Last updated 22 September 2026 · Written by Kgothatso Moleke · General information, not financial advice
The short version: debt review is a legal process under the National Credit Act that restructures what you pay each month and stops creditors from suing you or taking your car or house while you keep up the new payments. In exchange, you cannot take any new credit until it is finished, and it shows on your credit record until you receive a clearance certificate. It is the right tool if you genuinely cannot cover your debts. It is the wrong tool if you can.
What debt review actually is
Debt review, also called debt counselling, is set out in section 86 of the National Credit Act. A debt counsellor registered with the National Credit Regulator assesses whether you are over-indebted, and if you are, negotiates a restructured repayment plan with everyone you owe.
Instead of paying six creditors separately, you make one monthly payment. That payment goes to a registered Payment Distribution Agency, which splits it between your creditors and sends you a statement. Interest rates are usually negotiated down, and the term is stretched, so the monthly figure lands somewhere you can actually afford.
It does not cancel your debt. You repay everything you owe. What changes is the rate, the term, and the monthly amount.
How the process runs
- Assessment. A registered debt counsellor looks at your income, expenses and what you owe, and applies the over-indebtedness test in the Act. This assessment is normally free.
- Form 16. You sign the application. From this point you are formally under debt review.
- Form 17.1. Within five business days your counsellor notifies every credit provider and the credit bureaus. This is what switches on the legal protection.
- Form 17.2. Your counsellor proposes a restructured plan to your creditors and negotiates it.
- Payments start. You begin paying the new amount through a Payment Distribution Agency. You do not wait for the court.
- Court order. The counsellor applies to the magistrate’s court to make the plan binding.
- Clearance certificate. When the restructured debts are paid, your counsellor issues a Form 19 and the listing comes off your record.
Most people are under review for three to five years, depending on how much they owe and what they can pay.
What you get
- One affordable payment instead of several you cannot cover.
- Lower interest. Rates on unsecured debt are usually negotiated down sharply, which is where most of the monthly saving comes from.
- Protection from legal action. Once your creditors have been notified, they cannot sue you, repossess your car, or sell your house while you keep up the restructured payments.
- They stop phoning you. Creditors deal with your counsellor, not with you.
- Your employer is not told. Debt review is between you, your counsellor and your creditors.
What it costs you
This is the part sales pages skip over. Be clear on all of it before you sign.
- No new credit at all. Section 88 of the Act bars you from entering new credit agreements while under review. No card, no store account, no vehicle finance, no loan. For three to five years.
- It shows on your credit record for as long as you are under review. Lenders can see it.
- Fees. Capped by the NCR and deducted from your payments rather than paid upfront, but they are real money and they come out of what reaches your creditors.
- You repay everything. Debt review restructures; it does not forgive.
- It is not quick. Three to five years is normal.
The risk nobody mentions: termination
The protection debt review gives you is not unconditional, and this is the most important thing to understand before you start.
Under section 86(10) of the Act, a credit provider may terminate the debt review on a particular agreement if you are in default on it, but only once at least 60 business days have passed since you applied. They must give written notice to you, your debt counsellor and the National Credit Regulator, and wait at least ten business days before enforcing.
Once your counsellor has filed the court application, or an order is already in place, that route is closed to them. But in the window before that, missing payments puts the protection at risk.
What this means in practice: the restructured payment is not optional. Miss it and you can find yourself outside debt review with the original agreements live again and a creditor free to act. If your circumstances change, tell your counsellor immediately rather than quietly missing a month.
Choosing a debt counsellor
This is a regulated profession with rules, and knowing them protects you.
A debt counsellor must be registered with the National Credit Regulator and have an NCRDC registration number you can verify on the NCR’s website. Fees are capped by the NCR and are deducted through the Payment Distribution Agency, never paid into someone’s personal account.
Warning signs
- They cold-called you. The NCR prohibits unsolicited cold calling by debt counsellors.
- They want money upfront into a personal or company account. Payments go through a registered Payment Distribution Agency.
- You were placed under review without signing anything. The NCR has said this accounts for roughly 80% of the complaints it receives about debt counsellors. Never let anyone submit an application you have not read and signed.
- They will not give you their NCRDC number, or it does not check out on the NCR website.
- They refuse to process your withdrawal. You have the right to withdraw before the court order.
If something goes wrong, complain to the National Credit Regulator. It has real teeth and orders refunds.
Getting out: the Form 19 clearance certificate
Debt review ends with a clearance certificate, known as a Form 19. Only a registered debt counsellor can issue it, and they must do so within seven days once you qualify.
You qualify when every credit agreement under the review is paid up. Where a bond is involved, the rule is different: your short-term debts must be settled, the bond payments must be up to date, and you must be able to afford them going forward. You do not have to pay off your house to exit debt review.
Your counsellor then notifies the credit bureaus and the NCR’s Debt Help System, and the debt review listing is removed from your credit record.
Check it actually came off. Pull your free credit reports from all four bureaus about a month after the certificate is issued. If the listing is still showing, send them a copy of the Form 19 yourself. This step gets missed often enough to be worth your attention.
Debt review versus the alternatives
| What it does | Protects your assets? | New credit? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt review | Restructures what you pay, court-backed | Yes, while you pay | No, until cleared |
| Debt consolidation | One new loan pays off the others | No special protection | Yes, it is credit |
| Administration order | Court-appointed administrator, for smaller debts | Limited | Effectively no |
| Sequestration | Insolvency; assets sold | No, that is the point | No |
Debt consolidation is not debt review. Consolidation means borrowing a new, larger loan to settle the others. It can work if you qualify for a genuinely lower rate and you stop using the accounts you just cleared. It carries none of the legal protection, and if you cannot qualify for credit, it is not available to you anyway.
The honest test: if you can service your debts but hate juggling them, consolidation might help. If you cannot service them at all, consolidation just moves the problem and debt review is the tool built for your situation.
Is debt review right for you?
It probably is if your debt repayments exceed what you can cover each month, you are borrowing to pay other debt, creditors are threatening legal action, or you are at real risk of losing your car or home.
It probably is not if you can service your debts but find them uncomfortable, if the problem is one account rather than all of them, or if you will need credit within the next few years. In those cases, fixing your credit record and cutting costs will serve you better.
The credit health checklist gives you a rough read in about a minute, and the affordability calculator shows whether your income actually covers your commitments.
If debt review is not the answer, the credit repair roadmap covers what is.
Sources
- National Credit Act 34 of 2005 — sections 79, 86, 87 and 88 on over-indebtedness, debt review, court orders and restrictions on new credit
- National Credit Regulator — debt counsellor registration, regulated fee caps, and Circular 03 of June 2024 on cold calling
- Academic analysis of section 86(10) termination and the 60 business day period, Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal
- NCR Form 16, 17.1, 17.2 and 19 procedures
This guide is general financial education, not advice about your personal situation, and it is not legal advice. Debt review has long-term consequences. Speak to an NCR-registered debt counsellor, and consider independent advice, before applying.