Debt Counselling Pietermaritzburg and Midlands

Debt Counselling News

Differences between Debt Counselling and Debt Consolidation

Debt Counselling serves to instil in the mind of the client, a cash only life style and concentrates on the repayment of existing debt over a period of time, through a structured payment plan without pressure from credit providers or threat of repossession of assets! You are protected from your creditors under debit review which was set out by the National Credit Act!

Debt Consolidation puts together all your existing debt into a single facility which is obtained from a credit provider. You then make a single monthly payment to a single credit provider. The interest rate may be lower than, for example, credit card rates, but the repayment period will be longer. The down side of consolidation is that the credit provider will require collateral for the facility and will insist that you bond or re-bond your property or other suitable asset. If you default you will lose all your asset/s which will be sold off to repay the consolidated loan.

Risks of Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation is a common way of approaching debt that has spiraled out of control. It involves taking out either a secured or unsecured loan from a lending institution to settle all the current debts that you have accumulated. In other words, you go further into debt in order to get on top of your current debts.

Loans to pay off Debt (DON'T)

By Helena Wasserman

Johannesburg – Using your Master Card to pay your Visa is not an uncommon financial strategy.

Recently, however, taking on more debt to settle outstanding debt has reached alarming proportions.

The latest report by the National Credit Regulator shows the value of new unsecured credit (like personal loans and credit cards) rocketed by almost 26% to R10.54bn from the third to the fourth quarter last year, the largest amount on record.

Consumers drowning in debt

By Siphamandla Mbewa

Massive escalations in debt are crippling South African consumers, with about 150 000 people expected to be under debt review by Christmas, according to the National Credit Regulator.

Manager Peter Setou said 1.3 million South Africans had fallen into arrears, with 93 000 under debt review.

Currently about 100 000 people who have sought debt counselling owe in the region of R20 billion, of which R12bn is mortgage debt.