The Basics
What is debt review?
Debt review (also called debt counselling) is a legal process under Section 86 of the National Credit Act. An NCR-registered debt counsellor restructures your debt with your creditors: interest rates drop, repayments fall by 30-50%, and your home, car and salary are protected from legal action while you pay off what you owe.
Who qualifies for debt review?
Anyone who is over-indebted: your income no longer covers your debt instalments plus reasonable living costs. You need an income (salary, wages or self-employed earnings) because the process is built around one affordable monthly payment.
Is debt review the same as being blacklisted?
No. The debt review flag on your credit profile is a protection mechanism, not a penalty listing. It stops new credit while you recover and is removed completely when you receive your clearance certificate.
How long does debt review take?
Most clients finish in 3 to 5 years, depending on how much they owe and what they can afford monthly. Smaller debt loads can clear in around 2 years.
Can I do debt review myself without a counsellor?
No. Only an NCR-registered debt counsellor can lodge a Section 86 application, negotiate binding restructured terms and issue a clearance certificate. What you can do yourself is verify any counsellor's NCRDC number on the NCR register before signing.
Is debt review a government programme?
It is a legal process created by the National Credit Act and regulated by the National Credit Regulator (NCR), a statutory body. The service itself is delivered by private NCR-registered debt counsellors whose fees are capped by law.
How do I check if I am under debt review?
Pull your free annual credit report from TransUnion or Experian and look for the debt review flag, or ask your debt counsellor. If you find a flag you never agreed to, it can be disputed.
What is the difference between debt review and debt counselling?
In everyday use they mean the same thing. Technically, debt counselling is the professional assessment and guidance; debt review is the formal legal restructuring process that follows if you are over-indebted.
Money: Costs, Payments and Interest
How much does debt review cost?
Fees are capped by the NCR: a R50 application fee, a once-off restructuring fee up to about R9,000 (your first restructured instalment), monthly aftercare of about 5% capped near R450, and a payment distribution fee of about R29.50 a month. Everything is built into your one monthly payment.
Are there upfront costs?
No. You never pay a separate amount out of pocket. All regulated fees are recovered inside your restructured monthly payment. A company demanding cash upfront before starting is a warning sign.
By how much do repayments drop?
Most clients pay 30-50% less per month in total. The saving comes from reduced interest rates and longer repayment terms, negotiated with every creditor and confirmed by court order.
What happens to my interest rates?
They are negotiated down, often dramatically. Unsecured debt at 20-27% is frequently restructured to between 0% and 5%, which means more of every payment reduces the actual debt.
What is a PDA?
A Payment Distribution Agency: an NCR-approved body that receives your one monthly payment and distributes it to all your creditors according to the court-approved plan. Your money never passes through the debt counsellor's own account.
Can I pay my creditors directly instead of using the PDA?
It is legally possible in limited cases but almost always a bad idea: you lose the audit trail that proves compliance, and one missed allocation can unravel your protection.
What if I can pay extra one month?
Extra payments are allowed and shorten your term. Tell your debt counsellor so the PDA allocates the surplus correctly, usually to the most expensive debt first.
Does debt review include SARS debt or municipal accounts?
No. Debt review covers credit agreements under the National Credit Act: loans, cards, store accounts, vehicle finance, bonds. Tax debt, municipal bills, school fees and DSTV are not credit agreements, though the restructuring frees up money to keep them current.
Your Assets: Car, House and Belongings
Can I lose my car under debt review?
The opposite: debt review protects it. Once your application is lodged and the court order granted, the bank cannot repossess your vehicle as long as you pay the restructured instalment.
Can I lose my house?
Your home is protected the same way. The bond is included in the restructuring and the court order stops repossession while you keep to the plan.
Can I buy a car while under debt review?
Not on credit: new credit agreements are prohibited until you are cleared. You can buy a car cash. If your current car is unaffordable, your counsellor can help restructure or trade down.
Can furniture or appliances be repossessed?
Goods bought on credit agreements are protected once included in your debt review, exactly like the car and house. Keep paying the restructured amount and repossession is off the table.
What happens to my home loan at the end?
You can receive your clearance certificate once every other debt is settled, provided the bond is up to date. The bond then simply continues on its original or restructured terms.
Life Under Debt Review
Can I get a loan while under debt review?
No registered lender may legally grant you credit while the flag is active, and taking an illegal loan can void your protection. If you are in a genuine emergency, talk to your counsellor about a payment holiday instead.
Can I get a cellphone contract?
A financed handset contract needs a credit check, so usually no. SIM-only month-to-month and prepaid deals work fine and are cheaper anyway.
Can I rent a property?
Yes. A lease is not a credit agreement. Some landlords run credit checks, so be upfront: a debt review flag with a clean payment record often reads better than a trail of defaults.
Can I travel overseas?
Yes. Debt review places no travel restrictions on you. Keep your monthly payment running while you are away.
Can my employer find out?
Your employer is not notified. Only jobs that lawfully require credit checks (certain financial-trust positions) might see the flag, and a managed debt review generally reads far better than unmanaged defaults.
Does debt review affect my spouse?
If you are married in community of property, the joint estate means both spouses apply together. Married out of community, your spouse's credit profile is unaffected.
Can I open a new bank account?
Yes. A transactional account is not credit. In fact we recommend banking where you owe nothing, so your salary is separated from your debt.
What happens if I lose my job during debt review?
Tell your counsellor immediately. Payments can be renegotiated or paused while you find work, and credit-life insurance on many agreements covers retrenchment instalments.
