Form 17
Form 17.1 Stage The Debt Counsellor is required to issue Form 17.1 within 5 business days after accepting the application for debt review from a consumer.
NDRC Practice NoteLast reviewed 2026-04
Form 17.1 is the formal notice the debt counsellor sends to every credit provider and credit bureau within five business days of accepting an application. It freezes the consumer's account from new legal action while the assessment is underway. Without a properly issued 17.1, the consumer has no statutory protection.
The most common failure is incomplete dispatch: a 17.1 sent to the credit provider but not to the bureau, or sent to a generic mailbox the credit provider does not monitor. We always send to the listed debt review email on the NCR-published list and keep the delivery receipt on file.
Credit providers must acknowledge the 17.1 within five business days. When they do not, we follow up in writing within seven days. If they then issue a Section 129 letter or proceed with legal action, the 17.1 timestamp is the consumer's defence in court.
Statutory basis: National Credit Act s 86(4)(b)(i) and Regulation 24(2). The five-business-day dispatch period is set by Regulation 24(2).
Drawn from NDRC's active case work. For your situation, see our debt counselling overview.
Cite this clause
National Credit Regulator. (2015). Annexure A — Debt Review Process & Conduct Provisions, clause 2.1: Form 17. Guideline 001/2015 (Debt Review Task Team Agreements 2010), p. 16.