back this amount in small installments to Amex (usually the minimum payment required each month) - with both cards it usually comes to £300-400 (with the intention of having it all fully paid in around 24 months). I fell behind for the last few months (with about £4k of the debt remaining from £6.5k) I received an email from Amex about my missed payment last week asking for the FULL amounts to be paid on both cards or it would be transferred to a DCA - which would have been impossible for me to do. Nevertheless I began budgeting for Aug to make sure I could pay the minimum required each month as I was positive they would take it rather than nothing at all as there is no way I could pay in full however, just a few days later I received an email from Allied International regarding the Amex debt. I called Amex to ask about this but before I could, they simply asked for my CC details then put me on hold to then pass me to their 'collections team' who turned out to be Allied, so it seems Amex themselves will not give me the time of day anymore. When I was passed onto Allied I put the phone down after the agent got increasingly aggressive in wanting me to 'confirm my details' which I wouldn't do in order to proceed with the call. I have all intentions of paying back this debt in full but I do not want to deal with any DCA's - can people recommend my next steps as I do not know where to go from here. Does Allied now own the debt? Can I contact Amex to continue paying directly to them? Any help will be much appreciated!