The National Credit Regulator (NCR) regulates credit providers, credit bureaux and debt counsellors under the National Credit Act. The contact details below were read from the NCR website on 2 September 2026.
Task scope
Removing a debt review flag from your credit record. The flag is placed when you enter debt review and must be removed once the debt is settled or the review is properly withdrawn – until then it blocks new credit.
Route
- Call centre: 0860 627 627
- Reception: 011 554 2700
- Complaints: [email protected]
- General enquiries: [email protected]
Current notice: the NCR states on its own website that it has been the victim of a cyber-attack. Treat unexpected calls, emails or SMSes claiming to be from the NCR with particular caution while that stands, and initiate contact yourself using the numbers above rather than replying to an approach.
Requirements
The NCR does not remove the flag itself, and this is the point most people get wrong. Removal follows from a clearance certificate issued by your debt counsellor once every debt under review is paid up, or from a court order withdrawing the review. The counsellor and the credit bureaux action it; the NCR regulates them.
So contact the NCR when the counsellor or bureau will not act – that is a regulatory complaint, and it is what [email protected] exists for.
Have the debt counsellor’s name and NCR registration number, your identity number, the clearance certificate if issued, and dated proof of what you asked for and when.
Steps
Ask the debt counsellor for the clearance certificate once the debts are settled. Send it to the credit bureaux and ask for the flag to be removed. Under the National Credit Act a bureau must investigate a disputed entry free of charge. Only then escalate to the NCR in writing if either refuses.
Beware anyone selling debt review removal. Firms offering to “clear” or “delete” a debt review flag for a fee are trading on a process that is free once you hold a clearance certificate. No one can lawfully remove a valid listing early, and paying for it buys nothing you are not already entitled to.
Equally, leaving debt review informally – simply stopping payments – does not remove the flag and can revive the original credit agreements.
Escalation
Lodge the complaint with the NCR in writing, naming the counsellor or bureau and attaching the certificate and correspondence. Keep the reference.
A dispute with a credit bureau over the listing itself can also go to the Credit Ombud, which handles those at no cost to the consumer. A complaint about a credit provider’s conduct stays with the NCR, and the National Consumer Tribunal hears matters referred to it under the Act.
Sources
- ncr.org.za, read 2 September 2026