Financial Difficulty and Hardship
At First Option Bank, the personal and financial wellbeing of our members, the health of our people and their families and being a good corporate citizen is important to us.
If you find yourself unable to maintain repayments within the terms of your credit contract with us or are worried about your situation, please contact us as soon as possible so we can better understand how we can help you.
How we can help
Unexpected unemployment or illness are two of the most common reasons for financial difficulty or hardship but other events such as a death in your family or a relationship breakdown may cause issues. Our Lending Team will discuss options that may be available to help you deal with such problems.
Our approach is to actively assist any member facing difficult financial circumstances and we offer a range of options to help best suit your needs, including:
- Reducing your repayments for a period of time.
- Putting your repayments on hold for a period of time. Interest will still accrue; however, your loan term may be extended too, so your repayments don’t increase.
- Making your normal repayments and get help with missed repayments.
- Restructuring your loan over a longer term to reduce your repayment amount.
- Providing interest-only repayment options on loans
- Suspending recovery processes to allow you time to get back on your feet
We also understand that at times you may like to have a friend, relative or third-party representative such as a financial counsellor deal with us, on your behalf. Should this be the case, we will require written authority to discuss your personal and account information.
When you apply for assistance, we will assess your situation and look at options that may be available to you – whether that’s giving you a hand in the short term or setting you up for the long term. We will also advise on the next steps and any documentation required, depending on your circumstances.
If you are experiencing financial hardship, please fill out this the form below or contact our Lending Team on 1300 855 675, 9am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected].
Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice 2022
First Option Bank is a signatory to the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice 2022. The code sets out support for customers experiencing financial difficulty in paragraphs 136 to 143:
https://www.customerownedbanking.asn.au/how-it-works/code-of-practice
Useful links
Managing your finances when times are tough can get overwhelming. Here are some organisations that provide free help and information:
| Financial Hardship | Money Smart | 1300 300 630 | moneysmart.gov.au |
| National Debt Helpline | 1800 007 007 | ndh.org.au | |
| Small Business Debt Helpline | 1800 413 828 | sbdh.org.au | |
| Mob Strong National Debt Helpline | 1800 808 488 | financialrights.org.au/getting-help/mob-strong-debt-help | |
| Health | Beyond Blue | 1300 224 636 | beyondblue.org.au |
| Lifeline | 13 11 14 | lifeline.org.au | |
| Employment | Department of Human Services | servicesaustralia.gov.au | |
| Relationship Breakdown | Relationships Australia | 1300 364 277 | relationships.org.au |
| 1800 RESPECT | 1800 737 732 | 1800respect.org.au | |
| Kids Helpline | 1800 55 1800 | kidshelpline.com.au |