Prescribed debt removal in South Africa

Many ordinary debts may be subject to a three-year prescription period, but “older than three years” is not a complete eligibility test. The Prescription Act sets different periods for different categories and allows other legislation to provide different rules.

Prescription generally begins when the debt is due, not when the account opened or first appeared on a report; other statutory circumstances may matter.

Different debts can have different periods

The Prescription Act provides longer periods for categories including debts secured by mortgage bonds, judgment debts and certain tax or state debts. It also provides other periods for specific instruments or state debts. Do not apply a three-year rule to every loan, judgment, mortgage, tax amount or government-related obligation.

For this reason, SA Credit Clear will not label an account prescribed from a single age field. The account type and complete timeline must first be identified. A judgment requires separate court-order and bureau-record checks.

A useful review starts by reconstructing the account history rather than guessing from the current balance. Relevant questions include:

• What type of debt or credit agreement is involved?
• When did the amount become due?
• When was the last payment actually made and allocated?
• Did you expressly or tacitly acknowledge liability after that date?
• Was legal process served, and what happened to that process?
• Was the due date changed or was there a later arrangement?
• Does the account belong to you, and are creditor/collector details correct?
• What exactly is the bureau displaying, and was new information submitted after alleged prescription?

Support the answers where possible; report, purchase and “last updated” dates may not be the legal due date or event.

Do not use this page to decide to ignore court papers, collection correspondence or an agreed repayment. Obtain qualified advice promptly where legal process, a judgment, a mortgage, a tax/state debt or a disputed acknowledgement is involved.

Under the Prescription Act, an express or tacit acknowledgement of liability can interrupt prescription and cause the period to begin running afresh. Service of legal process in which payment is claimed can also interrupt the period, subject to what happens in the proceedings. Other statutory circumstances can delay completion.

A payment, arrangement, call, email or other conduct may be relevant; a checklist cannot decide its effect.

Before making a new admission, signing an acknowledgement or making a token payment specifically in response to a disputed old-debt demand, first ask for the account information and obtain appropriate advice about the effect. This is not an instruction to avoid a valid debt, ignore legal process or stop a current arrangement.

If a collector contacts you, record the caller, company, date, claimed creditor, amount and reference. Ask for written information through a suitable channel. Do not send banking credentials, one-time PINs or identity documents in a public form or website chat.

Legal prescription and credit-bureau retention are related but separate questions. A conclusion that a debt has prescribed does not automatically mean that every historical account and payment entry must disappear immediately.

The National Credit Regulations restrict the submission of information and adverse information about prescribed debt. Credit bureaux also have duties to keep accurate information and remove information that may not lawfully be entered or has reached the applicable retention limit.

Historical payment information may have a retention period

Historical payment-profile information that was lawfully recorded before prescription may remain for the applicable regulatory period. A 2025 National Consumer Tribunal decision found that the National Credit Act did not require immediate automatic deletion of all pre-prescription payment history and considered a maximum five-year payment-profile retention period from the relevant last event. The precise category, event date and later reporting still need to be checked.

Prescription, closed status and deletion of all history are not identical. Records must still be accurate, lawfully retained and not updated with prohibited information.

Read how credit information, account status and retained history differ. Do not promise an immediate blank report or a particular score result.

For a plain-English explanation of why an old debt, a bureau entry and prescription are separate questions, read our prescribed debt & your credit record guide.

A correction, dispute or removal route may be relevant where evidence indicates, for example, that:

• the account does not belong to the consumer;
• the balance, dates, status or creditor details are inaccurate;
• the source cannot provide credible evidence for challenged information;
• prohibited new or adverse information was submitted after prescription;
• information remains beyond the applicable retention period;
• a duplicate or mismatched account appears; or
• the bureau record does not reflect the supported outcome of a prior dispute or process.

These are examples, not automatic outcomes. Accurate history may remain, and different bodies have different roles.

A prescribed-debt claim should not be used to hide current obligations or replace debt counselling where affordability is the real issue. Compare credit repair with debt review and debt review removal when those issues are involved.

