Disclaimer
Last updated: [FILL IN: LEGAL_EFFECTIVE_DATE]
1. Not a law firm, not legal advice
[FILL IN: COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME in .env] is a software provider, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice, legal opinions, or debt counselling services. Nothing generated, displayed, or calculated by the LegalBenchPower platform (the "Service") constitutes legal advice, and using the Service does not create an attorney-client relationship, a debt counsellor-client relationship, or any professional relationship between [FILL IN: COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME in .env] and any user, client, or third party. Only the NCR-registered debt counsellor and supervising advocate/attorney using the Service can give a client legal advice about their specific matter.
2. Every generated document is a draft
Every Form 16, Form 17.1, or other document generated by the Service is watermarked "DRAFT — NOT YET REVIEWED OR AUTHORISED" until a suitably qualified person at the practice using the Service (typically the supervising advocate) explicitly reviews and authorises it. This is not a formality: the Service does not verify that generated wording or layout matches the current gazetted Form 16/Form 17.1, does not verify that a proposed instalment accounts for secured-asset minimums, statutory priority creditors, or individual credit provider policy, and does not verify that an account is legally eligible for debt review (see Section 4 below). A document must never be sent to a client, a credit provider, a court, or a tribunal without that review having actually happened.
3. Guideline and calculation figures may be unverified
Where the Service flags a calculation input (for example, a Regulation 23A minimum expense guideline) as unverified against its primary source, that flag means exactly what it says: the figure has not been confirmed against the current Government Gazette notice by a qualified person, and must be checked before being relied on in a real affordability determination.
4. Debt review eligibility flags are not a legal opinion
Where the Service flags a debt as potentially barred from section 86 debt review protection (for example, because a summons has already been served or judgment already granted), that flag is a prompt for professional review, based only on what a user has recorded in the system — it is not a verified legal determination, does not check court records, and does not replace confirming the account's actual status with the relevant court or the client's own paperwork.
5. No guarantee of outcome
[FILL IN: COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME in .env] makes no representation or warranty that use of the Service will result in any particular outcome — including that a credit provider will accept a proposal, that a court or the National Consumer Tribunal will grant any order, or that a client's overall debt review matter will succeed.
6. Scope of the Service
The Service currently automates intake through creditor-proposal drafting and response tracking for the South African debt review process. It does not generate National Consumer Tribunal referral documents, does not draft magistrate's court consent orders, and does not perform Payment Distribution Agent coordination — these remain the practice's own manual responsibility.
7. No professional, financial, or tax advice
Nothing on this platform is financial, investment, tax, or accounting advice. Clients and practices should seek independent advice for those matters.
8. Availability
The Service is provided on an "as available" basis, as further described in the Terms of Service.
9. If you are a debt review client reading this directly
If you have received a court summons, or believe a default judgment may already have been granted against you, please read the guidance at /help/summons and contact the practice handling your matter immediately — timing genuinely matters, and this page is not a substitute for telling them directly.