Hardship Terms & Conditions

In order to properly assess your hardship notice, we may ask you to provide additional information and documentation. You will have 21 days to provide a response to our request for further information or documentation.

The information or documentation we request will depend on a number of factors, including:

• The reason underlying your hardship;
• The period of time that you require hardship assistance;
• The type of arrangement that may be offered; and
• Whether a third party requires additional information.

We will only request further information and documentation that is reasonably necessary for us to assess your hardship notice. We will not make unreasonably complex or large requests and where reasonable, we will accept verbal information.

If you do not provide a response to our request for additional information or documentation, we will still use what information we do have to identify assistance options that may be available to you.

Outcome of your hardship notice and your rights

We will notify you whether a variation to your loan agreement on the grounds of hardship is agreed to or declined within:

• 21 days of receiving your hardship notice;
• 21 days of receiving any additional information we may ask you to provide; or
• 28 days of requesting further information from you, and no information has been provided.

If we agree to your hardship notice, we will provide you with a Hardship Approval Letter and Hardship Approval Agreement which will set out the particulars of the changes to your loan agreement.

If we decline your hardship notice, we will provide you with a Hardship Decline Letter which will outline the reasons for the decision and your rights to appeal the decision.

If you are not satisfied with our decision to decline your hardship notice, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

The AFCA scheme is a free service established to provide you with an independent mechanism to resolve specific complaints. The AFCA scheme can be contacted:

Other help available to you includes the National Debt Helpline, which is a free government-funded service that provides financial counselling and support to those experiencing financial hardship. To speak to a financial counsellor, call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 or visit their website at www.ndh.org.au.