Debt Repayment Timeline Calculator
A debt review plan runs until your obligations under the re-arrangement are fulfilled. There is no statutory maximum length. How long yours would run comes down to what you owe, the interest, and what you can genuinely afford each month. This shows that relationship, including the part most calculators leave out: the fees that come off before your credit providers see the money.
Your numbers
Things that change the real answer
- Your living expense figure gets adjusted. Regulation 24(7)(c) lets the debt counsellor adjust the budget you provide with reference to NCR guidelines, which changes what you are assessed as able to pay.
- Interest concessions are negotiated, not automatic. Section 86(7)(c)(ii) lets a court extend the term, postpone payments, or recalculate obligations after contraventions of the Act. A rate reduction is something credit providers may agree to.
- Your first month goes to the restructuring fee. It is the lesser of your first re-arranged instalment or the guideline cap, and 100% of it is payable at the first instalment.
- The plan can be reviewed. Aftercare includes an annual review of your financial position and any dramatic change in circumstances. Tell your debt counsellor about an income change rather than simply underpaying - defaulting on the re-arrangement lifts the section 88(3) protection.
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The regulator
OurPower is not a debt counsellor and is not registered with the National Credit Regulator. This page is general information about South African debt review law, not financial, legal or debt counselling advice. Debt review is not the right answer for everyone. Only an NCR-registered debt counsellor or a court can determine whether you are over-indebted. Legislation verified 2026-08-15. Sources: National Credit Act 34 of 2005 and the National Credit Regulations.