Meerkat debt review

Meerkat says it is a registered South African debt counsellor, NCRDC2613. The NCR register lists that number against David Brian O'Brien, trading as Meerkat. Meerkat is also an authorised financial services provider, so it is more than a debt counselling firm.

Its website says debt review restructures your debt and reduces interest, and that once you finish, your counsellor issues a clearance certificate that is submitted to the credit bureau. Debt review does not cancel what you owe, and it is not debt consolidation, which the NCR describes as a single loan used to pay off all your debts.

• Meerkat states it is a registered South African debt counsellor, NCRDC2613. (meerkat.co.za)
• Meerkat says it has been helping South Africans since 2016 and was founded in 2016 by David O'Brien. (meerkat.co.za)
• Meerkat displays a 'Top 5 National Debt Counsellor - Debt Review Awards' badge. (meerkat.co.za)
• Meerkat has a client Sign In / Register (my.meerkat.co.za). (meerkat.co.za)
• Meerkat's site says debt review restructures debt and reduces interest, and that completing it gives you a clearance certificate submitted to the credit bureau. (meerkat.co.za)
• Meerkat lists consumer rights in debt counselling, including written disclosure of fees before you apply. (meerkat.co.za)

Fees as Meerkat 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: meerkat.co.za.

Checked on 30 September 2026 against Meerkat'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: meerkat.co.za, meerkat.co.za.

Meerkat's debt page has a "Let us contact you" form. You enter your details and Meerkat says it will contact you shortly. Clients can sign in at my.meerkat.co.za. We could not find a mobile app on Meerkat's website.

The debt page does not describe a free assessment. It says Meerkat charges no upfront fees. It also lists your rights in debt counselling, including written disclosure of fees before you apply. Ask for that disclosure before you sign anything.

The legal steps are the same at every counsellor. You apply on Form 16 with documents such as your salary slip, your outstanding balances and a list of your credit providers. The counsellor must explain the process and its consequences before you sign, give you proof that your application was received, and disclose all fees in writing.

The counsellor then tells your credit providers and the credit bureaus that you have applied. The application, negotiation and referral to the Magistrate's Court or the National Consumer Tribunal (NCT) should be completed within 60 business days of the date you applied, and during that time you are protected against legal action such as repossession and default judgment. That protection does not reach a credit agreement where the credit provider had already started enforcement steps before you applied.

If all your credit providers accept the counsellor's proposal, it goes to the NCT for a consent order. If one or more decline, it goes to the Magistrate's Court, which holds a hearing and may reject the proposal or make an order restructuring your debts.

You can pay your credit providers directly or through a payment distribution agent (PDA) registered with the NCR, which the NCR does not make compulsory. Never give your counsellor money to pass on to your credit providers, because counsellors are not allowed to collect and distribute it.

Meerkat says it charges no upfront fees and does not publish Rand amounts. Its debt page says the fees are built into your monthly repayment and that, generally, the first two monthly payments go to the debt counsellor for administering the debt review and legal process, with your creditors paid from month three.

The NCR debt counselling fee guideline lists these fees, before VAT. The application fee of R50 and the administration fee of R300 are paid upfront and in full. The restructuring fee is the distributable amount or R8,000, whichever is lower (R9,000 if you are married in community of property), and is a once-off payment due in month one. The after-care fee is 5% of the distributable amount, up to R450, paid monthly after month two. The distributable amount is the amount payable to your credit providers under the initial plan. The NCR has also listed a reckless lending fee of R1,500, but it gave notice in 2018 that it intended to withdraw that category, so ask why it would apply to you.

The timing in the guideline is not the same as Meerkat's description, and we cannot tell from its site how the upfront R50 and R300 are handled. Ask Meerkat in writing which fees you will pay, the Rand amount of each and when each is due.

Debt counselling is not free, although the NCR says you should not have to borrow money to pay for it. Ask for a receipt for anything you pay, and get every fee, its Rand amount and its due date in writing before you sign.

Meerkat says a clearance certificate follows once you complete debt review. In law, the position is this.

There is no simple way to cancel debt review once you have applied. Since Van Vuuren v Roets in 2019 and the NCR Withdrawal Guidelines effective 7 March 2022, a consumer cannot voluntarily withdraw, and no court can rescind a debt review order. The old withdrawal status was switched off from 7 March 2022.

The exit is a section 71 clearance certificate. It is issued once the debts in your plan are paid, or once your short-term debts are paid and the only debt left is a home loan that is up to date under the order. Vehicle finance counts as a short-term debt, so it must be paid first. The counsellor has seven days to issue the certificate after you qualify, and you can ask the National Consumer Tribunal to review a refusal.

A few situations end debt review another way. If the Magistrate's Court finds that you are not over-indebted, the review ends. If you did not apply at all, complain to the NCR. A sequestration or liquidation order ends it too. Separately, you may move to a different counsellor at any stage. The 60 business day period does not restart, a new counsellor may not charge you again for an application, administration, restructuring or legal fee you have already paid, and fees for work actually done must be settled before the transfer.

See how to cancel debt review and the clearance certificate for more.

Be careful with anyone who offers to "remove" debt review for a fee. NCR Circular 2 of 2025 explains that under section 126A(3) a person offering to remove information from a credit bureau or improve a credit record may not be paid until the service has been performed.

Meerkat's site does not say how long debt review takes, so ask your counsellor for the length of your own plan in writing. The NCR says the repayment period may become longer.

• You cannot apply for more credit while you are under debt review. From the day you apply you must not take on new credit agreements, other than a consolidation agreement.
• There is no payment holiday. You must pay as advised from the start of the process.
• Your credit providers must keep reporting your payment history to the credit bureaus, so keep paying as agreed. The NCR says the debt review flag is not a negative listing or blacklisting. It is an indicator that you are under debt counselling.
• If you default on your payments, a credit provider may terminate the application on that agreement and take legal steps.
• A counsellor may suspend services if you do not cooperate or do not pay their fees.

The upside is legal protection while you keep paying as agreed, and one reduced payment.

Meerkat lists a phone number, a WhatsApp number and an email address on its contact page, shown in the table above. Confirm the name and NCR number of the counsellor who will handle your file. See how to verify an NCR-registered debt counsellor.

Complaints about a debt counsellor go to the NCR: [email protected] or 0860 627 627. Complaints about a credit provider or 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 and can help once you have complained to the provider or bureau first. Its number is 0860 800 900. The NFO does not list debt counsellors as participants, so counsellor complaints belong with the NCR.