You can withdraw from debt review if your financial situation has changed significantly or you only have your mortgage left to pay.
Earlier this year new guidelines were issued as part of the National Credit Amendment Act (NCAA) around when a person may exit debt review.
Previously you could exit debt review only once you had paid all your re-arranged debts in full and had received a clearance certificate. This also included your home loan, if it had formed part of the debt review application.
A significant change is that you can now exit debt review even if your mortgage is not fully settled, although you would have to demonstrate that you have the financial ability to meet those future mortgage repayments – or any other long-term agreement. There must also be no outstanding payments on the mortgage and all your other outstanding debt must have been settled. This includes vehicle finance, which is not considered a long-term credit agreement and if it forms part of the debt counselling re-arrangement order, it has to be paid up in full before a clearance certificate is issued.
You can also apply to exit debt review if you have had a significant change in your income. If your financial situation has improved to the extent that you are able to meet your financial obligations as they were prior to debt review, and if you have not fallen behind on your debt review payments, you can apply to the courts to consider your withdrawal from debt review.
How to withdraw
It’s important to note that a debt counsellor does not have statutory powers to terminate or withdraw the debt review process. The consumer has to go to court to obtain this permission.
You would have to approach the court to rescind the order or to apply for an order which declares that you are no longer over-indebted. Once the order has been issued, you must receive a clearance certificate from the debt counsellor within seven days. Upon receipt of the order, a debt counsellor will notify the credit providers of the withdrawal by means of Form 17W.
Making direct payments to creditors
Some consumers who are considering debt review are concerned about how to ensure that the payments they make are correctly paid to the creditors. The good news is that in terms of the NCAA, a consumer has the right to make direct payments to credit providers and not make use of the services of a Payment Distribution Agent (PDA). According to the National Credit Regulator, if a consumer chooses to make direct payments to credit providers, this cannot be construed as non co-operation and should not be used as a reason for suspension of debt counselling services.
When you apply for debt review, you would need to sign Form 16 in order to apply for direct payment.
- You remain responsible to make all payments as re-arranged, in full and on time.
- You would have to provide proof-of-payment to the debt counsellor on a monthly basis for record keeping and to enable provision of aftercare service, as a consumer cannot be under debt review without a debt counsellor.
- If you miss a payment or pay late, you will still risk termination of the debt review by the credit providers
- Debt counselling fees are payable to a debt counsellor for services rendered and this includes payment of aftercare fees.
- For a debt counsellor to issue a clearance certificate, all after care fees must be up to date. Where the debt counsellor has suspended provision of service, a consumer must provide proof of settlement letters from credit providers for a debt counsellor to issue a clearance certificate.
good day
i have been under debt review and paying all my accounts through her but now im left with only 1 debt which was part of debt review application but the difference is that im now paying the debt direct. i wanna rescind my debt review application since my daughter is going to study further and i wanna apply for educational loan which she will pay when she finishes.
can i withdraw my debt revue?
You have to settle all debts and get a clearance certificate
Hi Maya, i voluntarily applied for debt review, then in a process after paying for few years i paid my creditors directly without cancelling with my debt councilor. Now im expected to pay admin fees even though since 2015 i did not use their service. its more than 10k
You can lodge a complaint with the NCR – if they didn’t handle the payments then technically there was no work. However, they are entitled to cover the legal expenses of going to court for the court order and for the clearance certificate
Good day Maya Me and my husband are married in Community of property. We have been under debt review from April 2016.Have been paying every month. But most of our creditors still contact us. Most of our accounts has been settled some 2years ago but still they send letters that they are going to blacklist us.We tried getting answers but via email ,because if we call they can’t assist us or can’t give any answers.Can you please assist me.
Who is your debt counsellor? They should be assisting to resolve this
Hi I didn’t apply for depth review pls help to clear my name
You need to contact the National Credit Regulator
Hi there, I’ve been on debt review since 2015 and have paid up all my creditors, except 1 loan. My financial position since inception has improved and I’d prefer repaying the creditor on my own. So I’d like to withdraw from the process, and clear my name. Would withdrawing from debt review have an impact on my credit worthiness in the future? Could banks decline vehicle and home finance based on this? Thanks.
The flag will only be lifted once that final debt is settled and clearance certificates have been provided. Until then you are still under debt review with no access to credit
Good Maya
I need urgent assistance. We have been under debt review since 2014. We received a Re-arrangement proposal from FNB home loans stating the Concession term of 60 months. This term has now expired and we are supposed to go back to our original agreement where contractual terms applies. FNB refuses to lower our interest rate because of the court order as we are still paying off 3 accounts that’s still under debt review, FNB also insisted that we continue paying the cascading amount which I argued based on the re-arrangement proposal, they then eventually agreed and lowered our instalment.
