No matter what happens, no matter who says what, the only way to fix a bed debt review is to pay every month – even pay your creditors directly. This is your best defense!!
Having problems with your debt review, getting calls from creditors to say your debt review hasn’t been paid, can’t get hold of your debt counsellor?
These are real situations and you need to fix them, otherwise you can be stuck in debt review for much longer than planned in the original proposal.
READ MORE: How to know if your debt counsellor is a registered debt counsellor
Mistakes happen. Last week, I saw a case where there should have been one charge in the first month, but whoever loaded the info made the charge every month, so this person got charged an initiation fee of about R950 every month, and it was left for 2 years, so the problem was about R16 000 big when it was discovered.
Check your statements. That is rule number one, get one every month and check that everyone got paid the right amount.
Some people, who have paid their debt review every month, suddenly get a call to say that the bank hasn’t received money this month. It happens, banks work in straight lines, so if there are 2 payments in one month and nothing the month after, then their system says no payment this month and then they will phone you. There can be other reasons too. Don’t overreact and assume all your money has been stolen.
If you follow a fairly quick process you can find out what the real story is.
Contact your debt counsellor –We get these fairly often, and we print out the payment statement and mail it to the person, to prove that there is a mistake.
Contact your PDA - Your Payment Distribution Agency, contact them with your details and they will tell you who they paid and will be able to send you a statement.
Contact your creditors - Phone the bank and ask them when last they received payment, and the amounts paid. Some accounts you can log into and look at your payments profile.
If none of the above worked, or you still have unanswered questions or you suspect something.
Inform your Debt Counsellor in writing and keep a copy - if the problem is your Debt Counsellor then use the mail address on their documents.
Give them a reasonable time to reply, if still nothing - consider approaching another Debt Counsellor (The law allows you to transfer) and;
Contact the National Credit Regulator - if you find something illegal or are unhappy with the conduct of your Debt Counsellor or your Credit Provider. The NCR has a complaints department, go to their website and get the forms for an official complaint. Sometimes if you phone you could have success, but a serious complaint will involve lots of forms and scanning proof etc. But it is very important to resolve, as this will affect your financial future.
And no matter what happens, pay every month.
If you are still struggling with your finances, and you can’t keep your head above water, contact RD Debt Counselling for a FREE debt review.
