If surplus money remains after your debt review accounts have been paid, the surplus must be dealt with through the correct process.
This can sometimes happen near the end of debt review.
For example, DCGsa may ask you to continue paying until we confirm that it is safe to stop. If your final accounts are then confirmed as paid up, there may be extra money left after the last distributions, final balances, aftercare amounts and required checks have been completed.
We understand that consumers want to know what happens to this money.
The important point is that DCGsa cannot confirm a refund only because the PDA statement appears to show surplus funds. We must first confirm that the file is ready for clearance and that the money is no longer needed for any final debt review-related purpose.
Before any surplus can be dealt with, DCGsa may need to check:
Whether all required paid-up letters have been received.
Whether every paid-up letter matches the correct debt review account.
Whether any credit provider still reflects a final balance.
Whether any end balance difference remains.
Whether any final PDA distribution still needs to take place.
Whether any lawful outstanding aftercare amount remains.
Whether any bond account is up to date, where applicable.
Whether the Form 19 clearance certificate can be properly prepared and supported.
This is why DCGsa normally advises consumers to keep paying until we confirm the next step in writing.
It is usually safer to deal with surplus funds later than to stop payment too early and then discover that a credit provider still needs a final payment before issuing a paid-up letter.
If a final shortfall appears after you have already stopped paying, your clearance certificate may be delayed. You may then need to raise extra funds before the account can be confirmed as paid up.
However, if surplus funds remain after all the final checks have been completed, those funds can be dealt with through the correct refund or distribution process.
The exact process may depend on where the funds are held, whether the PDA still needs to distribute any amount, whether a credit provider must still confirm a final balance, and whether all clearance requirements have been met.
DCGsa must first make sure that the surplus is genuinely available and not still needed for the clearance process.
If you choose to stop, reduce, pause or change your payment before DCGsa confirms that it is safe, DCGsa will require a signed debit order or payment instruction form. This form records your instruction and confirms that you understand the risks of changing your payment before the file is finalised.
Changing or cancelling your debit order does not cancel debt review. It also does not remove the debt review status from your credit profile.
In simple terms: if there is surplus money after your accounts, final balances, distributions and clearance checks are complete, it can be dealt with through the correct process. But DCGsa must first confirm that the money is not still needed to finalise your clearance certificate.