Our assistance can include the following, subject to the written service scope and information available:

1. Understand the entry: identify the account, reported category and concern.
2. Build the timeline: organise available dates, payments, acknowledgements, notices and legal-process information.
3. Explain the distinction: separate possible prescription from credit-bureau accuracy, status and retention.
4. Identify the appropriate route: explain whether direct bureau/creditor engagement, an administrative follow-up or appropriately qualified legal involvement may be needed.
5. Assist with the agreed process and compare the response or updated report with the issue raised, without promising removal.

We do not make a court ruling, guarantee that a debt is prescribed, impersonate an attorney or registered debt counsellor, or promise that a bureau or creditor will accept a challenge. Any regulated or reserved work must be handled by the appropriately authorised person. The proposed work, limits, information required, charges and lawful payment timing must be explained before you agree.

A personal credit assessment may help interpret the broader report, but it is not a mandatory prescribed-debt removal package. You may enquire about this service directly.

For an initial enquiry, provide only your name, preferred contact method and a short non-sensitive description. Do not upload or paste an identity number, full account number, bank statement, card details, password, one-time PIN or complete credit report into the general form.

After the purpose, authority and secure delivery method have been explained, useful records may include:

• a recent credit report showing the entry;
• statements or a transaction history showing due dates and payments;
• settlement, paid-up or closure letters where relevant;
• written communications with the original creditor or collector;
• acknowledgements or repayment arrangements;
• notices, summonses, judgments or court papers; and
• earlier dispute references or proof of duplication/mismatched details.

Do not alter or discard original records. If documents are incomplete, record the gap instead of inventing dates or treating absence as proof of prescription. Read how information for this service is handled.

Yes. Consumers have a statutory right to challenge the accuracy of information held by a credit bureau without charge. The bureau must seek credible evidence in support of challenged information and remove it where the statutory process requires removal. A dispute should identify the exact entry, reason and supporting evidence rather than demand that every old account be deleted.

You may approach the relevant body directly. SA Credit Clear is optional, not a gateway to consumer rights.

If the issue is collection of a debt under a credit agreement to which the National Credit Act applies, section 126B restricts selling prescribed debt and restricts continued collection or reactivation in the circumstances described there. Whether the debt has prescribed, the Act applies and the defence has been raised or should reasonably have been raised are fact-specific questions.

Never ignore a summons, court deadline or formal notice because a website suggests the debt may be old. Obtain qualified help promptly. For a complaint about SA Credit Clear’s own service, use our complaints and support process.

No prescribed-account removal price is published on this page. Start with an enquiry. Before accepting separately agreed work, obtain a written explanation of the scope, who will perform it, what information is required, the proposed charges and when payment may lawfully become due.

For covered credit-repair or information-removal services, section 126A(3) of the National Credit Act prohibits charging or receiving payment before the service has been fully performed and requires the prescribed disclosure statement. A differently named fee does not bypass that rule. Review our fee and payment terms.

How long does prescribed account removal take?

There is no universal period. Evidence, legal review, investigation, response, escalation and report refresh can affect timing; a dispute deadline is not an end-to-end promise.

We will not advertise instant, same-day, seven-day, 21-day or guaranteed removal unless a specific stage and verified operational basis are approved. Ask what stage an estimate covers and what may cause delay. Read why credit-record clearance timing varies.

An unresolved old account may prompt questions when you prepare for vehicle finance or a bond, but removing or correcting one entry does not guarantee approval. Lenders use their own affordability, risk, identity, fraud and underwriting checks.

Before applying again:

• obtain and read the relevant credit information;
• identify whether the problem is prescription, balance/status, a default, judgment, debt review or another issue;
• complete any appropriate dispute or update process;
• check the result on a later report; and
• consider affordability and other application requirements.

Use the vehicle-finance preparation checklist or home-loan credit-record checks. Do not submit repeated applications while a material dispute remains unresolved merely to test whether the listing matters.

Not sure whether the account is prescribed, merely old, paid up or incorrectly reported? Send a brief enquiry and we will contact you to discuss the appropriate next step.

Use the existing enquiry component. Do not request identity documents, complete credit reports or detailed financial information in this first step. An enquiry does not confirm prescription, removal, price, timing or finance approval. Review the prescribed-accounts service terms and privacy information.