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When should you consider debt counselling?
Even before lockdown, many people were finding it difficult to meet their debt repayments and facing the prospect of defaulting. Once you are in default the collection and legal fees mount and debt that you were already struggling to repay could easily double. You could even risk losing your car or home.
One of the options available is debt counselling where you select to go under debt review and are protected against legal action by creditors.
A debt counsellor provides a court-issued agreement stipulating the repayment plan. Consumers make one affordable, payment each month, to an independent Payment Distribution Agency (PDA). This in turn is distributed to the creditors as per the agreement.
Once under debt review you may not apply for any credit until all the debts, as per the court order, are settled. Once settled, the debt counsellor will issue a clearance certificate confirming that all the accounts listed under the agreement are paid up. Home loans are the exception and do not need to be fully paid up, but must be up to date. The debt counsellor must ensure that the credit bureaus receive the certificate.
While there are many satisfied customers in debt counselling, there are just as many who have had a negative experience. Make sure you are working with an ethical provider who is a member of the Debt Counsellor Association of South Africa or the National Debt Counsellors Association.
When working with a debt counsellor make sure they create a repayment plan that can be settled within five years. This can be done if the debt counsellor negotiates lower interest rates with the creditors.
According to the National Debt Counsellors Association reputable debt counsellors use an industry standard called the Debt Counselling Rule Set or DCRS that allows them to negotiate significant interest rate reductions on consumers’ debt.?
For unsecured lending such as personal loans and credit cards, DCRS allows for renegotiation of the interest rate as close to zero percent as possible. This is a significant saving on credit agreements that can have interest rates as high as 23%.
Debt counselling can be a great solution, but do your homework before you enter any agreement as once the agreement is in place, you are legally bound to it.
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