What Happens to Your Credit Record After Debt Review?
After debt review, your Form 19 clearance certificate instructs the credit bureaux to remove the debt-review flag and related adverse debt-review records from your profile. Your payment history on remaining accounts (such as an ongoing home loan) is retained. The result is a cleaner profile that you can rebuild responsibly.
Key Points
- The debt-review flag is removed after your clearance certificate is submitted.
- Payment history on remaining accounts is retained.
- Adverse debt-review records are cleared by law.
- Check your report after completion to confirm the update.
What is removed from your record?
Once the clearance certificate is processed, the bureaux remove the 'under debt review' indicator and the adverse debt-review records associated with the process. This is a statutory requirement.
This means lenders no longer see an active debt-review flag when assessing new applications.
What stays on your record?
Your general payment history and any accounts that continue (such as a home loan that was not fully settled) remain on your profile. Historical information about how accounts were conducted is generally retained for the period permitted under credit-bureau rules.
This is not a negative — a record of consistent restructured payments and a completed process can support your credibility.
How do you confirm your record has been updated?
After receiving your clearance certificate, request your credit report from each major bureau. Check that the debt-review flag has been removed and that your remaining accounts are accurately reflected.
If anything is incorrect, you have the right to dispute the information. Your debt counsellor can also assist with follow-up where the flag has not been removed in time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Worried That Your Debt Has Become Unaffordable?
Debt Guidance can assess your income, essential expenses and debt commitments to determine whether debt review may be appropriate.
Reviewed by Carolina Guevara Harris
Registered Debt Counsellor · NCRDC3152
Last updated: 17 September 2025
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