The credit cost multiple shows you how much you are paying over and above the amount you are loaning.

We calculate your loan amount, plus interest and service fees and divide it by your loan amount to get the final number. So if your credit cost  multiple is 1.2, it means you are paying R1.2 for every Rand you loan.

This is the money that gets paid into your bank account every month after deductions like tax, UIF, medical aid or pension are taken off.

This is the money you earn from your salary every month before any deductions have been made.

The FinChoice Personal Protection Plan is an insurance policy that covers you in the case of your death, disability or loss of income.

A debit order mandate refers to the permission given by a customer to a service provider to automatically deduct money from their account. In this case, a debit order mandate would allow FinChoice to deduct your loan payments from your bank account each month without you having to do a thing.

On a loan, the interest rate is the fee you pay to the company you borrowed money from. The interest rate is calculated as a percentage of the full amount you borrowed and it will need to be paid back with the original loan amount.

Sequestration is the process by which an insolvent person applies to the High Court of South Africa to write-off 80% of their debt.

You are considered insolvent if your debt is more than your income.

Administration is a legal process to help you when you aren’t able to make your debt repayments. A debt administrator (usually a lawyer) will arrange for your debt to be paid back in smaller amounts over a longer time, however paying back your debt this way will take longer than debt review.

Should you reach a stage in your life where you are unable to pay back your loans, a debt counsellor will assist you in negotiating with your creditors (the companies you owe money to) to reduce the amount of each instalment and pay your loans back over a longer time.