Debt review is a process where a debt counsellor assesses your outstanding debt and puts in place a restructured debt repayment plan to allow for a more affordable premium. The debt counsellor will renegotiate interest rates and repayment terms with your credit providers to reduce your monthly instalments.

The real benefit of debt review is that it can protect your assets from being repossessed by the credit provider. The disadvantage is that you cannot apply for any credit while under debt review and the only way to exit the review is to settle all outstanding debts, except for those related to house financing.

Taking out credit while under debt review is against the law and doing so defeats the entire purpose of the debt review process. Once you’re under debt review, major banks and lending institutions will not approve your loan application, as this will be seen as reckless lending.

You will receive a clearance certificate and this will also be sent to your creditors, as well a notification will be sent the National Credit Regulator (NCR) and the credit bureau via the NCR Debt Help system. Credit bureaus will be prompted to remove the ‘under Debt Review’ flag from the client’s profile, now allowing the client to take out credit. Therefore, clients have paid off all their debt under debt review; and you are free to borrow credit again and will be allowed to purchase a house, car, etc.

You can read more about the National Credit Regulator (NCR) on their website at http://www.ncr.org.za for more information about the National Credit Act, visit http://www.ncr.org.za/the_act.html

Tandem Debt Solutions has been registered with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) since 2019. You can view our NCR number at the bottom of the page. All our debt consultants are registered with the NCR and have years of experience in advising consumers on the appropriate debt solutions which are applicable to their circumstances.

You need a monthly income in order for us to propose a reduced debt repayment plan to your credit providers. You will therefore not qualify for debt review if you are currently unemployed. We therefore suggest that you find a new job and then contact us for assistance with your debt if you are still over-indebted.

As soon as you apply for debt review through Tandem Debt Solutions, we will within 5 days (usually less than 48 hours) notify all your credit providers that you are going under debt review and from that point onward they must, by law, communicate with your debt counselor and not with you directly. It does unfortunately happen from time to time that some credit providers take a chance by making contact with our clients directly, but when this happens, you can merely refer them to us and we will deal with the matter further.

You will immediately experience the relief that our debt review process offers. Within the first 5 days, we will work out a provisional repayment plan for you which is based on what you can afford. In terms of the provisional repayment plan, you will make a single monthly payment to a Payment Distribution Agency (PDA) who will then distribute the funds based on your repayment plan. During the first 60 working days of the debt review process, your credit providers will not be allowed to implement any legal action against you. During this 60 day period, we will prepare your final repayment plan.

Part of our debt review process is to obtain a court order on your behalf in order to enforce your restructured debt arrangement plan on your credit providers. This process is however handled by referring your case to our nominated attorneys. They will contact you in order to obtain all the necessary information in order to compile your application and they will obtain the court order on your behalf. You will therefore not be required to attend court proceedings.

The costs that you incur consists of debt counseling fees and legal fees. The debt counseling fees that we charge are regulated by the National Credit Regulator and should be the same regardless of which registered debt counseling company you use. The precise costs will depend on the type of debt that you have and the amount of your monthly repayment. Legal fees are also determined based on the type of debt that you have and the amount of your monthly repayment. Both the debt counseling fees & legal fees are incorporated into your debt restructuring plan which means that you will not need to pay any separate upfront fees in order for your application to be processed.

You cannot be listed on ITC when you are under debt review. When you apply for debt review, we notify the credit bureaus to merely flag your name. The flag is basically an indication to credit providers that you are under debt review.

In terms of the National Credit Act, debt counselors are allowed to lower your monthly installments by extending your repayment periods and by lowering your current interest rates. We have extensive experience in dealing with a lot of credit providers and know the ins and outs of the process through practical experience – no one is therefore better positioned to restructure your debt repayments!