Unfortunately, there’s no specific timeframe for how long your name will be flagged for. Your name will be flagged under debt review until all your debt has been settled and you’re up to date with your bond repayments. Once that happens you will be issued a clearance certificate which will prove that you have completed the debt review process. The credit bureaus will remove the flag from your name within 21 days once they’ve received the clearance certificate. The sooner you pay off all your debt, the sooner your name will be removed. What does it mean to have your name flagged? And how do you check if your name is flagged?
How to check if your name is under debt review?
You can check if your name is under debt review by looking at your credit report. You can access your credit report from any of the credit bureaus like Experian, Transunion etc. Once you’ve logged into your credit report you will see an ‘under debt review’ notification.
What does the debt review flag mean?
Once you’ve been accepted under the debt review process your debt counsellor will notify all credit bureaus. Your name will be tagged with the ‘under debt review’ flag which will prevent you from making more debt while you’re under debt review.
The debt review flag has been put in place to help you stay on track with your financial goals. It would be extremely difficult to get out of debt if you kept making more debt. Therefore it would be better for you to avoid debt while you’re under debt review. This would help speed up the process and allow you to learn how to cope financially without debt.
How do you remove the debt review flag?
There’s only one way to remove your debt review flag, that is by paying off all your debt. You will receive a clearance certificate once you’ve paid off all your debt and your mortgage repayments are up to date. Pay any extra money you have every month towards your debt. The sooner it gets paid off, the sooner you can exit the process and get the flag removed.
Once you have paid off all your debt listed in your debt review repayment agreement, or all your short term credit agreements have been paid in full and your mortgage bond repayments are up to date, you can request a clearance certificate from your debt counsellor.
Your debt counsellor will notify all credit bureaus and your debt review flag will be removed within 21 business days.
Will you qualify for credit after the debt review flag is removed?
Once the debt review flag has been removed from your name you will be allowed to apply for credit again. You can then apply for new credit and rebuild your credit report back to healthy standing. Once you’ve completed the debt review process and you’re debt-free, you’ll be able to apply for home loans, car loans, store cards, and even credit cards again. You’ll have a second chance at building a strong financial future.
Once you’re under debt review it is advised that you push as much extra cash as possible into your debt. This will help speed up the process and you’ll be debt-free sooner than expected.
If you’re struggling to afford your monthly living expenses and your debt repayments, you may be over-indebted. Fill in the form below and one of our friendly consultants will contact you as soon as possible to discuss your options.
