Credit

Disputing is free and the burden is on the bureau.

There is no single good number — each bureau scores differently and lenders set their own cut-offs. What matters is what the band costs you: R2,078 a month on a R1 million bond, top band to bottom.

Four bureaus, four free reports a year, no payment and no card details. What you need, why checking your own record cannot hurt it, and how to spot a fake credit-check site.

Six sections, five errors worth hunting for, and the order to read them in. The score at the top is the least useful number on the page.

Debt review restructures what you pay and stops creditors acting against you, in exchange for no new credit until it is finished. How the process runs, what it really costs, the termination risk, and how to exit with a Form 19.

There is no blacklist in South Africa. There is a credit record, and it can be corrected. A step-by-step guide to reading your report, disputing errors, clearing paid judgments and rebuilding.