“We cannot turn a blind eye to the frustrations brought on by the lockdown which may have resulted in job loss or salary reduction. And even in these difficult times, where people are caught between a rock and a hard place in trying to protect lives and livelihoods, they can’t help but become anxious about their debt,” the Credit Ombud reminds consumers. There are always ways to ease the woes that come with being unemployed while having debt. One of these is Credit life insurance.
Here’s an example of a case where the Credit Ombud has dealt with Covid-19 relief:
Ms Peters* contacted the Credit Ombud office to assist her with a credit life insurance claim. As a result of lockdown, she did not receive a salary for 3 months and experienced problems with her claim. The Credit Ombud office liaised with the credit provider to assess her original request/application and as a result of their intervention, it was successful.
“In instances where there is no credit life insurance it depends on the credit provider on how best they can assist the consumer. We cannot compel a credit provider to suspend or amend the obligations of a consumer. Should a consumer believe that they are unable to service a debt it is imperative that they contact the credit provider immediately to assess what can be done. The Credit Ombud is not a debt mediator and we can only assist if a consumer is experiencing problems in having their current credit life insurance application assessed or are experiencing delays by the credit provider.”
Click here to access more measures to put in place and share with your clients.
