Reading Time: 4 minutes

Debt Review Success Tips

Debt review will help you pay off your debt in a reasonable amount of time and at amounts that you can realistically handle each month.

But what can help you make the most of the debt review process? In this short series of articles, we look at what you should do and what you should avoid doing. Let’s talk about something you need to be super cautious about:

TIP #9

Beware of Wierd Advice Online

If you are having any concerns about the debt review process then it is important that you speak to someone who knows your debt situation intimately. Who is that person? It is your Debt Counsellor.

Your Debt Counsellor knows many things about your debt situation such as:

Your monthly income, your earning potential, your home obligations and challenges. They know the interest rates that were being charged on your debt and what they were adjusted to. They know what insurance policies are linked to your credit accounts and which are active. Your Debt Counsellor knows what you have budgeted for different monthly and yearly obligations.

Your Debt Counsellor knows which attorney has helped you with your court application for debt restructuring and the wording of the debt restructuring court order as well as the repayment plan it is based on.

Some random person on the internet does not. They may only know…maybe 1 paragraph or even one sentence about your situation.

For example, you may write:

I can’t believe X bank say they have not been paid for their debts for 3 months and my balance now is larger than before I began debt review.

That’s it…

Now, what kind of advice might you get from some random weirdo sitting in a dark mouldy room somewhere who has no clue about debt review and in particular your entire debt and monthly obligation situation? They may say something like:

Debt review is a scam. You should just leave and pay your debts yourself.

Is that good advice? Is it even possible?

First of all, it is important to remember the first rule of debt review. Always talk to your Debt Counsellor. The collections agent from X bank is probably totally wrong about the claim they made. Or if the computers are showing that inaccurate information, then your Debt Counsellor will work with X bank’s debt review department and not their greedy collections department to correct the statement.

Read More: Debt Review Success Tip #1: Talk To your Debt Counsellor

As for the bad advice you were given by this random internet person, it really is terrible advice and it is a pity they cannot be sued for telling you such rubbish and offering bad financial advice.

‘The courts across the country know the law and are not scamming anyone’

Debt review is part of the law of the country. It is perhaps the most important part of the National Credit Act and hundreds of thousands of people have received help through the courts using this process. The courts across the country know the law and are not scamming anyone. Obviously.

By advising you to leave the protection of the process they are saying that you should leave your assets exposed to the collections departments and attorneys of credit providers instead of staying safe in debt review. They may even be telling you to ignore and break the conditions of the granted court order which restructures your debt.

Does this person know you?

No.

Do they know your various other debts and the rates, balances and obligations involved?

No.

You have not given them any of that information and so they happily blurt out stupid advice which can really hurt you without any of the facts they would need to offer sound advice. In fact, it would take any person (professional or otherwise), days to get all the information to offer any type of sound personalised advice.

‘they happily blurt out stupid advice which can really hurt you without any of the facts they would need to offer sound advice’

If you could have paid your debts without debt review successfully then you never would have needed the process or even qualified.

What bad advice!

What might even happen next is the person may try to scam you out of your hard-earned money with fake loan offers or offers of services that are not based in reality.

So Many Fools Out There. Please Beware!

So, beware of where you go online looking for advice. Before joining some random chatroom or group somewhere online (1) talk to your Debt Counsellor and (2) if you would like more information in addition to that feel free to call the NCR who regulate the industry for information. Alternatively, you can (3) do some extensive research online to get a balanced view of the topic over a few days and then go back to your Debt Counsellor to discuss any concerns you have.

Please don’t lose your house or car (or all the progress you have made in improving your life through debt review) because of some random person spurting nonsense online.