In terms of the The National Credit Act 34 of 2005 all Credit Providers must first submit to you, by registered post, a letter of demand called a Notice in terms of Section 129 before they can institute legal proceedings against you.
In simple terms, the letter advises you to approach a Debt Counsellor within 10 business days failing which your Credit Provider will proceed with the issue of Summons.
Once you apply to a registered debt counsellor to be placed under debt review, and provided that you stick to the programme, you are protected and you are entitled to a monthly reduction in debt obligations in order to ensure that essential living costs can be afforded by you.
The 5 Steps of the Debt Counselling Process
Step 1
• You must complete an application form and provide us with your personal details as well as that of your spouse if you are married in Community Of Property.
• You must provide us with copies of your IDS, salary advices, marriage certificate, divorce order (if divorced), your light and rates account, levy statement (if any), Telkom statements, cell phone statements and all of the statements of account in respect of all your accounts.
(Consultations are usually done telephonically and by e-mail, but can also be done in person.)
Step 2
We then assess whether you are over-indebted.
In other words, does your monthly expenses exceed your monthly income?
Step 3
If you are over-indebted, we will immediately inform all your Credit Providers, the Credit Bureaus and the National Credit Regulator that you are under Debt Review.
Your Credit Providers will also be requested to provide us with a Certificate of Balance (COB) in respect of your accounts.
For the next 60 (sixty) days your Credit Providers may not issue Summons against you. Your arrears further fall away provided you are not thereafter in breach of the debt counselling process.
Step 4
• After receiving all the COB’s, we will prepare a new payment plan and forward this to your Credit Providers .
• We will prior to submitting the Payment Plan to your Credit Providers discuss same with you. • Your Credit Providers in turn will either accept the payment plan or submit a counterproposal.
We will discuss the counterproposal with you and then arrive at a final proposal.
– (Your restructured payment plan will reduce your monthly debt repayments to an affordable amount, leaving you with sufficient money for your living expenses. We will also endeavour to decrease the interest rate to 0% in respect of all your accounts save for the vehicle or your Bond.)
Step 5
• Finally we will instruct our sister Company, a firm of Attorneys (who have been in private practise for 35 years), to apply to court in order to make your restructured payment plan an Order Of Court.
• The Attorneys will prepare a comprehensive Application to Court supported by Affidavits signed by you and your Debt Counsellor.
• In most Courts, you will not have to appear in court yourself, as your Debt Counsellor will be the applicant in the matter, unless the particular magistrate requires your presence.
The process is now complete and you must ensure that your monthly payments are made timeously in order to prevent Credit Providers taking action against you.
Some Important Facts
- All your payments will be made by you, in one lump sum monthly amount via debit/stop order to a Payment Distribution Agency (PDA) who will distribute your money according to your debt restructuring plan. The PDA that we are using is accredited by the National Credit Regulator and is one of the oldest and trusted in South Africa. You need not any more worry about having to make monthly payments yourself.
- Provision is made for your Debt Counselling fees in your debt restructuring plan, ensuring that you will at all times only be making one affordable monthly payment towards your Credit Providers and your after care Debt Counselling fees.
- For the time you remain under debt review ,we will provide you with monthly after care support and monitor your payments to the PDA.
- The Debt Counselling process requires you to act in absolutely good faith. You are required to ensure that you meet your monthly instalments every month without fail. Save for exceptional circumstances, if you fail to pay one instalment when it falls due, you no longer have the protection of the Court Order.
- Once you have satisfied all your debt obligations, we will issue you with a Clearance Certificate and advise all the Credit Bureaus, who will then remove your Debt Review status from their records and you will be able to apply for credit again.
Some of the Creditors & Attorneys we deal with
Contact Details
CONTACT DETAILS
HEAD OFFICE
SATELLITE OFFICE
Registered with the NCR - National Credit Regulator
Registration Number: DC425
