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A Fin24 user wants to know what to do if one suspects you are being forced to repay a prescribed debt illegally. He writes:
What if a debt had prescribed and one was forced (without knowing about the implications of it having prescribed) to pay?
What if one has never made a specific arrangement and one was forced to make small payments long after it had prescribed and there was never a summons issued for it?
Is one then still legally bound to repay or are the debt collectors in the wrong?
Renée Marais, (NCRDC1280) an independent debt counsellor, responds.
It is not clear what the situation is you are experiencing as there is little information.
I will, however, attempt to answer in the following manner:
Have you applied for debt review and was a proposed repayment plan given to you for approval before it was sent to the creditors?
Did the debt counsellor explain the debt review process to you in detail at a face-to-face consultation?
If you are under debt review, did your debt counsellor obtain a court order, including the revised payment schedule and presented you with a copy?
If the above is not in place, please contact www.NCR.org.za (phone 0860 627 627) or www.theDCI.co.za for urgent assistance.
If you are not under debt review and a creditor took you to court to obtain a garnishee order/emolument order and the money is deducted from your salary, please contact www.theDCI.co.za urgently for assistance.
Please remember all debt needs to be repaid. If you borrow money at a certain interest rate and instalment over a fixed repayment term, you have to repay the full outstanding debt.
Under debt counselling your interest rate and instalments may be reduced over a longer period of time, but the full outstanding debt is still to be paid off. Regular monthly payments are required.
Debt counselling only comes to an end when the debt has been settled in full.
You can find out the state of your debt by contacting your creditors to ask for the latest statements or paid up letters.
Also, your debt counsellor must provide you with all the proofs of payment from the third party payment agent as from the day you started with debt review to the current date.
You can check that your money was paid to the correct creditors and in terms of the court order granted.
After your debt has been settled, your debt counsellor is required by law to provide you with a clearance certificate and to inform all creditors, the credit bureaux as well as the NCR of the fact that you are no longer indebted and clear your name.
- Fin24
Do you have a pressing financial question? Post it on our Money Clinic section and we will get an expert to answer your query.
Disclaimer: Fin24 cannot be held liable for any investment decisions made based on the advice given by independent financial service providers.
Under the ECT Act and to the fullest extent possible under the applicable law, Fin24 disclaims all responsibility or liability for any damages whatsoever resulting from the use of this site in any manner.
What if a debt had prescribed and one was forced (without knowing about the implications of it having prescribed) to pay?
What if one has never made a specific arrangement and one was forced to make small payments long after it had prescribed and there was never a summons issued for it?
Is one then still legally bound to repay or are the debt collectors in the wrong?
Renée Marais, (NCRDC1280) an independent debt counsellor, responds.
It is not clear what the situation is you are experiencing as there is little information.
I will, however, attempt to answer in the following manner:
Have you applied for debt review and was a proposed repayment plan given to you for approval before it was sent to the creditors?
Did the debt counsellor explain the debt review process to you in detail at a face-to-face consultation?
If you are under debt review, did your debt counsellor obtain a court order, including the revised payment schedule and presented you with a copy?
If the above is not in place, please contact www.NCR.org.za (phone 0860 627 627) or www.theDCI.co.za for urgent assistance.
If you are not under debt review and a creditor took you to court to obtain a garnishee order/emolument order and the money is deducted from your salary, please contact www.theDCI.co.za urgently for assistance.
Please remember all debt needs to be repaid. If you borrow money at a certain interest rate and instalment over a fixed repayment term, you have to repay the full outstanding debt.
Under debt counselling your interest rate and instalments may be reduced over a longer period of time, but the full outstanding debt is still to be paid off. Regular monthly payments are required.
Debt counselling only comes to an end when the debt has been settled in full.
You can find out the state of your debt by contacting your creditors to ask for the latest statements or paid up letters.
Also, your debt counsellor must provide you with all the proofs of payment from the third party payment agent as from the day you started with debt review to the current date.
You can check that your money was paid to the correct creditors and in terms of the court order granted.
After your debt has been settled, your debt counsellor is required by law to provide you with a clearance certificate and to inform all creditors, the credit bureaux as well as the NCR of the fact that you are no longer indebted and clear your name.
- Fin24
Do you have a pressing financial question? Post it on our Money Clinic section and we will get an expert to answer your query.
Disclaimer: Fin24 cannot be held liable for any investment decisions made based on the advice given by independent financial service providers.
Under the ECT Act and to the fullest extent possible under the applicable law, Fin24 disclaims all responsibility or liability for any damages whatsoever resulting from the use of this site in any manner.
