Content articles
Debt review was introduced in South Africa with the National Credit Act to help consumers who are struggling to repay their debts. The process involves a debt counsellor who will negotiate a restructured repayment plan with your creditors.
It will protect you from legal action and ensure that you pay an affordable monthly installment while prioritising living expenses. It is also important to understand that you cannot access new credit while under debt review.
What is debt review?
Debt review is a process introduced by the National Credit Act in 2007 that helps consumers who are over-indebted. It involves a debt counsellor analyzing your income, debts and expenses and creating a budget to help you pay back your debts while still leaving enough money to cover your daily living expenses.
Once a budget has been created the debt counsellor will send it to your creditors and credit bureaus. This will place a flag on your credit profile which means that you are under debt review and that you cannot apply for any new credit until your debts have been paid in full. Creditors are also prohibited from contacting you directly about your debt.
The debt counsellor will negotiate with your creditors on your behalf to try and get them to accept a repayment plan that is both affordable and realistic for you. Creditors may not always agree to this but they are required by law to respect the process.
It is important to stick to your monthly payment schedule as failure to do so could result in the debt review being terminated. It is also advisable to refrain from taking out any more loans or applying for any other credit as this can lead to financial disaster. If you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to make your debt review payments, contact your debt counsellor immediately to discuss alternative options.
How does it work?
If you have bad credit, it can be challenging to find loans online. No-credit-check loans are a type of personal loan that does not require a credit check and may allow you to borrow money even if you have a low credit score. However, these types of loans are typically riskier and tend to have triple-digit APRs and costly fees that can quickly add up. They also usually only allow borrowers to borrow small amounts of money.
Personal loans that do not require a credit creditum loans reviews check are typically offered by banks and other financial institutions. However, some fintech companies, like OppLoans, offer personal loans with no credit check that are available to borrowers with bad or no credit. These lenders use other lending criteria, such as annual income and employment status, to determine if you can afford the loan and will not default on it.
Other types of no-credit-check loans are secured by collateral, such as an auto title or pawn shop item. These lenders will have you sign a lien against the item, so that they can repossess it if you fail to pay back the loan. These types of loans are often more affordable than payday loans and no-credit-check loans, but they still carry high APRs. It is best to avoid these types of loans if possible, and instead focus on building or rebuilding your credit.
What are the benefits?
The regulated debt review process is designed to protect over-indebted consumers from creditors who wish to repossess assets or take legal action. It also shields them from lenders who offer them more credit that would only worsen their situation. This is a very important protection as it makes sure that the person does not get trapped in a vicious circle of debt.
The process involves a rearrangement of the debt to make it affordable for the consumer and acceptable to the credit providers. The debt counsellor will use a combination of computer programs, phone calls, faxes and emails to try make a deal with the various creditors. The creditors do not have to accept these proposals but most of them will.
Once the credit providers agree to the restructured payment plan that is submitted by the debt counsellor, it will be implemented. This will result in a single monthly instalment which the debt counselling agency will distribute to each credit provider. Most of the time this will be less than what you currently pay to each credit provider.
Once the restructured repayment plan is in place, most clients are out of debt within 3-5 years. This is mainly dependent on how much you are able to pay towards your debt each month. Once you have paid enough towards your debt, you will be issued with a clearance certificate and the debt review flag will be removed from all credit bureau records.
What are the disadvantages?
In the world of personal loans, a no credit check loan might sound like as mythical as Bigfoot or the Loch Ness. But loans that don’t review your credit do exist.
These loans are often offered by payday and car title lenders. They can come with triple-digit interest rates and expensive fees. These types of loans should be used only as a last resort if you have no other options.
While no credit check loans might sound appealing for borrowers with a poor payment history, they are often predatory and carry high interest rates. In order to avoid paying such high rates, it’s important for borrowers to take steps to improve their credit score and find a lender that offers fair terms.
The best way to improve your credit is by paying down debt, staying within your credit utilization ratio and keeping your credit card balances low. In addition, you can help raise your credit score by monitoring your report and addressing any errors.

