Debt Therapy review

Debt Therapy is a debt counsellor. Its main service is debt review, which assesses whether you are over-indebted and restructures your debts into one monthly payment.

It is not a lender. Besides debt review, its website lists debt consolidation services, information about consolidation loans, a free credit report and a debt calculator. Debt consolidation is not the same as debt review: the NCR describes consolidation as a single loan used to pay off all your debts, while debt review restructures the debts you already have.

• The site states it offers multilingual support in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. (debt-therapy.co.za)
• Debt Therapy states clients get their own dedicated account manager and no call centres. (debt-therapy.co.za)
• Debt Therapy states clients do not have to attend an interview or visit its offices. (debt-therapy.co.za)
• Debt Therapy states it can offer 80% of a bond payment in most cases and treats the bond as top priority debt. (debt-therapy.co.za)
• The NCR register lists NCRDC49 (Hans Reinhard Pettenburger-Perwald) as trading as Debt Therapy, final registration 07/12/2007. (ncr.org.za)
• The NCR register lists NCRDC1261 (Bridget Sarah Pettenburger) as trading as Debt Therapy, final registration 09/11/2009. (ncr.org.za)
• Debt Therapy states you have no access to your overdraft, credit cards or store cards while under debt review. (debt-therapy.co.za)

Fees as Debt Therapy states them on its own website on 30 September 2026. Debt counselling fees are capped by the National Credit Regulator's fee guideline, and the counsellor must give you the fees in writing before you sign.

Sources: debt-therapy.co.za, debt-therapy.co.za.

Checked on 30 September 2026 against Debt Therapy's official website. Before you sign anything with a debt help firm, confirm the debt counsellor's registration with the National Credit Regulator, and never pay a "removal" or "clearance" fee to someone who contacts you out of the blue.

Sources: debt-therapy.co.za, debt-therapy.co.za.

Debt review follows the same legal steps at every counsellor.

1. You apply on Form 16 with your documents, such as a salary slip and your outstanding balances. Form 16 warns that documents not submitted within 10 days of the application being received mean it will not be accepted.
2. The counsellor checks whether you are over-indebted. If you are, the counsellor tells your credit providers and the credit bureaus within five business days and sends the credit providers a repayment proposal.
3. The application, negotiation and referral to the Magistrate's Court or the National Consumer Tribunal must be completed within 60 business days of the date you applied. If all credit providers accept, the Tribunal can issue a consent order. If one or more decline, the matter goes to the Magistrate's Court.
4. You pay the agreed monthly amount, usually through a payment distribution agent (PDA) registered with the NCR. The NCR says you may pay your credit providers directly instead.

During those 60 business days you are protected against legal action such as repossession and default judgment. Never give your counsellor money meant for your credit providers.

Debt Therapy says you do not have to attend an interview or visit its offices. More detail: the debt review process step by step.

Debt Therapy states its fees, excluding VAT, as an application fee of R350, a restructuring fee equal to your first month's payment capped at R8,000 for an individual and R9,000 for a joint application, and a monthly aftercare fee of 5% of your debt review payment up to R450. It does not state its legal fees, which are extra. The NCR fee guideline is the benchmark:

The distributable amount is what is payable to your credit providers under the first repayment plan. Attorney fees are not fixed: they are agreed with the attorney and given to you in writing. Ask for a receipt when you pay the application and administration fees.

The R350 equals the NCR's R50 application fee and R300 administration fee added together. Debt Therapy's pages do not say what the R350 covers or when it is taken, so ask. It words the restructuring and aftercare fees differently from the NCR, so ask for the calculation in writing, with rand amounts for your own case, before you sign.

• Debt review does not cancel debt. The NCR says it is not a savings plan, and lower monthly payments can mean it takes you longer to pay off what you owe.
• You cannot apply for new credit while you are under debt review.
• Your credit record carries a debt review flag. The NCR says the flag is not a blacklisting, but credit providers must keep reporting your payment history, so keep paying as agreed.
• There is no payment holiday. If you default, a credit provider can give notice to terminate the review on that agreement, but only at least 60 business days after you applied.
• Debt Therapy says how long you stay under debt review depends on the amount available for your creditors, your total debt and the interest rates agreed. Ask for the projected term in writing.

You cannot withdraw once you have applied. Since Van Vuuren v Roets (2019) and the NCR withdrawal guidelines that took effect on 7 March 2022, no process lets you withdraw, and no court can rescind a debt review order.

The way out is a clearance certificate under section 71. You qualify when all the debts in the plan are paid, or when all your short-term debts are paid (vehicle finance, credit and store cards and loans count) and the only debt left is a home loan that is up to date under the order. The counsellor must issue the certificate within seven days after that. If it is refused, you can ask the Tribunal to review the decision.

The narrow exceptions are a magistrate finding you not over-indebted before an order is made, and a sequestration or liquidation order. You can also transfer to another debt counsellor at any stage without giving a reason. Never pay anyone who offers to remove you from debt review: under section 126A(3), NCR Circular 2 of 2025 says such firms may not be paid until the service has been performed. Read the clearance certificate guide.

Complain about a debt counsellor to the National Credit Regulator (NCR) at [email protected] or on 0860 627 627. Complaints about a credit provider, or about a credit bureau listing, go to the National Financial Ombud (NFO), which took over the Credit Ombud on 1 March 2024. The NFO is free: 0860 800 900. It does not list debt counsellors, so a complaint about how Debt Therapy handled your case belongs with the NCR.

Debt Therapy's published email address is on debt-therapy.net, an older web domain that no longer shows the company's site. If an email goes unanswered, use the phone numbers or the assessment form on debt-therapy.co.za.