According to new data released by Statistics South Africa civil summonses for debt are rising, and rising fast. 'The total number of civil summonses issued for debt for the three months ended February 2009 increased by 15,4% compared with the three months ended February 2008'. So if you are feeling the credit crunch and it feels like you might get a debt collector knocking on your door there are a few things that you can do. The important thing is to do it sooner rather than later.
- Speak to the people you are in debt to
- Consolidate your debt
- Get a debt counsellor
These statistics were looked at by The Daily Dispatch who noted that 'during February this year, 56175 civil judgments for debt amounting to R512.6million were recorded'. That is a lot of people who owe a lot of money and would have benefited from speaking to a debt counsellor way before they got taken to court and had judgement issued against them.
The Times also looked at this story and quoted an economist who believes that this increase was to be expected and that it is 'inline with the current economic climate'. This means that many of these people who had judgements issued against them could have seen the writing on the wall and done something about it in good time. The most important thing is not to wait, the longer you wait the larger your debt will get and the harder it becomes to consolidate and sort out. A trained debt counsellor will help you bust out of this trap and help you to get yourself debt free.