Nedbank Payment Holiday Contact Details

A payment holiday is a temporary pause, granted at the bank discretion, on a loan you are still up to date on. It is not written off and it is not free: interest keeps running on the balance throughout, and what you skip is added back to what you owe.

Official contact channels

• Nedbank debt assistance: 0801 114 949
• Relationship or business banker line: 0861 100 033
• Nedbank contact centre, 24 hours: 0800 555 111
• You can request a callback within 48 hours through the debt assistance form on the Nedbank site
• Ask before the instalment is missed. A pause agreed in advance is a payment holiday; the same conversation a month later is an arrears negotiation

What it costs you

• Interest continues to accrue on the full outstanding balance for every month you skip. Nothing is frozen
• The skipped instalments and the interest on them are capitalised, meaning added to the loan, so the balance is higher when you resume
• The loan either runs for longer or the instalment goes up afterwards. Ask which, and get the new figures in writing before you agree
• On a long loan such as a bond, a short holiday can add a surprisingly large amount over the remaining term. Ask for the total extra cost in rands, not as a rate

How it differs from the alternatives

• A payment holiday pauses payments on an account that is up to date. It is forward looking
• A payment arrangement deals with instalments you have already missed, spreading the arrears over coming months
• A restructure permanently lengthens the term to reduce the instalment, rather than pausing it
• Nedbank publishes these as separate options, and which one you are offered depends on whether you are behind yet

Getting the terms right

• Get it in writing with a reference: how many months, what happens to the instalment afterwards, and whether it is reported to the credit bureaus
• Ask specifically about your credit record. A properly agreed holiday should not read as a default, but you want that confirmed rather than assumed
• Check what happens to the credit life premium and any insurance attached to the loan during the pause. Cover lapsing is the hidden risk
• If your income loss is permanent rather than temporary, a holiday only delays the problem. Say so, and ask about a restructure instead

If you are refused or misled

• Nedbank Client Complaints Helpline: 0860 444 000
• For a credit agreement dispute, the National Credit Ombud is on 0861 662 837
• A bank is not obliged to grant a payment holiday. Being refused is not misconduct, but being given wrong information about the cost is

Sources

• Nedbank official debt assistance page, for the debt assistance number, the relationship and business banker number, the 48-hour callback route and the separate descriptions of payment arrangements and restructuring
• Nedbank official contact page, for the 24-hour contact centre number and the client complaints helpline
• National Credit Ombud published contact number