The End of a Debt Review Journey
South African consumers are enjoying the freedom of seeing the chains of debt fall off their ankles after five years, becoming free of their debt review. Time for financial renewal and a reset credit report after the clearance certificate issued, open new doors to enjoy financial freedom again. Consumer Debt Support understands the relief experienced by consumers enjoying the new found debt clearance that allow the re-entry into the credit market.
Consumers that complete the debt review program has one thing in common, and that is to succeed in their debt review program no matter what challenge and obstacles come in their way. The National Credit Act makes provisions for debt protection, and stopping further legal action when a consumer enters into the program. The only legal, legitimate and recognized program to assist consumers settle debt is debt review in terms of the National Credit Act (no. 34 of 2005).
Over-indebtedness finally coming to an end…
The inner joy of the debt counselling program that can take up to five years of financial sacrifice and commitment to complete the debt review program. Consumers live on a reasonable affordable spending budget to ensure creditors are paid one affordable payment plan monthly. Completing the program, the road could not have been easy to achieve a debt free status. New lessons and skills are learned from debt counselling. The program helps individuals look at money differently and spending within a monthly budget.
Stay in contact with your debt counsellor!
Remember, it is your money and your debt!
Therefore, it remains an important matter to you when you allow someone else to do a debt restructuring application with your creditors on your behalf.
Consumers fail the program as they do not actively partake in their debt review application and process, believing they handed their problems over to the debt counsellor to fix.
- Write down the name, surname of your debt counsellor – not the agent.
- The NCRDC number of your debt counsellor.
- Visit the register of registrants of the NCR and confirm your debt counsellor registration is up to date.
- The contact details and email address of the debt counsellor.
- You are paying a monthly aftercare fee.
- Request annually updated balances.
- Accounts are paid request the paid up letters.
- Accounts prescribed request the letter of prescriptions.
The above is so important to keep track who is dealing with your debt review. Often we are faced with consumers that have no idea who their debt counsellor’s are. Know who you are dealing with, and check if the person is registered with the National Credit Regulator.
Your debt counselling has come to an end and you are successfully rehabilitated! What must happen now?
Looking back at the five years of a debt review, the reward is sweet and a moment of being grateful you came this far. Here are some of the debt counselling things you need to know when the debt is paid up. Your debt counsellor must issue your clearance certificate and remove you from the debt review program. No creditor may hold the debt review program against you after exiting with the clearance certificate.
Talk to us for the criteria, documents and process to finalize the debt review clearance and removal successfully. You do not have to stay in debt review for longer that what is needed. If you are unsure connect with us now for accurate and honest advise with the NCR guidelines to back the facts.
How long does it take to re-enter the credit market?
Creditors can take about 21 days to update accounts paid up with the credit bureaux. The credit bureaux then take about five days to clear all negative credit information from a credit report. The credit report scores most likely will be 0 (zero) by the date of the debt review exit. Once all the negative information is removed, the score will recover and that can take 21 to 90 days.
Re-entering the credit market
It is important to note that your credit report will be clear, with no active credit history that will show an active payment history of accounts. That means you will need to rebuild your credit report from the start.
Applying for new credit
Some consumers make the mistake of taking on too much debt soon after re-entering the credit market. Often, this could result in over-indebtedness and a need for debt review again.
Learn from previous mistakes and do a thorough affordability budget before taking on any new debt. Shop around and compare your quotations, consider the cost of the monthly interest and other fees, the monthly payment plan, and whether you would be able to afford it over the following 60 months or so.
Double check yourself: Do you really need the loan or credit card? If you do not understand how to manage a credit card, it would now be a good idea to read up more or even talk to a bookkeeper or financial adviser for sound advice before you accept a credit card.
Do you really need the store account, or could you continue to buy cash?
Should you maybe rather focus on buying a home and paying a bond rather than renting and paying someone else’s home loan?
Revising your pension plan
It would be a good idea to revise your pension plan and look into topping up and paying more towards your retirement. If you had five years in debt review, you might not have been able to save enough for your retirement during that time. Plan for and improved and higher monthly deduction and invest towards your peace of mind.
In conclusion
It is so easy for anyone to fall into the same old financial traps. Guard yourself and remember the time you spent in debt review as well as the sacrifices you made to become debt free. Enjoy your newfound creditworthiness and benefits of having access to credit again. Share your financial experiences with your children, teach them about saving money, and look at spending responsibly so that you will reach your rewards and goals of a better financial tomorrow.
