The National Credit Regulator does not put you under debt review and cannot negotiate with your creditors. It registers the debt counsellors who do, and there are about 1 796 of them. Its own role starts when a counsellor or a credit provider has treated you unlawfully.
Reaching the regulator
- Call centre: 0860 627 627. Reception: 011 554 2700
- Complaints: [email protected], which is a different queue from general enquiries
- Register of registered debt counsellors: searchable at ncr.org.za under register of registrants
- Every genuine counsellor has an NCRDC number. Ask for it, then check it on that register before you sign anything or pay anything
How debt review actually works
- You apply to a registered debt counsellor, who assesses whether you are over-indebted and works out what you can afford
- The counsellor proposes a restructured repayment plan to your credit providers, and it is made binding by a court or tribunal order
- You then make one monthly payment, which is distributed to your creditors through a registered payment distribution agency, not paid to the counsellor personally
- While under review you are protected from legal action on the included debts, but you may not take new credit until you finish and receive a clearance certificate
- Your credit record is flagged as under debt review, and the flag is removed once the clearance certificate is issued
Warning signs
- Debt counselling fees are regulated and are set out in the NCR fee guidelines. A counsellor who will not put the fees in writing before you sign is a problem
- Nobody can lawfully remove a correct listing from your credit record, and nobody can clear your name for a fee. Those offers are the most common debt scam in the country
- Never hand over your bank card, PIN, or SASSA card, and never pay by voucher or gift card. Payments in debt review go through a registered distribution agency
- Beware anyone who contacts you first, out of the blue, offering to fix your debt. Check the NCRDC number against the register rather than the certificate they show you
If it goes wrong
- Misconduct by a debt counsellor, or a credit provider ignoring a review, goes to the NCR on 0860 627 627 or [email protected]
- A dispute about the credit agreement itself goes to the National Credit Ombud on 0861 662 837 or [email protected]
- Some entries on the NCR register carry visibly mangled telephone numbers, so if a listing looks wrong, confirm the counsellor by name and NCRDC number rather than trusting the digits
Sources
- National Credit Regulator register of registered debt counsellors, which returned about 1 796 records and gives each counsellor an NCRDC number, and where the data-quality issue noted above was observed directly
- National Credit Regulator published call centre, reception and complaints contact details
- National Credit Ombud published contact details
- National Credit Act debt review provisions on over-indebtedness, court-ordered restructuring, payment distribution and the clearance certificate, as set out by the regulator