Read this before you pay anyone. Searching the National Credit Regulator register of debt counsellors returns no registered debt counsellor trading as Alpha Debt Management.

The closest match on the register is Alpha Debt Counselling, registration number NCRDC762, which appears under voluntary cancellations. Its registration was cancelled on 26 March 2012, with the reason recorded as no longer involved with debt counselling. That business has not been a registered debt counsellor for well over a decade.

Official contact channels

Check which of the four lists a name appears on, not merely whether it appears. A counsellor can be listed and still be cancelled, and the cancelled lists carry the date and the reason.

What this organisation provides

Because the fees are prescribed, a quote that is far above the regulated schedule is itself a warning sign. So is any request for a large payment before an application has been lodged.

Address and operating information

If you believe you are under debt review but cannot reach your counsellor, do not simply stop paying. Contact the NCR, establish who is administering the arrangement, and keep paying into the correct account in the meantime, because arrears can end the protection debt review gives you.

Support and escalation routes

Dealing with an unregistered operator costs you the protections the Act provides. An application by someone who is not a registered debt counsellor carries no standing at court, and money paid to them is rarely recoverable.

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