Life doesn’t always
go as planned

Sometimes personal circumstances change without warning, making it hard to meet your financial obligations.

If you've been struggling to pay your loan or credit card repayments, you may be experiencing financial hardship. If you get in touch with us, we can look at ways to help you get back on track.

Call us on 13 63 73 to discuss how we can help.

Why you might be in hardship

If any of the following have affected your ability to meet your repayments, we'll take this into account when assessing your hardship application:

• unemployment, business downturn or reduction in income,
• increased cost of living,
• serious illness or injury,
• the loss of a loved one,
• family and domestic violence,
• financial abuse,
• natural disasters (e.g. floods, bushfires).

You should get in touch with us as soon as your circumstances change, before you miss payments or make late payments as these can lead to additional charges and may affect your credit report.

How we can help

We can work with you to reach a solution tailored to your individual circumstances. Depending on your situation, we may be able to offer:

• temporarily reduced repayments,
• temporarily paused repayments,
• a waiver or temporary pause on fees and charges, or
• debt consolidation.

If you're approved for hardship assistance, it will not affect your credit history - so it won't impact your ability to borrow in the future.

We can also tell you how to access free financial counselling in your local area.

We're not able to provide you with money to assist you with debts or bills with other banks or service providers.

How to apply for hardship assistance

You can request assistance by completing the financial hardship assistance request form or calling us on 13 63 73.

Email the form and any supporting documentation requested in it to assist@bankvic.com.au or post it to GPO Box 2074 Melbourne VIC 3001.

What to expect

We'll let you know our decision on your hardship request within 21 days of receiving it.

When assessing your request, we'll carefully consider your current circumstances. For us to do this accurately, you'll need to provide us with evidence of your financial position.

We'll take a realistic approach when determining proposed repayment arrangements, considering your income, reasonable household expenses, and other debts and repayment obligations.

While we work with you to reach a positive outcome, we'll encourage you to continue making whatever payments you can.

If your request is declined

If we decline your request for hardship assistance, you can request we re-assess it or lodge a complaint with us. If you're not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you can contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). AFCA is an independent body that resolves disputes between consumers and financial services organisations.

You can find out how to lodge a complaint with us or with AFCA here.

External support

If you need more support, there are a range of government and community organisations that can help you.

Australian Financial Complaints Authority provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to consumers.

National Debt Helpline offers independent, free and confidential services from professional financial counsellors to help you tackle your debt problems.

MoneySmart provides tools to help you manage your money, plan, invest, or pay off debt and protect yourself from scams and fraud.

Beyond Blue offers free mental health and wellbeing support.

Lifeline is a 24/7 crisis support hotline.

CreditSmart provides access to information about how hardship arrangements may impact your credit report.

We're here to help

If you'd like to discuss your situation, you can call us on 13 63 73, 8am-6pm Monday to Friday.

Information on the webpage is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.