Debt counsellors are there to assist you to get out of debt. The credit law has put debt counsellors in place to assist people with managing their debt. An external party will have a different view on your current situation. This is very beneficial because they are not focused on the problem, but rather focused on getting a solution on finding a out of debt.

Debt Counsellors must be accredited before they may give advice on helping you get out of debt. There is specific training that must be passed before a person is seen as qualified to assist with managing your debts. The first important area is legislation. Your debt counsellor must be fully aware of aspects relating to the law. This includes:

* Sections 44, 45, 46 (3) and (4) – Registration of debt Counsellors
* Section 47 (1) – Disqualification of registration
* Section 48 (2) – Conditions of registration
* Sections 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 and 59 – Compliance procedure and cancellation of registration
* Sections 78 – 88 – Over-indebtedness and reckless credit
* Section 101 – Cost of credit
* Section 102 – 106 – Fees and charges
* Section 121 – 123 – Rescission and termination of credit agreements
* Section 129 - Required procedure before debt enforcement
* Section 130 – Debt procedures in court

The counsellor must also be training on the debt counselling process. This covers the entry points into debt counselling, the debt review process, when to reject a debit review and resources available for talking to creditors.

Ask your debt counsellor on the process of debt counselling. The first step is to determine if you are over-indebted. This process takes your current debt and income into consideration to determine if you are over indebted. If you are, the process continues, if not your debt counsellor will be able to highlight alternatives.

The following step is taking a look at credit bureau reports. This takes some interpretation and there are various codes on the reports with different meanings.

Once this is complete, restructuring of the current debt is possible. Re-structuring is a complete overview of your situation and considering what alternatives are available.

When the debt restructuring is done by the debt counsellor, a consent order is done and certificates are issued. These are the various areas debt counsellors must be skilled at and trained in. Debt counsellors are there to help you with managing your debt.