Debt Counselling: What To Expect
If you are over indebted and feeling overwhelmed, you’ll be pleased to know there is help at hand. You can make an appointment with a Debt Counsellor who will guide you through the process of debt counselling. This is a legal process where you will be declared over indebted and where your debt counsellor will negotiate, on your behalf, a restructured payment plan for you with your creditors. You will be provided with an alternative debt reimbursement plan, which can be submitted to a Payment Distribution Agency. The role of this is to allow you to pay one monthly instalment towards all your debts. This instalment is then paid to your creditors on your behalf. This process will continue until you have paid all your debt in full. Your debt counsellor will get a court order that will confirm the new repayment plan.
What can you expect?
Once you have been declared over indebted, and have been accepted into debt counselling, there are several aspects that you will benefit from. These include being protected from any legal action taken by your creditors for a time of 60 days from the day of application. This includes the period once the after the agreement has been made, so long as you pay the monies owing according to the new arrangement. You won’t have to accept any calls from your creditors either as they will need to liaise directly with your debt counsellor. You will also be listed with the Credit Bureau as being under debt counselling, which means that you will not be able to borrow money or open an account until you are provided with a Clearance Certificate after all your debt has been repaid according to the Court order and meets the requirements of the National Credit Act.
Regain control
As a consumer, you have the right to apply for debt counselling if you find that you are over indebted. Consider debt counselling if you are over indebted and battling to pay off your loans, as well as meeting your monthly obligations. Contact One Debt for debt counselling that help you regain control of your finances.