Claus 3 “The above re-arrangement proposal will only be effective for the concession term. The number of instalments and the instalment amount may not lead to the eventual satisfaction of the outstanding balance. Any outstanding balance remaining after the expiration of the concession term must be reduced in the accordance with and on the terms and conditions as contained in the original agreement. Accordingly, once the concession term has ended, the above re-arrangement will come to an end and the instalments and interest rate as contained in the original agreement will be enforced.”
According to FNB we are still bind to the court order however, the re-arrangement proposal does not state anything about the court order.
We have not benefited from the cut in repo rate. Please advise
Thank you in advance
This is something that your debt counsellor needs to resolve.
Hello Maya
Thank you for your response.
My debt councillors does not get anything sorted. All queries that was previously raised with debt councillors i had to attend to it myself as it takes forever to get resolved by DC. I waa hoping to get some advice from you so that i can know if i can challenge FNB in this regard. Ive also contacted NCR but unfortunately they are close until further notice. Thank you in advance
You need to look at what was included in the original court order
Afternoon is it possible to withdraw from debt review and make arrangements with creditors?
Yes – you may find this useful https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2020/03/when-to-consider-debt-counselling/
Hi Maya
I dully paid up all of my debts in October 2019. I’m struggling to get the clearance certificate from the debt counsellor, who is claiming she can’t get a Commissioner of Oaths to sign it because of the Covid-19 Lockdown. I have advised to them to take to the police station to have it signed but I’m hitting a brick wall. This after they sent me an urgent sms to pay R397 for the release of said clearance certificate, which I did before the lockdown in March. This is affecting my life unnecessarily.
As far as I am aware commissioner of oaths are now operating so there should not be any further excuses
Good day
I have been on debt review for three months and I decided to cancel however my financial situation hasn’t changed, and I’m willing to pay my creditors on my own and I would like to know how the cancellation letter looks like as my debt counselor has requested, thanks.
While you can elect to pay your creditors directly, the debt counselling flag remains on your credit record until all those debts included in debt review are paid. Listen to this podcast https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2021/02/listen-pros-and-cons-of-debt-counselling/
I was trigged under debt reviewed without being aware I went to another counsellor to provide form 17W of which I submitted within a month and initially the whole thing was not having court Order. I send form 17W to my creditors and I make an arrangement to pay on my own of which
my Vehicles send me a amendment form for changes, but the other creditors has form 17W and said they want copy of court Oder and the same creditors has n’t receive any payment from debt counsellors even though I make sure I pay them every month on own as our initial agreement. so am nervous and how to unflag my profile. Please help.
Which debt counsellor are you using?
Hi maya. It advisable to actually withdraw and make payments directly. My DC is trying to convince me otherwise. She’s saying I will have to pay my creditors money owed / lessened when I got a court order and new interest rate linked . Is this true? Is it a waste of installments made if I withdraw from the process before I finish paying off the creditors ?
Bottom line is that you cannot exit from debt review. The best advice is to keep paying as much as possible through the debt review program https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Hi, I’m under debt review since 2013. I’m left with a home loan and an overdraft. I paid my debt Consellors end of April 2020. I had a quiry with my statement. Called them to find out that my contract is terminated. Without my knowledge. And haven’t received my clearance certificate. Please assist.
By law they have to provide you with a tax clearance certificate.
https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2020/03/when-to-consider-debt-counselling/
Good Day
I’m under Debt Review and I’ve suspended my services as I’m making direct payments to my creditors in order to pay off my account much faster.I have a court order and was issued a 17.w (b) form.
My Question is now due to lockdown my bank requires a 17.3 but debt review doesn’t want to issue me one as I suspended my services.I’m basically only receiving unpaid and nobody wants to assist as I’m on Debt Review.
This may assist https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
I paid up all my unsecured Debt, and is only left with vehicle finance which is up to date, is it possible to exit debt review or what is my options to cancel the debt review process, as I can afford the installment
You would have to get the debt clearance certificates and give those to the credit bureaus. Vehicle finance is not clear cut – you could come to an arrangement on this outside of the credit agreement but usually your debt counselor can assist with this.
hi I was under debt review till 2015 I was retrenched debt councellor removed my name from their books I am paying my debt . only 3 accuntscant debt review be removed?
https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
I am under debt review I paid 90 percent of my debts I am left with 2 personal loans the payments are upto date my financial position has improved since then can I withdraw from debt review and get a clearance certificate?
