On-Screen Results. See the solutions you may qualify for.
Registered with the Regulator
Use the NCR approved DCRS system, which facilitates interest rate reduction
Affordable legal fees for clients
Provide monthly statements and continuous client support
Use a registered Payment Distribution Agency to ensure clients funds are protected
Adhere to the moral standards that DC Hub expects
We have all heard of instances where unscrupulous debt counsellors have put consumers in a worse off position and charged high fees for doing a sub-standard job. The goal of Debtcounselling.com is to correct this.
Debtcounselling.com helps you choose a debt counsellor that knows how to help consumers get out of debt by using the correct systems and processes. We have pre-vetted all of our partners to ensure that the service received is of the highest quality, at the right price.
A debt counsellor is an individual who is registered with the NCR (National Credit Regulator) and is fully qualified to provide debt counselling services to individuals. Debt counsellors were formally introduced by the National Credit Act (NCA) to better regulate the process of debt management for consumers. They are able to work independently or within an organisation but must adhere to the correct rules and regulations.
All of our debt counselling partners have teams of extremely supportive, qualified and knowledgeable debt counsellors who negotiate with credit providers on the client’s behalf. They assist clients to propose a repayment plan which is affordable and aim to empower and educate them to take better control of their finances along with their future financial decisions.
When seeking assistance with your debt, approaching a registered, credible, trustworthy debt counsellor is imperative to avoid your finances landing in the wrong hands.
All debt counsellors should be registered with the NCR and must hold a debt counselling certificate displaying the individual’s registration number (e.g. NCRDC3456) which is issued to them upon registration as a debt counsellor. They should also have a proven track record and use the correct systems and processes in order to ensure that your best interests are taken care of.
See the “Why use us?” tab in the main menu for more details.
Debt Counsellor’s assess if you are over-indebted by running through your budget. They obtain a credit report from the credit bureau and assess your current financial situation. A debt repayment plan along with a monthly budget is prepared. It is the responsibility of your debt counsellor to send a notification to all your credit providers stating you have applied for debt counselling and subsequently negotiate your new payment plan with them.
Along with the above, your debt counsellor should:
Debt counselling is a formal debt management solution that was introduced by the National Credit Regulator in 2007. Debt counsellors assist clients with their debt problems through debt counselling which enables them to make affordable monthly debt repayments and regain financial stability. Debt counselling assists clients by reducing monthly debt repayments, and in most instances interest rates as well, therefore putting consumers in a stronger financial position.
The debt counselling process assists clients battling to repay their debt obligations. This is done by entering them into a debt repayment plan with their credit providers. It is most suited to consumers who are over-indebted and are struggling to repay their debts and in most instances have missed debt repayments.
Debt counselling helps individuals become debt free in an affordable manner.
Debt counselling’s purpose is to reduce your monthly debt repayments making them more affordable for you. Once you are under the debt counselling process the following will occur:
In South Africa, millions of consumers are considered to be over-indebted. Being over-indebted means that you do not earn the required amount of money each month to cover your debt repayments and general living expenses, such as rent, food and petrol. This may have resulted from unforeseen circumstances, over-spending, or expensive situations that are out of your control.
How do you know you may be over indebted?
The process of applying for debt counselling is simple. The following documents will need to be submitted to your debt counsellor:
If you are single or married ANC (Ante Nuptial Contract):
If you are married in community of property:
If you are married ANC (with an Ante Nuptial Contract):
If you are married in community of property:
You should consider debt counselling as a long term solution and not just a quick fix as a lot of commitment is required. The entire process may take as long as five years and is dependent upon your amount of debt, how much you can afford each month and whether or not you have assets. There are many examples of clients being debt free within three years as they have paid additional repayments from bonuses and tax repayments which speeds up the process.
The National Credit Act governs debt counselling. The amount you repay monthly is specific to your situation and depends on how much debt you have. The NCR permits all debt counsellors to charge certain fees and a breakdown is shown below on those fees and how they are structured:
Month 1 covers restructure and application fees
Month 2 covers sundry, aftercare and PDA fees
Month 3 onwards covers creditor’s payments, aftercare and PDA fees
A new repayment plan will be set up for you which looks like this:
Certain individuals have faced difficulties in the past with regards to employment opportunities whilst being under debt counselling. Many employers did not have the correct understanding of how debt counselling actually worked when it was first introduced. Things have changed and employers are now more aware, so signing up for debt counselling should not have any impact on your current job or on future employment opportunities or prospects.
In 2007 Debt counselling was developed in South Africa and introduced as a positive rehabilitation process to assist consumers struggling with debt, and is viewed by most employers in a positive light.
Within most occupations, it is important that you are able to show that you can manage your personal finances, especially if your job entails advising others on money management or financial services. Most employers will feel that if you can’t manage your own money properly; you would not be able to give other individuals sound financial advice.
