Kruger Wilkens Attorneys

Kruger Wilkens Attorneys

Good day I am reaching out in desperation on behalf of my 68-year-old father, who appears to have been misled and unknowingly placed under debt review by a company called Debt Help. My father is a pensioner who has always paid his financial commitments. He has no financial difficulties and only has two active credit agreements – his home loan and vehicle finance. He had absolutely no reason to apply for debt review. The most concerning part of this entire matter is that he was never told that he was signing up for debt review. Had the words "debt review" ever been mentioned or explained to him, he would never have agreed to proceed. Instead, he was sold what was presented as a "great deal" that would supposedly save him money on his monthly payments. He was led to believe that they were simply assisting him financially and reducing his monthly expenses. At no point was he informed that: He would be placed under debt review. His credit profile would be affected. His finances would be administered by a debt counsellor. Payments to his creditors would be redirected through a payment distribution agency. There would be fees payable to exit the process. Only on 1 July did my father realise that he had been placed under debt review. Since then, I have been trying to obtain basic information from Debt Help. Emails go unanswered, telephonic assistance is virtually non-existent via their Cape Town number ***), calls cannot be transferred, and the debt counsellor listed on the documentation does not take calls. I have repeatedly requested: A copy of the call recording in which my father allegedly consented to debt review. Copies of all the documentation that was supposedly explained to him. Proof that he knowingly agreed to enter debt review. To date, none of this has been provided. When we discovered what had happened and requested that the process be cancelled, we were informed that: We had to pay R700 per account (R1,400 in total) to cancel the process. We would need to wait 7 to 10 working days for a Form 17.2 rejection letter confirming the cancellation. Thereafter, it could take a further 21 to 30 working days for the National Credit Regulator records to be updated. I immediately paid the R1,400 cancellation fee, yet we are still waiting for documentation confirming that the debt review process has in fact been cancelled. Adding to our concerns is the fact that approximately R8,600 was deducted from my father's account on 1 July. To this day, he has absolutely no idea what happened to that money. When I requested a statement reflecting how the funds were allocated, I was told that statements are only made available after three months. When I asked where the money had gone, I was simply told that it had been paid to the payment distribution agent. This raises several questions that Debt Help has been unable or unwilling to answer: What did the payment distribution agent do with the money? Were my father's bond and vehicle finance instalments paid? Are his accounts now in arrears? Has any money been paid to his creditors at all? If the money has not been paid to his creditors, where is it? Why can a consumer not obtain an immediate statement reflecting how their money has been allocated? At this point, my father has no idea: Whether his creditors have been paid. Whether his bond and vehicle finance are now in arrears. Whether he has been successfully removed from debt review. Whether his credit record has been negatively affected. What happens next. What is most upsetting is that an elderly pensioner has been placed into debt review without ever being told that it was debt review. If this can happen to my father, how many other elderly South Africans are being misled in exactly the same way? Consumers should not discover that they are under debt review only after deductions have been made from their bank account. They should not have to pay to exit a process that they were never properly informed they were entering in the first place. I am asking for your assistance in investigating Debt Help's practices and holding this company accountable. There needs to be greater protection for vulnerable and elderly consumers who are being sold financial products or services under misleading pretences. My father has lost money, experienced significant stress and uncer*****y, and still has no answers as to where his money has gone or whether his financial obligations have been met. I sincerely hope you are able to assist us and expose practices such as these so that other pensioners are not placed in the same position. The contact numbers are all the same from administration to the attorneys *** or what’s app *** Kind regards