Hi, need some advise on behalf of my sister regarding cancellation of a correspondence study course and how the National Credit Act might assist. The course is structured in that you pay R400 a month and after paying R800 you receive one module. She has paid R800 so far and received that one module, but has not paid for the past 2 months as she was weighing up whether to continue with the course. She has now asked for cancellation of the course. The institution is now stating that 1) she needs to pay R800 for the past two months even though no further modules have been received 2) the course cannot be cancelled and she must continue paying as they have no cancellation policy.

It is an installment agreement over 18 months. The below is what I could find with regards to the Act. I would expect that seen that she has not received any new modules (versus already obtaining all the material in the course) means that the Act would be in her favour even more so than simply returning a single goods item? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.


Surrender or return of goods by the consumer and how it affects the consumer
The Act specifies that a consumer can withdraw from an instalment sale, secured loan or lease agreement at any time by returning the goods to the credit provider. When the consumer returns the goods to the credit
provider, the credit provider is expected to sell them and credit the consumer's account with the proceeds of the sale. If the proceeds from the sale are more than the consumer's debt, the credit provider must
refund any surplus to the consumer. If the proceeds are less than the consumer's debt, the consumer is obliged to pay the outstanding amount the credit provider within 10 days.