Quick answer
Prepare a dated, indexed pack that shows what created the debt, when payment allegedly became due, what each side knew, every later payment or communication, and whether legal process was served. A lawyer cannot assess prescription reliably from a collector's latest letter or a credit-bureau entry alone.
How to use this guide
Include material that appears unhelpful as well as documents supporting your position. The purpose of the pack is to reconstruct the legal history accurately, not to prove a conclusion before the debt category, due date, statutory qualifications and possible interruptions have been examined.
Start with a one-page case index
On the first page record the alleged creditor, original creditor if different, debtor, account or agreement number, current amount, date of the latest contact and every active response or court date. Add the sender's role: creditor, cessionary, debt collector, attorney, sheriff, court, credit provider, bureau or ombud.
Number the supporting documents and use those numbers in a chronology. Mark facts you accept, facts you dispute and points you cannot yet verify. This helps a lawyer distinguish a missing record from a legal defence and prevents an assumption from being repeated as evidence.
Bring the instrument said to create liability
Provide the signed agreement and all schedules, quotations, orders, invoices, amendments, suretyships, security documents and applicable standard terms. If there was no written contract, collect the emails, messages, delivery records and conduct relied on to show the arrangement. Identify which version of the terms applied at the time.
For a judgment debt, obtain the actual order and case details rather than relying on an account note saying “judgment”. For a debt allegedly secured by a mortgage bond, include the bond and related agreement. Classification matters because section 11 of the Prescription Act provides different periods for different categories.
Obtain the complete account history
Collect statements from the start of the disputed period to the present, not only a balance certificate. Include invoices, payment confirmations, bank statements, debit-order records, reversals, refunds, credits, interest entries, fees and legal costs. Prepare a simple reconciliation identifying entries that are accepted, duplicated, missing or disputed.
If another entity purchased or took cession of the account, keep each notice of transfer and any record linking the current claimant to the original agreement. Ask for sufficient authority and account mapping where these are absent. Do not assume that failure to attach a cession to a demand proves no cession exists, but do not admit the current claimant's authority without checking it.
Build the due-date chronology from source documents
List each event with its date, source and possible legal significance: advance or performance, delivery, invoice, agreed payment date, missed instalment, default notice, cancellation, acceleration, maturity and demand. Quote the relevant contract clause beside the event instead of paraphrasing it from memory.
The date of the newest demand is not automatically the date prescription began. In Trinity Asset Management v Grindstone Investments, the Constitutional Court examined whether demand wording truly deferred when the debt became due. The agreement and surrounding facts must therefore travel together in the consultation pack.
Include knowledge and delay evidence
Section 12 of the Prescription Act contains qualifications concerning the creditor's knowledge of the debtor and the facts giving rise to the debt. Preserve delivery records, returned correspondence, tracing material, dispute emails, earlier statements and any communication showing when the parties knew relevant facts.
If a section 13 impediment may be relevant, collect the dates and proof. Examples may involve minority, curatorship, superior force or a listed relationship between the parties. Do not omit this material because an ordinary three-year calculation appears complete on a spreadsheet.
Isolate acknowledgements, negotiations and payments
Create a folder containing every message, recording, letter, proposal or signed document in which liability, the balance, payment or more time was discussed. Add part-payment records and the exact payment references. Keep “without prejudice” communications in the pack rather than assuming the label makes them legally irrelevant.
Section 14 deals with express or tacit acknowledgement of liability. Whether particular words or conduct amount to an acknowledgement is a contextual legal question. The lawyer needs the complete exchange, not a selected sentence or screenshot cropped without date and participants.
Gather every court and enforcement record
Include the full summons or application, sheriff's return, notices to defend or oppose, pleadings, orders, warrants, attachments and correspondence between representatives. Record when and how each document was received or served and what happened next. Section 15 addresses interruption through service of process, with consequences that can depend on whether the claim was prosecuted to final judgment, abandoned or set aside.
Do not delay the consultation while searching for a perfect court file. If a live deadline exists, send the clearest available copy first and identify what is missing.
Preserve electronic evidence in usable form
Export relevant email threads and messages with dates, participants and attachments. Retain original files, not only screenshots, and note the device or account from which they came. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act allows electronic information to have legal effect and evidential weight, but reliability, integrity and origin still matter.
Back up the working pack without editing originals. If a call recording exists, record who made it, the date and the circumstances rather than circulating it broadly.
FAQs
Do I need every statement before consulting a lawyer?
No. Send any urgent court paper first, then identify the missing statement period so the lawyer can protect deadlines while the account history is completed.
Why should I include messages that appear unhelpful?
A complete exchange may show context, dates and whether words or conduct could be treated as an acknowledgement. Selective extracts can produce an unreliable opinion.
Is a credit-bureau report enough to prove the debt category?
Usually not. The underlying agreement, court order or security document is needed to classify the obligation and assess the applicable period.
How should I preserve WhatsApp or email evidence?
Keep full threads with participants, dates and attachments, retain original files where possible and avoid relying only on cropped screenshots.
Related Lexuno paths
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Source notes
- Prescription Act 68 of 1969 (SAFLII consolidated)
- National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (DTIC consolidated)
- National Credit Amendment Act 19 of 2014 (South African Government)
- Trinity Asset Management (Pty) Ltd v Grindstone Investments 132 (Pty) Ltd [2017] ZACC 32
- Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (South African Government)
Legal note
This article is general legal information for South African readers. It is not legal advice. Speak to a qualified legal professional about your specific facts before taking action.