FINANCIAL HARDSHIP INFORMATION
We understand that life can take unexpected turns and leave you in a vulnerable financial position. If you’ve experienced an event that is making your loan repayments difficult to make, we may be able to help you temporarily so you can get your loan repayments back on track.
Common events contributing to financial difficulty may include:
- injury or illness
- relationship separation
- domestic violence
- natural disaster
- a temporary reduction in your income through unemployment or other factors
Financial hardship is more common than you might think, so if you’re finding things tough, please reach out to us as soon as possible.
HOW WE MAYBE ABLE TO HELP YOU
If you speak with us about your temporary hardship situation, we can try to work with you to reach a payment arrangement that is individual to your needs. Section 72 of the National Credit Code gives consumers a right to request a variation to their regulated credit contract on the grounds of financial hardship.
We may agree to adjust your repayment amount or term, or to another solution that could give you the flexibility you need to get through your situation. You will still need to repay your loan, and delaying payment may increase the overall interest over the life of your loan.
We may also be able to assist you with strategies to alleviate your financial pressure over the exam period, which would ordinarily not constitute hardship.
HOW TO APPLY
There are two ways you can speak with us if you are experiencing financial hardship:
- call Spotter Loans on 038 548 9090, Mon-Fri 9am – 5pm (AEST/AEDT)
- submit a written request to us at the following email address: customercare@spotterloans.com.au
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU APPLY?
We ask that you prepare and provide us with all of your supporting information to help us review your request quickly. This is the same as your original application:
- An application form,
- And your bank statements for the past 90 days
We may also require additional information. Such as:
- Seperation certificate
- Centrelink benefit papers
- Proof of bills
You are not obliged to give us this information, but without the information, we may have difficulty approving your request.
Once received, we may be able to process your application over the phone, or we may ask you for supporting documentation or more information. We will endeavour to respond to you within 3 business days. By law, we are required to reply to your hardship request in writing within 21 days of us receiving your application. Our response may be:
- an approval of your hardship request, with a proposition on how we are willing to vary your credit contract;
- a rejection of your hardship request, listing our reasons for our decision; or
- a request for you to supply further information for us to make a decision.
If we request further information from you, you usually have up to 28 days to provide the requested information. If you do not, we may decide to decline your hardship request after the 28 days.
While we try to work with all borrowers who are experiencing genuine financial hardship, we are not legally required to approve all requests. We may decline a hardship request for a number reasons, such as where an applicant is unable to supply adequate information about their hardship situation, we feel that the application is not genuine, we don’t think that the situation is temporary or we feel that varying a credit contract will not help the applicant or will just prolong the inevitable.
Throughout the assessment period or arrangement variation period, interest and fees will usually continue to apply.
If you can’t make a payment that we’ve agreed to, or you need to change your arrangement, it’s important that you call us on 038 548 9090 or 1800 776 863 and let us know.
YOUR RIGHTS
If you’re not satisfied with our decision about a hardship request, you may lodge a complaint with us through our internal dispute resolution (IDR) process. Please contact us for details about our IDR process, or to lodge a complaint. https://spotterloans.com.au/complaints/
If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may complain to our ASIC approved external dispute resolution (EDR) scheme. We are a member of the the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, who can be contacted on 1800 931 678 or at http://www.afca.org.au/
OTHER RESOURCES
If you would like to know more about financial hardship, or where to go for help, there are a range of resources available. Some include:
- ASIC’s “Urgent money help” page, which lists a range of other services and contact details for free and confidential community services https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/managing-debts/trouble-with-debt/urgent-money-help
- “Find a financial counsellor” https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/managing-debts/financial-counselling/find-a-financial-counsellor
- Beyondblue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
- ASIC’s moneysmart website also provides tools and links to apps to teach you about money and help you manage your finances at https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-apps
Find out what our customers are saying
Here’s what a loan might look like
Here’s what a medium loan might look like…
You’re after a loan for car repairs for $2,500 and are looking to make payments back on a weekly basis over 2 years.
In the above example You’ll pay:
- Loan Amount Financed: $2,500
- Establishment fee: $400 (Set by NCCP)
- Amount of Credit of the Loan: $2,900
- Total Amount of Interest Payable: $1,590.86
- Repayments: 103 x $43.19 + $42.31 (a final payment)
- Total Amount of Repayments: $4,490.88
- Nominal Percentage Rate (Interest) per annum: 48% as defined by NCCP
- Minimum loan period: 61 days
- Maximum loan period: 2 years