# Managing Your Bond: Access, Extra Payments & Arrears - Canonical URL: https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond 1. [Home](https://bond.co.za/) 3. [Guides](https://bond.co.za/guides) 5. Owning your bond Once your bond is registered, the decisions do not stop. These guides cover access bonds, how much you really save by paying extra each month, what happens if you fall into arrears, and the insurance that protects the loan — and your family — while you repay it. [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [Home loan protection insurance](https://bond.co.za/home-loan-protection-insurance-south-africa) Why banks require it, what it covers, and how to use your own policy instead of the bank’s product. Updated 15 Aug 20267 min read [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [Access bond explained](https://bond.co.za/guides/access-bond-south-africa) An access bond lets you withdraw extra you paid into your home loan above the instalment; while it stays in, it cuts your interest. Worked examples at prime, fees, and access bond vs re-advance vs further loan. Updated 17 Oct 20268 min read [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [Bond arrears & the section 129 process](https://bond.co.za/guides/bond-arrears-south-africa) What actually happens when you fall behind on your bond: the NCA section 129 notice, real repossession timelines, your right to catch up, and where to get help. Updated 09 Sept 20267 min read [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [Paying extra into your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/pay-extra-into-bond) What an extra payment does to your interest, term and instalment: how the bank recalculates, which option to ask for, and the early-settlement fee to check. Updated 09 Sept 20267 min read [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [Paying off your bond early](https://bond.co.za/guides/pay-off-bond-early-south-africa) Whether you can settle your home loan in full, what the early-settlement charge can be, how much you save, and when settling early is the wrong move. Updated 26 Oct 20268 min read [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [Bond protection plan vs life cover](https://bond.co.za/guides/bond-protection-life-cover) A bond protection plan settles your outstanding home loan and shrinks as you repay it; life cover pays your beneficiaries a fixed sum. You can usually choose either. Updated 30 Sept 20268 min read [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [Divorce and a home loan in South Africa: who is liable, and the ways out](https://bond.co.za/guides/divorce-home-loan-south-africa) A divorce order does not end a joint home loan — both spouses stay jointly liable until one refinances alone via a bond substitution, the house is sold, or the bond is settled in full. Updated 29 Oct 20267 min read [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [What happens to a home loan when the owner dies in South Africa](https://bond.co.za/guides/deceased-estate-home-loan-south-africa) The bond does not disappear when the owner dies — it becomes a debt of the deceased estate. Instalments stay due while the estate is reported to the Master of the High Court, credit life insurance may settle the balance, and an heir can take over the bond or the estate can sell the property. Updated 30 Oct 20267 min read [Owning your bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond) [Can I rent out my house with a bond in South Africa](https://bond.co.za/guides/rent-out-house-with-a-bond-south-africa) Yes — a bonded house may be let out, and you stay liable for the instalment. Tell your bank and insurer first, sign a written lease under the Rental Housing Act, make sure the rent clears the instalment, and declare the rental income to SARS with the bond interest deducted. Updated 31 Oct 20267 min read [ Extra bond payment calculatorSee what an extra monthly amount or once-off lump sum could save on your term and interest — free, no signup. →](https://bond.co.za/extra-bond-payment-calculator) > This is the Markdown version of [https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond](https://bond.co.za/guides/owning-your-bond); that HTML page is the canonical version of this content.