Debt counselling is voluntary and therefore by taking your own initiative to sign up for this rehabilitation process, you are taking a responsible step towards repaying your debts therefore showing your employer that you are attempting to take control of your finances instead of neglecting them.
Missing your debt repayments will result in defaults and judgments against your name. These will show that you are failing to address your debt problems and are not taking responsibility for your actions which means employers are most likely to view this in a negative light and will be hesitant to hire you. This will be seen in a worse light than making an effort to try resolve your problem.
Our debt counselling companies deal with clients from a variety of industries and always ensure confidentiality as employers are not informed about the client’s debt review status.
Should a potential employer conduct a credit check and see that you are under debt counselling, it should not have an impact on your chance of success. However, if necessary, our debt counselling companies will provide clients with a letter stating that they are under debt counselling informing the employer about the process.
Debt counselling does not negatively affect your credit record and actually improves it during the process. Your credit report will indicate that you are under debt counselling, so that you won’t be able to access more debt. All history of debt counselling will be removed after you have been issued your clearance certificate.
A Payment Distribution Agency (PDA) is a government regulated agency that is responsible for distributing your monthly debt repayments to you creditors. A PDA will ensure that all of your creditors are paid on time and that your money is safe and secure. It also assists with you making one monthly installment as opposed to yourself or your debt counsellor making payment to 8 or 9 credit providers every month.
When all of your debt has been paid off a Clearance certificate is issued to your creditors and the Credit Bureau by your Debt Counsellor to confirm that you have completed the debt counselling process. Your credit report will be updated at the bureaus and the debt counselling flag will be removed from your credit profile.
No. You will not have access to your credit cards, retail accounts, overdrafts or any types of new or existing credit while under debt counselling. Debt counselling aims to get you debt free and focuses on the debt you currently have. Now that your monthly debt repayments are more affordable, you will not need to take out any new debt.
Missing payments may result in termination of your debt counselling process by your Credit Providers or Debt Counsellor. This allows creditors to commence legal action against you as you have breached the contract. If you feel you may miss a payment, contact your debt counsellor to see if there is anything they can do to help. Sticking to your new budget will help you make all payments on time.
Yes. You are encouraged to pay more towards your debt whenever possible. The more you pay, the quicker your debts will be repaid, and the sooner you become debt free.
If any of your accounts have legal action attached they may be excluded from debt counselling by your creditor. You will need to make arrangements with your creditor to pay off the excluded accounts separately. These amounts will be included in your monthly budget. It is always better to have all of your accounts under the process to avoid missed payments.
Your new monthly debt counselling repayment will replace all your prior debt repayments. You stop paying your creditors directly and begin to pay through the Payment Distribution Agency (PDA). The PDA will then distribute the funds to the relevant parties, based on the negotiations that the debt counsellor has completed.
If you fail to cancel your old debit orders, they will continue to come off your account in addition to your new Debt Counselling repayment, which you wont be able to afford.
It is often easier to open a new bank account for your salary to be paid into when you are under debt counselling. This prevents the banks from trying to retrieve your money through money grabs as well as old debit orders running. Your new monthly debt counselling payment will run from this new account. You should move all service agreement (cell phone contract, insurance etc.) debit orders to the new account.
Vehicles and homes should be insured as a condition of your loan contract. It is important to continue paying all insurance policies while under debt counselling. These premiums, as well as other service agreements, are not included under debt counselling and get included in your monthly budget.
The Court or NCT will consider your application and ensure that all is in order. Once the court order has been granted, your creditors are bound to the new payment plan. Missing payments may result in creditors repossessing your assets and creditors or the debt counsellor cancelling the process, which may result in legal action.
When you sign up for debt counselling, the Credit Bureaus and your creditors are notified of your application. The Credit Bureaus will then flag your profile on their system to note that you have applied for debt counselling.
This occurs to prevent you from taking out more debt whilst you are under the process. The debt counselling process was designed to rehabilitate you and taking on additional credit would prevent you from gaining financial wellness and becoming debt free.
Once you have paid off your debt, your clearance certificate is sent to your Credit Providers, the National Credit Regulator (NCR) and the Credit Bureau. Consequently the Credit Bureaus will remove the debt counselling flag from your profile which would allow you access to credit again.
Once you have completed the process, it is important to draw up a new budget and stick to it. You can now focus on saving and investing, due to you not having any more debt to pay, and begin your journey to financial wealth.
The DC Hub registered debt counsellors can assist you by investigating your current debt counselling status. There are many NCR registered debt counsellors, but only a few of them are actively practicing. Our debt counsellors will check to see if your debt counsellor is responsive and if they still exist. If your debt counsellor ceases to exist, one of our registered debt counsellors can assist in restructuring your debt and getting your payment plan back on track.