What if I miss a payment?
One missed payment is fixable if you act fast: contact your counsellor before the creditors react. Repeated non-payment lets creditors terminate the review and resume legal action.
Can I cancel debt review after starting?
Before the court order, you can withdraw (with consequences: creditor action resumes). After a court order, you cannot simply cancel; you exit by finishing, or by a court declaring you no longer over-indebted.
Banks, Creditors and Legal Letters
What happens with my bank when I go under debt review?
Your bank becomes one creditor among the rest: it must accept the restructured terms once ordered. Consider moving your salary account to a bank where you owe nothing before you start.
Can creditors still phone me?
No. Once you are under debt review, creditors must deal with your debt counsellor. Harassment after that point can be reported to the NCR.
What is a Section 129 notice?
The formal warning letter a creditor must send before suing you: it gives you 10 business days to act. Responding by applying for debt review inside that window stops the legal action on that account.
What is a garnishee order?
A court order (emoluments attachment order) that takes money directly from your salary. Debt review prevents new garnishees, and existing ones can often be renegotiated into the plan.
Can a creditor refuse debt review?
Creditors can oppose proposals, but once the magistrate grants the rearrangement order it binds them. In practice most major credit providers accept reasonable proposals from established counsellors.
What is reckless lending?
Credit granted without a proper affordability assessment. If proven, a court can suspend or even set aside the agreement. Your debt counsellor screens your agreements for it during assessment.
What are Form 17.1, 17.2, 16 and 19?
The paperwork trail: Form 17.1 notifies creditors you applied; Form 17.2 confirms you are over-indebted; Form 16 is your signed application; Form 19 is the clearance certificate that ends the process and removes the flag.
Can money be taken straight off my salary for debt?
Only through an emoluments attachment order granted by a magistrate after judgment, capped at 25% of your basic salary. Many older or clerk-issued orders are defective and can be challenged. Debt review prevents new attachment orders entirely.
What is a writ of execution?
A post-judgment instruction that lets the sheriff attach and sell your movable belongings to settle a debt. It is one of the last steps in the enforcement chain, and one of the clearest signals that acting earlier (at the Section 129 stage) would have cost far less.
The bank is threatening to repossess my car. What do I do right now?
Do not surrender the vehicle or sign anything under pressure. Check whether you received a Section 129 notice, and get an affordability assessment immediately: debt review lodged before the court order stops the repossession legally.
Getting Out: Removal and the Clearance Certificate
How do I remove debt review from my name?
Three legal routes only: a Form 19 clearance certificate when your debts are paid up, a court order if your finances recovered earlier, or a bureau dispute if you were never lawfully placed under review. Nothing else is legitimate.
How much does removal cost?
The clearance certificate route is usually covered by the fees you already paid. Court-based removal typically runs R6,000 to R10,000 or more. Anyone quoting a flat fee for guaranteed removal before checking your legal status is selling something that does not exist.
How long until the flag comes off?
Usually 7 to 21 business days after your last paid-up letter arrives, and the bureaus must update within about 7 business days of receiving the Form 19.
Can debt review be removed without a court order?
Only if you completed the process (clearance certificate) or were never legally placed under review (dispute). If a rearrangement order exists and debt remains, court is the only lawful exit.
What happens after I get my clearance certificate?
The flag and restructuring history come off your credit profile, you can apply for credit again, and you start rebuilding your score. Start small and keep it clean.
How soon can I buy a house after debt review?
You can apply as soon as your clearance certificate is issued and the flag is removed. Most banks want to see 6 to 12 months of clean credit behaviour first, so use that window to build a record.
My debt counsellor disappeared. Now what?
Your file can be transferred to another NCR-registered counsellor who can complete the process and issue your clearance certificate. Contact a new counsellor or the NCR directly.
Choosing Help and Avoiding Scams
How do I choose a debt review company?
Verify the NCRDC number on the NCR register, read the Google and Hellopeter reviews, get the fees in writing, and confirm payments run through a registered PDA. Any company that fails one of those checks fails the test.
How do I spot a debt review scam?
Guaranteed approvals, cash upfront, no NCRDC number, promises to remove the flag in days, or 'a contact at the credit bureau'. Every one of those is a red flag the NCR has formally warned about.
Is DS4U registered with the NCR?
Yes: NCRDC2423, verifiable on the NCR public register. DS4U is also DCASA-accredited, a three-time Debt Review Awards top-10 finalist, and partnered with Debt Free with Armani (NCRDC1015).
Can I switch debt counsellors if I am unhappy?
Yes. You can transfer your file to another registered counsellor. A good new counsellor will manage the formal transfer for you.
Is debt review better than a debt consolidation loan?
For over-indebted people, usually yes: consolidation needs a new loan you probably will not qualify for, offers no asset protection, and often carries higher interest than restructured rates. Debt review requires no new borrowing.
Is debt review better than sequestration?
They solve different problems. Sequestration surrenders your estate (assets are sold) and suits hopeless insolvency; debt review keeps your assets and suits people with income who need affordable repayments.
What are the disadvantages of debt review?
No new credit until you finish, a visible flag while active, regulated fees, and years of payment discipline. For over-indebted households those costs usually weigh far less than the legal action they replace.
How do I start?
A free assessment with an NCR-registered counsellor. At DS4U the whole thing runs on WhatsApp: assessment, proposal and signing, no paperwork, and you see your numbers before you commit to anything.
Reviewed by a registered debt counsellor, NCRDC2423
