How do I qualify for debt review?

It is no secret that South Africans were hard hit in 2020 and 2021. A survey by auditing firm Deloitte, released in early December 2021, found that  South African consumers experienced financial pressure from price hikes and debt.

Deloitte consulting consumer industry leader Rodger George said: “Consumers are financially strapped. If you compare middle-income consumers with other middle-income markets, there are higher levels of concern about the ability to honour debts”

What is heartening though, is the number of South Africans who have taken heed of their debt relief options, especially the process of debt review – and are now acting to fix their debt problems.

Sebastien Alexanderson, CEO of leading debt counselling practice, National Debt Advisors says he is surprised by the change that the industry has experienced early in 2022. “ Usually, we start getting enquiries about debt review towards the end of January, when the children have gone back to school and end of January debt repayments are looming. This year, we have seen an influx of interaction between consumers and NDA from the very first week in January”

Alexanderson goes on to say that the most common question asked by those making enquiry is: how do I qualify for debt review?

The answer is simple:

You must be over-indebted. That means that :

• most of your income is going towards paying your debt
• you are struggling to pay your debt on time
• you don’t have enough money left (after paying your debt) for necessities like food, transport and electricity
• you are constantly taking out loans to get through everyday life – whether it be from recognized institutions, microlenders, mashonisa’s, family or friends

If you are confused, overwhelmed and unsure of whether you qualify for debt review, make contact with National Debt Advisors (NDA) today. If you want, we will do a free debt assessment on your overall financial situation.

Besides being over-indebted, there are other requirements to qualify for debt review, namely:

• you must be over 18
• you must be employed or have some form of regular income that gets paid into a bank account
• you must be a South African citizen and have debt in South Africa
• you and your spouse must both jointly apply for debt review, if you are married in community of property
• you cannot be sequestrated or under debt administration.

Only  debt counsellors  who are registered with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) may place you under debt review. Once you qualify for debt review and start the process of debt review, you will:

• pay lower monthly installments on your debt (sometimes up to 50% less)
• you don’t have to deal with bothersome calls from creditors. You can refer all creditors who are hounding and harassing you to your designated NDA debt counsellor. It will be part of our job to deal with them
• your assets (house, car etc) are safe from repossession
• you will have more money left for everyday necessities
• you will be able to start saving for emergencies.

There is no shame in not being able to cope. Contact NDA for more information.