Financial Hardship
In the current COVID-19 environment trust in your financial institution to do the right thing for you has never been more important. The economic impact of this environment is very evident and affecting wide sections of the economy in many ways, ranging from loss of employment, mental health and the ability to just go about what we took for granted as everyday things.
Our member base of teachers/educators and health workers are at the front line of this environment witnessing the impact first hand every day.
Our values guide us in how we deal with financial hardship specifically, “We care” and “We do it for the customer” and we are prepared to be judged by our actions that are consistent with our Values.
When a customer experiences financial hardship, our first step is to understand the customer’s situation and then establish an appropriate revision of repayments to enable any temporary setbacks to be dealt with.
Should the situation look to be more medium term we look to restructure debt to enable a more manageable repayment plan, always with the primary objective to keep people in their homes and to ensure that they protect the equity they have built up over time.
If any customer feels they are in difficulty, even small, they should reach out – the quicker we make a plan together the more likely it is the customer will be in a better financial position long term.
Early contact and any assistance we provide does not impact a borrower’s credit rating and there is no stigma attached to being in hardship – from a bank perspective we respect and value early contact as it generally means there are more options available.
View our Financial Difficulty and Hardship page.
Graeme Willis
Deputy Chair