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Industry Events

The Debt Counsellors Association of South Africa are hosting regional meetings to discuss industry matters and update members.

The KZN regional meeting of DCASA was once again generously hosted at Consumer Friends KZN offices. Local members met in the sunny boardroom with its lovely views to discuss what has recently been going on in the industry.

Here is a quick update from the KZN regional meeting.

CIF, The AGM, The Awards & More

After a warm welcome from Consumer Friend, who have now made their offices available to the local association members to use, there were some introductions and then discussions got underway.

Members were reminded that CIF are meeting and discussing very important industry topics such as debt counselling fees (DCASA has made a submission) and reckless lending. Members were encouraged not to shy away from conducting investigations.

Recently, there have been several key industry events including the Debt Review Awards (which many members were able to live stream from Gauteng) where several DCASA members were recognised and received awards.

The DCASA AGM was also held this month and the new NEC members confirmed (including Drisha Pillay who was able to provide feedback on how local members are being represented on the national scene). There was a brief summary of the AGM and information relating to DCASAs finances and auditing.

Also attending the meeting was DC Credit Protect (DCCP) who provide specialist insurance products for those under debt review (including credit life insurance replacement options). Eddie was able to remind members of how insurance plays an important part of a consumer’s budget and how replacing the right policies with suitable options can free up funds to accommodate counter proposals and annual escalations.

The Hyphen PDA team were also on hand to discuss how Hyphen can assist with client fund distributions and to explain new software features from integrated software which Debt Counsellors use to monitor their client’s cases and organize proposals and calculations

The association also has plans to grow membership in the region and to encourage consumers to deal with reputable Debt Counsellors who belong to DCASA.

Snacks & Chats

After the updates and presentations there were some snacks on hand to enjoy. This gave members the chance to network and discuss other issues they are facing and to share possible solutions they have found.

One member pointed out that some credit providers are still not updating credit bureaus in line with adjusted payment arrangements and this may now be further escalated within the organisation.

To find out more about DCASA email: dcasa@dcasa.co.za