Are your accounts in arrears?

When you take out a loan, you enter into an agreement with your credit provider to make regular repayments on specific days and for a specific period of time. The that amount that you agreed to repay is the instalment amount and must be paid on the agreed due date. If you miss the instalment or make a partial payment, your account goes into arrears.

• Going into arrears has various negative impacts.
• Your missed payment will be reflected on credit bureaus and your credit score will likely decrease.
• If you have an Access Bond facility on your Home Loan, revolving personal loan or credit card, these facilities may be cancelled.
• Your ability to repay your loans on time is assessed when you apply for new credit. A missed or partial payment may prevent your credit application from being approved.
• You will receive phone calls and messages from the credit provider, its collection agents and attorneys.  
• If you do not settle the arrears, you could have a judgment granted against you. The judgment will reflect on your credit record and will most likely prevent you from applying for future credit.

The best way to prevent your account going into arrears is by sticking to a strict budget and ensuring that you repay your credit agreements on time. Learn more about budgeting.

A debit order is an instruction given to your bank to monitor your transactional account and make a payment towards your credit agreement on a specified date. Learn more about debit orders.

You can arrange to settle your arrears by applying for a Promise to Pay arrangement, which allows you to repay your arrears, plus your instalment, over a period of up to three months.

When you enter into a Promise to pay with us, we try to ensure you can afford the repayments. In the event of you not keeping to the Promise to Pay arrangement, legal action could commence against you. It is therefore in your best interest to ensure your Promise to Pay is affordable to you and is kept.

To apply and make a promise to pay, click here.

If you are unable to bring up your arrears in a single instalment or enter into a Promise to Pay, you could apply for a respread of arrears. This is where your arrears amount is spread over a period of months, which you must now pay together with your instalment. It does mean your monthly instalment amounts will increase going forward, but it also means you will no longer be in arrears.

To apply for a Respread of Arrears, please complete an application.

A payment holiday is a short-term break from repaying all or a portion of your monthly loan instalments.

You may skip your full repayment or part of it (based on your arrangement) for the duration of the payment holiday, which is usually 1-3 months. After that, you’ll have to resume your normal monthly repayments.

Please note: You’re not required to pay your entire monthly instalment (or portion of your monthly instalment). Your outstanding balance will increase because of the interest and service fees charged to your account because your repayment term was extended. You’ll end up paying a little more than your original amount.

To apply, visit our payment holiday page.

If you can’t cover all your debts after paying your monthly expenses, you should consider taking out a Consolidation Loan.

A Consolidation Loan will only be granted once we‘ve assessed your affordability and we’re satisfied that you’ll be able to repay the loan. If your application for a Consolidation Loan is granted, the funds will be allocated to settle all your outstanding debt (included in the Consolidation Loan). If you have a Home Loan with us, we will also consider consolidating your Home Loan account.

The benefits of a Consolidation Loan is a longer repayment term and a lower interest rate compared than most loans. This means that you’ll end up paying a lower instalment than you were previously (for each of your credit agreements), but your Consolidated Loan repayment term will be longer. Therefore, you should consider a Consolidation Loan if you have several loans with different interest rates and repayments.

Please note: A consolidation loan is a long-term commitment, and you must remain dedicated to repaying every instalment on the due date. We encourage you to avoid entering into any other credit agreements because you run the risk of ending up in the same financial situation you’re in.

If you have a home loan or vehicle that is financed by Standard Bank and you can’t afford to repay your monthly instalments, you can apply for our EasySell program.

The EasySell program was designed to assist our clients struggling to pay their monthly repayments on their home or vehicle. We’ll also help you buy another home or vehicle that is more affordable.

Find out more about EasySell.

We’ll find the best solution for you based on your financial means.

If you’re not sure which solution suits your needs, complete the Call me back form below, and we’ll call you back to discuss these various options.”

The first step in the legal process is issuing a Section 129 letter in terms of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005. This letter is more commonly knows as a Letter of Demand.

It is a legal notice that provides you with details of your account balance and arrears. It also provides a few alternatives available to you, such as the option to contact the Ombudsman or apply for Debt Review.

The notice is your last opportunity to bring your account up to date as the issuing of a summons closely follows it.

A summons is a legal document drafted by the Attorneys of your Credit Provider and sets out the full of the matter to Court. It sets out your full details, details of the credit agreement you entered into and how you defaulted or missed payments. In the Summons, your Credit Provider requests the Court to hand down a judgment against you, ordering that you repay the full outstanding balance.

It is served by the Sheriff of the Court which has jurisdiction over your residence or workplace.

You will be afforded a number of days to respond to the Summons, failing which, the Credit Provider can obtain judgment against you.

Should you wish to respond to the judgment, you must do so within the appropriate time and using the appropriate format. Failing to do so may result in a request for judgment.

If you fail to defend or respond to the summons, default judgment can be obtained against you.

A court can only decide a case based on the information placed before it. Since the summons contains all the information of the loan agreement and your default, if you don't respond to it, the court would only have the the court would only have your Credit Providers version and will according rule in their favour, handing down judgment against you.

You’re required by law to repay the amount specified on the judgment or the credit lender can apply to repossess or auction your immovable assets. They can even repossess your movable assets to recover the funds.  The credit lender may apply for an administration order or even apply for the sequestration of your estate.

If you don’t return the asset or make full payment of the amount requested in the judgment, a writ of execution may be issued against your property or asset you’ve failed to repay for several months.

This means that we may take possession of the asset and sell it to recover the outstanding balance. If the value of the assets is not enough to repay the loan amount in full, you will remain liable for the shortfall (the remaining amount after the sale of the asset).

We encourage our clients to avoid this and explore our EasySell platform, which can help you sell your asset at the best possible price. Find out more about EasySell.
 

A sale in execution is a legal process where your property is sold at a public auction by the local sheriff of the court.

It’s usually the last step taken by the credit lender if you can’t repay your debt. When your asset is sold on auction, the offer you get may be lower than the market value of the asset, which means you could have a shortfall on your account after the debt has been repaid. Therefore, it is in your best interests to make payment arrangement with us if you’re struggling to meet your monthly debt obligations.

Explore our EasySell offering which can help you sell your asset to get the best possible price.