Not until the two final debts are paid: https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Good day
Can you please assist? I went under debt review from last year October 2019. I missed the payment for October 2019 cause 1 of my creditors till took their money off after I signed a form for debit orders to be removed. I paid 4 months on my debt review and none of my creditors have been and want to blacklist me or withdraw from the debt review. Am I allowed to cancel my debt review on these terms?
Depends where you are in the process https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Also read this – at the end of the article is useful info https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2020/03/when-to-consider-debt-counselling/
Good evening, I would like to know must I get a legal firm to remove debt review, I exited debt review and I paid my debt but now I need to have the debt review cleared.
I am I need as people ask thousands of Rands to go to court to remove the flag from my name
The details are in this article. It is the responsibility of your debt counselor to inform your creditors.
https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Hi is it possible for a debt counselled to put a block on my bank account. Is it also possible for them to make deductions even though I haven’t signed any legal documents, the only documents I signed were the forms for the application. Pls help in this regard.
That doesnt sound right. You can lodge a complaint with the NCR but for a speedier response try Debt Counselor Association http://www.dcasa.co.za/
Hi Maya,
I am currently under debt review for 4 months now. It seems like they are unable to reduce my installment and they now want me to pay my home loan and car by myself. What happens to the arrears that I have as I have been paying them all this time?
I was mislead by the person telling me about debt review and now its been five years under them but not paying them and also i never signed anything how do i get out of this because i can’t believe they did flag me without my concern
Read this article https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Hi i joined the process in 2015 it’s been going well paid up 3 of my 5 creditors however when i check my pda Statements for the past 5 months the balances are constantly going up instead of going down to show that my debt is reducing and my debt review is ignoring my emails regarding this
It is very important that you also check the statements from your creditors to see if it matches the PDA statements. You can also contact your creditors to find out what the status is. Your debt counselor should be responding to you. You can tell them you will report them to the NCR for not doing so. If you are not happy with your debt counselor you do have the option to switch to another one.
Please help me I want cancellation from debt review.
This article explains your options https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Hi its 2 months now since i am under the debt review i would like to cancel and pay my creditors like Before is it possible
read this article https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Hi Maya. My debt councillor is telling me that this year he has applied for my debts to be erased and he says he has received a go ahead. I am still waiting then. Is that possible?
The only thing I can think is that they have prescribed? find out if that is the reason
Hi.i have fully paid up all my accounts and i did all my payments directly to my creditors apparently im still under dept review please help me out because iv been trying to call them (msac) they not answering my calls and when i joined with no idea what it was they never debited their money and then i had arrears so i went back to my creditors to request them to debit straight from my account..
This article will answer your questions. You can lodge a complaint with the NCR and you can apply for clearance through the National Consumer Tribunal https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Hi. My wife and I were under debt review in 2009 and voluntary ended the process in 2011 as our financial status had improved. this year we decided to look for a new house and with our application to Standard bank it popped up that we are still under debt review on their system. Our credit records does not show any debt review and both of us has good scoring on our credit profile. We contacted the debt counselor for proof that we no longer are under debt review and that the process have ended in 2011 but he refused to gave us proof. According to him we must go and find it at our creditors at that time. this is currently the stumbling block in the process of buying a new home. What can I do? is it possible for the NCR to supply me with proof that I’m (or we) not under debt review any more.
You will see in this article that the debt counselor is obliged to provide you with the clearance certificate. You can go to the NCT yourself. You can also contact DCASA for clarity
https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Hi, My wife and I are currently under debt review for about 6 months, our payments are being made without fail every month, unfortunatly due to the high cost of living for the past 2 months we are struggling financialy, is there any way to reduce our debt review payment.
The best option is to speak to your debt counselor to renegotiate with your creditors
I have done debt mediation and all my accounts are now paid up.
The problem that I have is that I am unable to obtain a clearance certificate as the debt review company that I was signed up with prior to the debt mediation, has closed down.
Please advise what I can do about my predicament
You can transfer to another debt counselling company who can then obtain the clearance certificate or you can apply directly to the National Consumer Tribunal https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/
Hi Maya
I applied for debt review on 13 September but would like to withdraw. The only form I have seen thus far is a form 17.1 notification. Will a debt review flag be left on my credit profile if I withdraw at this stage? I also haven’t paid any debt counseling fees yet.
This article will give you the details and process https://mayaonmoney.co.za/2019/10/when-can-you-exit-debt-review/