Anda asks: If someone is under debt review, it means one cannot apply for finance until such time as one is no longer under debt review. In my situation I was not working and now I have a job that requires me to have a car. Will the banks finance me ?
Maya replies: The short answer is unfortunately not. Legally the banks may not lend to you while you are under debt review because you cannot afford your current debts. It would make no sense to allow you to take on further debt.
However, if due to your job, your financial situation has improved significantly and you are in a position to start repaying according to your original debt agreement, then it may be worth speaking to your bank.
A lot will depend on how disciplined you have been in meeting your debt obligations under debt review and whether your financial crisis was a result of losing your job or due to bad financial management. Lenders are sympathetic to life events but not behavioural issues!
You would have to cancel the debt review which would leave you financially vulnerable as all the protection it affords would fall away. You would have to be certain that you could afford to meet all the repayments.
Also remember that you can buy a second hand car at a fraction of the cost. If you buy a 10-year-old Merc for R30 000 it may have higher maintenance costs but these will be far lower than funding a R100 000 car which would cost you about R2 200 a month.
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