Frequently asked questions
A service provider may, in terms of the contract between themselves and the consumer, hand an account over to a third party collection company of their choice for the purpose of collecting the outstanding debt. This action might be taken when you as the consumer fail to honour your monthly payment agreement with the service provider for a period exceeding 90 DAYS and no arrangement has been made nor honoured.
The process of handing over accounts to third party agencies by service providers is purely aimed at having the outstanding debt repaid in full. The collection agency with this mandate will then attempt to make contact with you as the consumer in order to structure payment arrangements and alternative payment methods.
In terms of the Debt Collectors Act, 114 of 1998, a debt collection agency may charge fees for services rendered during the collection of an account. These fees can be kept at a minimum by making payment arrangements and honouring them.
If you arrange to pay a debt, and do not fulfil this obligation, we will be required to contact you again to make new arrangements. This incurs more costs for you. It is therefore in your best interest to ensure that you keep to your payment arrangements to avoid incurring further costs, that you will be legally obligated to pay. The Debt Collectors Act, 114 of 1998, prescribes that we may not charge costs to a debtor of more than R965.00 or an equal amount to the capital / overdue amount, whichever is less. This does not include VAT or the receipting fee of 10% on instalments.
Zumi Solutions offers multiple payment methods for paying or settling your account.
- Standard EFT payments
- Ozow instant EFT
- Debicheck debit orders (The most cost effective payment method)
- NAEDO debit orders for Business accounts
The Debt Collectors Act notes that each time a debt collector calls a debtor they need to be assured that they are indeed speaking to the correct person, to protect the information pertaining to the debtor’s debt.
The reason therefore is not only to adhere to compliance requirements, but also to protect the debtor’s personal information, as well as information about their debt. This prevents Debt Collectors from unveiling confidential information to 3rd-parties.
