After a warm welcome from Consumer Friend, who have now made their offices available to the local association members to use, there were some introductions and then discussions got underway.
Members were reminded that CIF are meeting and discussing very important industry topics such as debt counselling fees (DCASA has made a submission) and reckless lending. Members were encouraged not to shy away from conducting investigations.
Recently, there have been several key industry events including the Debt Review Awards (which many members were able to live stream from Gauteng) where several DCASA members were recognised and received awards.
The DCASA AGM was also held this month and the new NEC members confirmed (including Drisha Pillay who was able to provide feedback on how local members are being represented on the national scene). There was a brief summary of the AGM and information relating to DCASAs finances and auditing.
Also attending the meeting was DC Consumer Protect (DCCP) who provide specialist insurance products for those under debt review (including credit life insurance replacement options). Eddie was able to remind members of how insurance plays an important part of a consumer’s budget and how replacing the right policies with suitable options can free up funds to accommodate counter proposals and annual escalations.
The Hyphen PDA team were also on hand to discuss how Hyphen can assist with client fund distributions and to explain new software features from integrated software which Debt Counsellors use to monitor their client’s cases and organize proposals and calculations
The association also has plans to grow membership in the region and to encourage consumers to deal with reputable Debt Counsellors who belong to DCASA.