National Debt Advisors (NDA) review

NDA is short for National Debt Advisors (Pty) Ltd. The name "NDA financial services", which some people search for, does not appear on its website. The company calls itself National Debt Advisors or NDA.

The NCR register lists NCRDC2351 and NCRDC3026 as individuals trading as National Debt Advisors. A counsellor assesses whether you are over-indebted and, if you are, proposes reduced payments to your credit providers. NDA says it offers no loans. Debt review lowers what you pay on existing debt. It does not cancel that debt, and it is not the same as debt consolidation, which the NCR describes as a single loan used to pay off all your debts.

• NDA's site footer shows NCR registration NCRDC2351/3026 (the NCR register lists NCRDC2351 as Sebastien Alarik Alexanderson and NCRDC3026 as Charnel Letitia Collins, both trading as National Debt Advisors). (nationaldebtadvisors.co.za)
• The PAIA policy names National Debt Advisors (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2012/224196/07, at 9 Long Street, Cape Town. (nationaldebtadvisors.co.za)
• NDA has a Client Portal (powered by Score Up) with balances, payment history, statements and documents. (nationaldebtadvisors.co.za)
• NDA says most people complete debt review within 36 to 60 months (3 to 5 years). (nationaldebtadvisors.co.za)
• NDA says the application can be finalised online, by email and over the phone, so you can enter debt review from anywhere in South Africa. (nationaldebtadvisors.co.za)
• NDA says creditors are notified within 2 to 5 days of entering debt review. (nationaldebtadvisors.co.za)
• NDA markets lowering monthly repayments by up to 50%. (nationaldebtadvisors.co.za)
• NDA says it does not offer loans. (nationaldebtadvisors.co.za)

Fees as National Debt Advisors 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: nationaldebtadvisors.co.za, nationaldebtadvisors.co.za.

Checked on 30 September 2026 against National Debt Advisors'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: nationaldebtadvisors.co.za, nationaldebtadvisors.co.za.

NDA says the application can be finalised online, by email and over the phone. NDA also says your credit providers will be notified within 2 to 5 days of your entering debt review. The regulations require the counsellor to send Form 17.1 to your credit providers and the credit bureaus within five business days of accepting your application.

The legal steps are these.

1. You apply to a counsellor on Form 16, with your salary slip, your outstanding balances and a list of your credit providers.
2. The counsellor assesses you. If you are not over-indebted, the counsellor must reject the application. If you are, the counsellor accepts it.
3. The counsellor tells your credit providers and the credit bureaus that you have applied, using Form 17.1, within five business days of accepting the application.
4. Within 30 business days of accepting it, the counsellor sends your credit providers a proposal to rearrange your payments.
5. If all of them accept, the counsellor refers the proposal to the National Consumer Tribunal (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.
6. The application, negotiation and referral should be finished within 60 business days of the date you applied. During that time you are protected against legal action such as repossession and default judgment, except on an agreement where the credit provider had already started enforcement steps before you applied.

If the counsellor rejects your application, you have 20 business days to apply to the Magistrate's Court yourself, on Form 18.

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.

NDA does not publish Rand amounts. It says debt counselling fees are built into your affordable, reorganised repayment plan, and it does not itemise them on its website.

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.

Because NDA does not say which of these fees it charges or when they fall due, ask for that in writing before you sign. In particular, ask what you pay upfront and what is spread across your monthly payments.

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. More in debt review fees and costs.

NDA says most people complete debt review within 36 to 60 months (3 to 5 years). Ask your counsellor for the length of your own plan in writing.

You cannot simply pull out of debt review after you have applied. The NCR withdrawal guidelines, effective 7 March 2022, follow the 2019 Van Vuuren v Roets judgment: there is no voluntary withdrawal, and once a court has confirmed the order under section 87(1)(b), no court can end it or declare you not over-indebted.

The route out is the section 71 clearance certificate. Either every debt under the order is paid in full, or every short-term debt is paid and only a home loan remains, up to date. The counsellor must issue the certificate within seven days and file it with the credit bureaus, which then remove the debt review flag and the record of the debts that were under review. Your payment history is not removed, except as the normal retention periods allow. If a counsellor will not issue it, the National Consumer Tribunal can review that decision.

Only a few other things end a review: a Magistrate's Court finding that you are not over-indebted, an NCR finding that you never applied, or sequestration or liquidation. You can also transfer to another counsellor at any stage, without giving a reason and without your current counsellor's consent. Fees you have already paid cannot be charged again by the new counsellor, and unused fees must be refunded.

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.

• 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.
• Debt review does not cancel debt. The NCR says it lowers your payments from your disposable income, so the repayment period may become longer, and you keep your legal protection only while you keep paying as agreed.
• 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.
• NDA markets lower monthly repayments of up to 50%. That is a marketing claim, so ask what your own plan would look like, in writing.

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

NDA lists a Cape Town phone number, 021 054 1788, and a WhatsApp number, 087 813 3378, on its contact page. Its website footer shows NCRDC2351/3026. Confirm the name and 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.