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Do You Want To Be A Debt Counsellor cont.

The National Credit Regulator is required to report on their registrants.

This is why they ask you, the registrant to report to them each quarter. This is done on specific Excel Spreadsheets to specific email addresses.

Send In Your Reports

Sending these reports is part of your T&Cs as a Debt Counsellor, the NCR do send you email reminders but try not to forget or you can get into trouble.

Remember, just because you constantly update information on NCRDebtHelp, you still need to send the information via email each quarter.

Once a year you will have to send the NCR a form where you can report yourself for not doing something (self-reporting any omissions) if you want.

About Monitoring

The NCR check up on registrants to make sure they are sticking to the Act.

When this happens, prepare to set aside a chunk of your time to deal with it. You will unfortunately not be able to give your clients and business full attention, as you will need to get the feedback to the NCR 100% right, or you may end up looking bad and get into trouble.

They will do this intermittently, but may be prompted to do so if they start receiving multiple complaints about you.

Keep Good Records Of Everything

When they monitor you, they will ask for a sample of files about a random selection of clients. They will comb through those matters and see if you have good records of all your steps (or have skipped any).

This is why detailed record keeping is vital. Keep copies of emails, documents, recordings of phone calls everything you can think of. You may need them later to defend yourself, or provide extensive proof of having done your job.

The NCR monitors will then normally issue a scary compliance notice demanding you fix any matters asap or they will take you to the National Consumer Tribunal and ask for a big fine or your deregistration.

This has happened to a number of Debt Counsellors over the years, and many cases have gone on to be fought at High Court or further. Some have faced big fines that will quickly put you out of business, and leave your clients stranded.

Even if you are totally “in the right”, the entire process is very stressful and yes, it will cost you in legal bills to defend yourself. Try to avoid this at all costs.

Let’s Talk About Complaints

Continued in next article…