Debt Counseling
Debt counseling can provide hope and a brighter future for millions of South Africans. If you are one of the estimated 8 million South Africans who need counseling, working with professionals can help you to get your life back.
Of the estimated 19 million people in who have entered into some form of credit agreement, about 8 million people are in arrears with their accounts and can not afford to pay their creditors.
Debt Counselors can assist you to renegotiate the terms of the credit agreements with your creditors, making monthly payments affordable and providing for your living expenses. You don't need to worry about creditors knocking on your door demanding payment or proceeding with legal action.
You CAN get your life back, satisfy your creditors and prevent the loss of precious assets. And yes, all applications are treated in the strictest confidence.
Debt counseling is in essence a VOLUNTARY process of restructuring your current debt obligations in such a manner that you, as the debtor, will be able to afford the monthly installments due to your creditors. The aim of the debt restructuring is to ensure that you can afford the monthly installments due to creditors, AND that you will repay all the debt due to your creditors.
Debt Counseling was established through The National Credit Act that was introduced on the 1st of June 2007 in an attempt to promote and regulate a fair and transparent credit market. The Act seeks to protect consumers against reckless lending and to provide them with the means to restructure and pay off their debt in instances where a consumer is over-indebted. Debt Counseling is a legal procedure whereby a person who is over-indebted can obtain relief and legal protection from creditors. The process also safeguards the debtor from losing his/her assets.
The Debt Counseling process is conducted by a qualified Debt Counselor that has been registered at the office of the National Credit Regulator. The Debt Counselor will act as a negotiator or mediator between the consumer and his/her credit providers. The Debt Counselor will gather all the relevant information from the Consumer, draw up a proposed repayment plan and make the recommendations to the consumer's credit providers and will assist in having the recommendations made an order of court.
Debt Counseling is NOT the same as Debt Administration or sequestration. In these instances, you hand over the control of your finances to a third party who will be in charge of paying of your debt over a long period of time. These options do not contain a specific repayment plan that will ensure that your creditors will be paid in full over the shortest period of time and you might end up paying much more than the original debt.
Debt Counseling is cost effective way of managing your debt in such a way that you can avoid the continuous threats of angry creditors and to ensure that you can afford the monthly installments due to your creditors after provision has been made for your monthly living expenses. The Debt Counseling process is regulated by the National Credit Act which will ensure honesty, integrity and effectiveness on the part of the Debt Counselor.