What it actually does
You apply to a debt counsellor registered with the National Credit Regulator. The counsellor works out what you can afford after your living expenses, proposes reduced payments — usually a lower instalment over a longer period, sometimes with lower interest — to each of your creditors, and has the new arrangement made an order of court or of the National Consumer Tribunal.
From then on you make one payment a month to a registered payment distribution agency, which pays each creditor its share. The counsellor never handles your money.
Who it is for
Debt review is for people who are over-indebted: their income, after reasonable living expenses, no longer covers what they owe each month. It covers credit agreements under the Act — personal loans, credit cards, store accounts, vehicle finance and home loans — but not, for example, municipal accounts or tax.
It is a serious step, not a credit product. If you are only briefly behind on one account, talking to that provider about an arrangement is usually the better first move. If several accounts are slipping and you are borrowing to pay other debt, it is time to speak to a counsellor.
How to start
Find a debt counsellor on the NCR's register of debt counsellors and check that the registration is current. Bring your latest payslips or bank statements, a list of every account with its balance and instalment, and an honest list of your monthly living expenses. The counsellor needs all of it to work out what you can really pay.
Once you apply, the counsellor notifies your creditors and the credit bureaus, assesses whether you are over-indebted and, if you are, proposes the new payments. From that point you should stop using credit cards and store accounts and keep to the plan the counsellor gives you, even before the court order is made.
Alternatives to consider first
If only one or two accounts are the problem, ask those providers directly for a payment arrangement or a lower instalment over a longer period. Many will agree, and it leaves the rest of your record untouched.
If your total debt is smaller, an administration order through the magistrate's court may be an option, and for some people a consolidation loan that replaces several expensive accounts with one cheaper one works — but only if the new instalment passes an honest affordability check. A debt counsellor can tell you whether debt review or one of these suits your situation better.
What it costs
The counsellor's fees are set by an NCR guideline: a small application fee, a restructuring fee equal to one month of your new payment (with a ceiling), and a monthly aftercare fee of a few per cent of your payment, also capped. Legal fees for the court order are on top. The fees are usually built into the plan rather than paid upfront in cash.
Ask any counsellor for the full fee schedule before you sign, and check their registration on the NCR register. A counsellor who promises to make your debt disappear, or asks for a large cash payment before doing anything, is a reason to walk away.
What you give up
New credit. Once you have applied for debt review, you may not enter into any new credit agreement other than a consolidation agreement until the review ends. A registered provider may not lend to you, and anyone offering you a loan in the meantime is not operating within the law.
Your record is flagged at the credit bureaus for as long as the review runs, which anyone who checks your record can see. Many people under review also find that their bank limits overdrafts and card facilities.
What you get
Once your application is made, creditors may not start legal action to enforce the debts under review, and once the court order is granted, they must accept the restructured payments. The monthly payment is set at something you can actually pay.
For someone who is already behind, that is usually worth more than access to another loan would be. The protection depends on you keeping up the single payment: if you fall behind on the plan, creditors may be able to resume enforcement, so if the payment becomes too much, ask your counsellor to have it reviewed straight away.
Why you cannot simply leave
Since March 2022, NCR guidelines no longer let a consumer withdraw from debt review on their own once they have applied. Leaving early now takes a court order, for example rescinding the debt review order, and leaving removes the protection along with the restriction.
A credit provider can end the review of its own agreement only in narrow cases: if you are in default on that agreement, at least 60 business days after you applied, and never once the matter is before a court or the Tribunal.
How it ends
Debt review ends when you have paid off every account under review, except a home loan that is up to date under its original terms. The counsellor must then issue a clearance certificate within seven days and send it to the credit bureaus, which must remove the debt review flag when they receive it. For many people this takes three to five years.
Keep a copy of your clearance certificate and check your credit report a few weeks later. If the flag is still there, send the bureau the certificate and ask for it to be removed; you can also complain to the NCR if it is not.
If something goes wrong
Complaints about a debt counsellor or a credit provider can go to the National Credit Regulator. Disputes about a credit agreement or a credit bureau listing can go to the National Financial Ombud Scheme, which took over the Credit Ombud's work in March 2024. Both are free, and both expect you to have raised the complaint with the counsellor or provider first.