Financial Difficulty Assistance

If you are worried you can't pay what you owe, won't be able to manage your upcoming repayments, or if you are having difficulty meeting your repayments – we are here to help.

Common causes of financial difficulty include:

• changes to employment
• change in individual or family circumstances
• reduction in income
• injury, illness or the loss of a loved one
• relationship breakdown or family violence
• natural disaster, drought or pandemic
• unexpected event or unforeseen changes
• borrowing beyond your means
• rising cost of living
• Or anything else that is making it difficult to manage your repayments.

How can we assist you?

Reach out to our dedicated Customer Assistance Team on 1800 950 399 (option 2) between 8:30am – 5:00pm AEST, Monday to Friday. When you contact us, our Customer Assistance Team will work with you to find out what options may suit your situation. Depending on your situation, we have a range of options to help you. This may include options such as:

• changing your loan repayments to interest only
• postponing your loan repayments
• extending the term of your loan to reduce your monthly repayment amount
• incorporating any overdue amounts into your loan, then recalculating your repayments to the end of the loan term.

If we identify that you may be experiencing financial difficulty, we may also contact you to discuss your situation and the options available to help you.

Financial Difficulty Assistance is a free service for customers. If applicable, our Customer Assistance team will explain any product fees and charges that may continue to apply during the process.

Other options:

Authorised Representative
You can ask us to deal with your financial counsellor or other representative on your behalf:

• If you would like your representative to speak with us as a once-off:
  You can call us with your representative and provide an authority for that person to speak on your behalf for that call.

• If you would like your representative to work with us on an ongoing basis:
  To provide ongoing authority for your authorised representative to speak with us on your behalf or to maintain your personal information or account, we will need:
  • a completed and signed form from your financial counsellor, who will send it to us directly.
    

We may be able to accept another document, if it contains enough information for us to verify you and your account details. Contact our Customer Assistance team if the above options aren't available to you.

Joint account holders
If you have a joint account, we can consider your request for assistance and if you ask us to, we can do so without involving the other account holder.

Guarantors
If you are a guarantor and we have issued you with a letter of demand to service a default, and you would like to request financial difficulty assistance, please contact us to discuss your options.

How to apply for financial difficulty assistance:

1. Prepare your application.

Get the following information ready:

• details about all your accounts, loans, credit cards and other debt
• details about your income, expenses and assets
• consider what types of assistance may help you and how long you might need assistance.

It is important for you to be as open and as realistic as you can be about your financial position. This gives us the best opportunity to understand your situation and the ways we can help

2. How to submit your application.

You can call the Customer Assistance Team on 1800 950 399 (option 2)

What is the assessment process

1. We'll contact you.

Our Customer Assistance Team will review your application and contact you to discuss your options, or to ask you for more information.

We may also ask you to provide supporting documentation (e.g. medical certificate or employment separation certificate).

We assess each financial difficulty request on a case-by-case basis to ensure we provide tailored support. Whether you’re needing a solution for a short, medium or longer-term, we've got solutions that will help you through.

Our Customer Assistance Team will make sure you know exactly how your arrangement will work and any changes this will have to your loan in the long term.

2. We'll provide an outcome.

If we do not require further information from you, our Customer Assistance Team will respond to your application within 21 days.

If we ask you for more information during this time, we might take a further 21 days after receiving the information to make a decision.

If you don’t provide us with the requested information, we’ll make our assessment based on the information we have within 28 days of the date we asked for the information.

Approved application communications will include details of the arrangement offer and any changes to your loan contract.

Financial counselling, resources, and support services

If you need extra support, there are services that may be able to help:

• Financial counsellors offer free, independent, and confidential help for people who are experiencing financial difficulty. A financial counsellor will work with you to understand your options across all your income and expenses, and help you decide what will work best for you. A financial counsellor will not share your information with any bank without your permission. To speak to a financial counsellor, you can contact the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007. The National Debt Helpline can connect you with a financial counsellor by phone, webchat, or in person.
• BOQ Specialist is proud to partner with Way Forward. Way Forward is a non-profit service that works with people who can make some payments towards their debt but are having trouble managing all their payments together. Way Forward staff are trained professionals who help you come up with a realistic plan, and then organise for you to make one repayment to Way Forward, who will make all the repayments to the different debts on your behalf.
• Moneysmart – provides free guidance and information about making money decisions.
• Australian Banking Association’s Financial Assistance Hub – information and support for individuals and small businesses experiencing financial difficulty.
• AskIzzy - A national service that provides information and contact details for a range of organisations, including counselling, housing, financial support and other services.

You may find the additional websites helpful in providing further information on managing your finances and other support services: Download helpful contacts and services.

What if you are not satisfied?

If we don't meet your expectations and you're not satisfied with our response or handling of your financial difficulty request, you can make a complaint at any time: feedback and complaints page.