Debt Review is a process introduced by the National Credit Act (NCA) to help over-indebted South Africans become debt-free. Only consumers who have successfully registered with a National Credit Regulator (NCR) approved debt counsellor, such as Debt Rescue, can be placed under Debt Review. Find out more about what Debt Review is here.
If you have completed the debt review process:
After completing the debt review process, you will be notified by your debt counsellor that you are no longer under debt review. Thereafter, the bureaus are legally obligated to remove the ‘under debt review’ flag from your credit profile within 21 business days of the notification. You will receive a clearance certificate.
If you apply for credit after completing the debt review process, your credit application should not be rejected because you were under debt review. If your application for credit was denied, you can draw a copy of your credit report.
Your credit report will allow you to check whether the bureaus have removed the ‘under debt review’ flag from your profile.
If you have NOT completed the debt review process:
Unfortunately, in accordance with the NCR, you won’t be able to get your name removed from debt review if you have a court order in place without making an application to exit the process. Once all your debt has been settled and you are up to date on your bond payments, you will be issued with a clearance certificate. You can make additional payments to your credit providers to get your debt paid off quicker.
Check your credit report
You can get a credit report at any of the credit bureaus, including Experian, TransUnion, etc. This can be done for free every year. If the bureaus have not removed the ‘under debt review’ flag from your profile, it will be shown on the front page of your report. You can then call any credit bureau dispute centre and tell them to rectify the error.
