Leaving a circle
When you can leave a circle, what happens to what you have paid and are owed, and what to do instead if the circle has already started paying out.
You can leave a circle, but how depends on its type and on whether it has started. This page explains each case, so you know what to do and what is still owed.
Before you start
Think about money first. In a rotating pot, other people are paying in for the round that pays you, and you are paying in for the round that pays them. Leaving halfway leaves people short, which is why the circle handles it carefully.
Leave a circle
What happens in each case
The circle has not started yet. You leave straight away. You have paid nothing, and you owe nothing.
A collector-thrift circle that is running. You can leave. Your future days are removed from your schedule, so you do not owe them. What you have already saved is still yours: it stays on record, and an officer prepares your payout in the normal way, less the collector's fee. Tell your collector and the officers, so the payout is not forgotten.
A rotating pot that has started. You cannot simply leave. The circle owes you your turn, and you owe the circle the rounds you have agreed to. SocietyLedger will say so. Speak to an admin instead. The officers settle what is owed in each direction. What they usually do is:
- Agree a repayment plan, if you have already been paid and still owe the circle. See Late fees, default cases, repayment plans and disputes.
- Make an emergency change to your place in the order, if you cannot be paid on your turn but want to stay. See The payout order and the draw.
- Record how the circle lets you go and what is owed in each direction, so nothing is lost.
Nothing in SocietyLedger deletes your history when you leave. What you paid, what you were paid and what you owed stay in the circle's records.
What happens next
The page says "You have left the circle." Once you have left, the circle no longer counts you as an active contributor, and you stop getting reminders for it. If you change your mind, ask an officer to add you again, which means accepting the rules again.
Leaving does not cancel what you owe
If you have already been paid out of a rotating pot, you still owe the rounds you agreed to pay. The officers settle it with you through a case and a repayment plan, and your debt does not disappear when you leave.
Related
Your savings as a saver
If you save through a collector: see every naira you have given, where your cash is, what you will get back, and what to do at the end of the cycle.
Late fees, default cases, repayment plans and disputes
What happens when someone falls behind: how late fees are worked out and waived, how cases and repayment plans run, and how to decide a claim.
Savings cycles
How a collector-thrift circle runs in cycles: each saver's own amount, the choice to withdraw or continue, and starting the next cycle.
Last updated 30 October 2026