MEDIATION: IS IT JUST A DIFFERENT FORM OF DEBT REVIEW

You may have seen people offering to sort out consumers’ debt via mediation.

This was popularised by the National Debt Mediation Association when the NCA and debt review was first introduced. As a result, many consumers were successfully diverted away from the legal debt review process at the time.

Obviously, owing money is not a ‘dispute’ or a ‘complaint’ (although we may complain about it to our friends). So, mediation by ADRAs would not cover restructuring debts. That would best be done via debt review or in a voluntary agreement with a credit provider by the consumer direct or via a Debt Counsellor as allowed for in the National Credit Act.

Note: At present, this is one of the topics sitting with the Credit Industry Forum (CIF) who are trying to define guidelines relating to ADRAs.

If you have a complaint about a credit provider then why not reach out to a NCR registered ADRA and see if they can help you and the credit provider resolve the matter rather than end up at court or in front of an Ombud or the NCT?