Debtfree DIGI Magazine Aug 2016

CALL CENTRES
THE BIG DEBATE (PART 2)
This month we continue with the second instalment in our 3
part series on the recent message coming out of the NCR about
debt review done by debt counsellors working in or with the
support of a large team (commonly called a call centre).
The message has not been a very clear one but seems to
indicate that the NCR are “anti” call centre operations. In SA the
largest debt counselling firms can all commonly be considered
call centre debt counsellors. Does this mean that the NCR are
anti all the large debt counselling firms in South Africa?
In our June 2016 issue (Part 1) we discussed how, when dealing with a large firm, a consumer
may deal with a person, at first, who is not a Debt Counsellor, who may tell you about how
the process works or may capture some information from you about your debt situation. This
information would only then be sent onto a trained and registered Debt Counsellor for review.
We also looked at how computer software (the use of which is often times promoted by the
NCR) helps produce proposals and ultimately figures used in court applications to have the debt
restructured to an amount you can afford each month.
Recently a Debt Counsellor was looking to expand the good they can do each month by
expanding their debt counselling practice. The original plan was to take on a large number of
staff, get bigger offices and drive more business over the phone to help more people. Some large
Debt Counselling firms with a large number of staff can assist between 300 to 1000 consumers
every month (and advise many more consumers who make contact with them but don’t use
their services). Smaller Debt Counsellors who operate on their own or with a single staff member
commonly help around 5 to 10 people a month. In an effort to do research into their plans the
Debt Counsellor contacted the NCR with regard to their plan to expand their services and get