THE NATIONAL CREDIT RESOLUTION AGENCY (NCRA)

THE NCRA IS NOT A DEBT REVIEW COMPANY

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 Debt Counselling is a voluntary and consensual process which results in the Tribunal or a Magistrate Court re-arranging the consumer's debt obligations. 

CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE	UNLAWFUL DEBT REVIEW	DE-REGISTERED DEBT COUNSELLOR

(NCA) Section 136 - The Right to Dispute Debt Review

• Your Right to Dispute Unlawful Debt Review 

• Your Right to Investigate Absent/Unknown Debt Counsellor

• Your Right to Demand Investigation of the Debt Counselling Process

• Your Right for Issuance of Clearance Certificate

• Your Right to be Declared No Longer Over-Indebted

• Your Right to Demand Investigation and Removal of the Debt Review Flag

How the Free Assessment & Clearance Service Works

1. Click the button on the section below that matches your debt review situation
2. A consultant shall call you to discuss your situation
3. You receive Free Credit Report with details of the debt counsellor and the debt review status
4. We conduct current debt review processes and situation/circumstances assessment and email you recommendations
5. You are not under obligation to use the service or the recommended action

Assessmnent Outcome

1. The assessment shall determine if you need to lodge a dispute with the NCR or the Credit Bureau
2. Where the dispute concerns NCR you will be notified if an Affidavit is required or not

• Where affidavit is not required, we shall proceed to log the dispute

Where Affidavti is Required: 

• You will receive an email to Instruct to Invoke Affidavit
• A legal representative shall draft your affidavit and email to you for commissioning
• The in-house legal practitioner charges a fee of R1200 for drafting the affidavit payable in instalments of R300 x 4 months 
• You will return the commissioned affidavit with the first instalment of R300 or full payment
• We shall log the dispute with the NCR
• The NCR shall investigate the matter and clear the debt review flag within 7 - 30 days.

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Why Free Debt Review Clearance

In the great scheme of things, consumers should not pay for withdrawal from the debt review process.

From the second month of application of debt review, the consumer pays the debt counsellor a monthly after-care fee to the maximum of R460. This after-care fee, as the name implies, is for the debt counsellor to be available to assist the consumer - among other things - with the updating of the consumers financial circumstances changes as and when they happen. The Financial Circumstance Updates are recorded in the Debt Help System (DHS)

When the results of the financial circumstance assessment is that the consumer is not over-indebted, the DHS is updated accordingly and the consumer can be withdrawn from the debt review process.

Other After-Care Debt Counsellor Obligations:

• Obtain Settlement Letters on behalf of the consumer
• Issue a Clearance Certificate

Where the original debt counsellor is no longer involved in debt counselling, the consumer can appoint another debt counsellor to perform the above functions. In this instance, since the new DC did not receive after-care fees, they are entitled to charge a fee.

A consumer can engage the services of a third party (professional) that is not a registered/accredited debt counsellor to log disputes/complaints or to liaise with the NCR to facilitate:

• Debt Help System (DHS) update
• Issuance of Clearance Certificate
• Removal of Unlawful Debt Review

Where the consumer prefers to engage the services of a third party professional, you need to ensure that this professional is conversant with the debt counselling regulations and has undergone and completed the NCR Debt Counsellor Training Course.

What Inspires NCRA to Assist Consumers Free

An independent research conducted by NCRA Task Team through NCRA Online Survey between July 2021 and July 2022 amongst 3000 consumers who are placed under debt review has revealed the following

• Unlawfully listed - did not apply or submit documents = (80%)
• Debt Counselling Process Abandoned by Debt Counsellor - debt counsellor did not fully complete the process (80%)
• The Debt Counsellor on Record is either Deregistered, Voluntary Cancelled, Registration Lapsed (30%)
• Consumer is no longer over-indebted = 98%
• Consumer under debt review for more than:
• 5 years = 80%
• 7 years = 40%
• 10 years = 40%

 Debt Counsellor Statistics (January 2023)

• Registered since 2007 = 4701
• Currrently Active = 1588
• Voluntary Cancelled = 454
• Cancelled by Tribunal = 24
• Registration Lapsed = 2311

Register for Free Debt Review Assessment &  Clearance Service

CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE	UNLAWFUL DEBT REVIEW	DE-REGISTERED DEBT COUNSELLOR
Clearance Certificate can be acquired under the following conditions:  All accounts paid - Debt counsellor is missing or deregistered    All accounts are settled in full (except home-loan where applicable)    You are in possession of a court order declaring you no longer over-indebted	Compliance Investigation of the following:  Did you sign Form 16?   Did you agree on the new instalment (distribution amount)? Did the debt counsellor explain the debt counselling fees? Did you sign PDA (Payment Distribution Agency) debit order authorisation? Did you sign and submit a supporting affidavit for court application? Did you receive a copy of the Court Order?  If your answer is No to any of the above, the Debt Review Agreement is deemed Unlawful.	Application to be declared no longer over-indebted   Ncra can assist with compiling information on your debt review situation through an Assessment Questionnaire; Standard Financial Circumstance Form and Account Status Form. The questionnaire and forms will be used to establish if correct procedures were followed to place you under debt review and to determine whether:  The debt review is lawful or You are eligible for a Clearance Certificate or A Court Application to declare you no longer over-indebted is required.