OVER-INDEBTEDNESS: THE DANGER SIGNS

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you probably need help.

IS DEBT COUNSELLING FOR YOU?

Debt counselling is not for everyone. You have to be over-indebted and you have to have a regular income. You also have to be willing to:

◆ Make lifestyle changes – for example, cutting out luxuries such as dining out – to repay all your debts;

◆ Commit to repaying your debts according to the payment proposal agreed to with your debt counsellor; and

◆ Not incur any more debt. You will not be able to access more credit because it will be noted on your credit reports held by the various credit bureaus that you are in debit counselling.

Paul Slot, a director of Octogen debt counsellors, says debt counselling is not the only way to address debt stress. He says “early identification and intervention” can help. The best time for you to contact your credit providers or a debt counsellor for help is when you are about to miss a payment or have just missed a payment. More and more consumers who are about to miss a payment are contacting a specialist for assistance, and an increasing number of credit providers facilitate an intervention when a payment is missed, Slot says.

He says Octogen has implemented a programme to help consumers pay their debts, which has resulted in these consumers having a propensity to pay their debts on time that is 10 times higher than that of the average consumer (determined by a 12-month project with an insurance company).