Credit Repair Summit To Bring Dignity To Consumer Debt

Jamaicans will be able to access a wealth of information about credit repair at the Caribbean Credit Repair Association (CCRA) Credit Restoration Virtual Summit.

The two-day summit will be held on Thursday, July 22 and Friday July 23, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and streamed on the Financially Focused Facebook page and YouTube channel. The theme for the event is “Bringing Dignity to Consumer Debt”.

Speaking with JIS News, CCRA President, Dennise Williams said her organisation saw it as important to organise the event because of the strain of the pandemic on the livelihood of persons who have either lost their jobs or have seen a reduction in their income. This has resulted in increased consumer debt.

“The individual consumer debt in Jamaica is not discussed enough, and we are looking to show persons how they can receive support from the public and private sectors. We will look at three major players in the consumer debt arena; we are going to look at what the Government support in terms of programmes that persons who need help with debt can access, what the banks are able to offer and how you can upskill to come out of debt,” she said.

Also speaking with JIS News, Deputy Supervisor of Insolvency in the Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency (OSI), Fayola Evans-Roberts, said the OSI endorses the event, as public education on credit restoration is beneficial to citizens, especially in these difficult times.

“We were invited to be a part of this summit because of the focus on credit. The OSI deals with insolvent persons, persons who are unable to pay their debts, so restoration in credit is very important at the end of an insolvency matter. The head of the organisation, the CCRA, is one of our counsellors. The new insolvency act says that before persons are discharged they have to receive financial counselling, so she is invited to be a part of this venture,” she said.

Speakers at the event will include Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Audley Shaw; First Global Bank, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mariame McIntosh Robinson; Jamaica Stock Exchange, Managing Director, Marlene Street Forrest, and University of the Commonwealth Caribbean, Group Executive Chairman, Dr Winston Adams.

Topics that will be discussed in the two-day summit include the credit report industry, credit restoration, insolvency, the OSI, and legal stakeholders in the debt subsector and lending subsector of the financial institutions.

The CCRA is a recently formed establishment that offers debt counselling along with other services, and also has a Credit Restoration Professional certificate programme.