<prompt> Human: I have 16k debt and want to settle, I havent missed any payments yet.. anybody have experienced doing this with amex? How many payments do I need to miss in order to get a settlement? Please help me, going through tough times and cannot afford to pay all of it.  <response>: I have 16k debt and want to settle, I havent missed any payments yetYou will need to write them a check for 16K today, and it will be settled. If you want to attempt to pay less, AMEX will have to not get paid for a long time, and believe they probably wont get paid. After a few years they will probably settle for less.This assumes they dont sue you in the interim. 