Financial difficulty assistance

Where your circumstances have changed and you are willing to meet your repayments but are unable to. Common examples of difficulty may include but are not limited to the following:

• Loss of employment
• Reduction of income
• Injury or illness
• Relationship separation
• Domestic violence
• Natural disaster

If you are unsure of whether you are experiencing difficulty, please don’t hesitate to contact our Client Service Centre.

We have a dedicated Client Service Centre who are here to help customers that are experiencing financial difficulty in meeting their commitments. If we identify that you may be experiencing financial difficulty, we may contact you to discuss your situation and the options available to help you.

You can ask us to deal with your financial counsellor or representative rather than dealing with you. In this instance, we will require their contact details in writing which can be provided by completing the Authorised Representative Authority Form – Collections and Financial Difficulty Assistance and sending it to us via email, post or fax.

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

If you are a guarantor and we have made a demand for you to service a default, and you would like to apply for assistance, please contact us to discuss your options.

We will not require you to access your superannuation to pay any amount you owe us under a loan, however you may wish to discuss this option with a financial counsellor. You can also find out more about this from the Department of Human Services, see humanservices.gov.au.

Once an application has been received, the team will be prompt to respond to you or your representative. The team will initially review your financial situation and where necessary, contact you for further supporting documentation. It is important for you to be as open and as realistic as you can be, about your financial position. In turn, we will be compassionate in trying to understand your situation and when discussing any way we can help. An assessment will be completed and the assistance that we may offer will depend on your personal circumstances. We will review and consider any reasonable and mutually acceptable proposal you suggest. We will notify you in writing as to whether we will provide you with Financial Difficulty Assistance and the reasons for our decision. If your application is granted, we will also include details of the arrangement which may include repayments you will need to make and what will happen at the end of the arrangement.

Assistance may include options such as:

• Temporary deferral of loan repayments 
• Capitalisation of arrears
• Extending the term of the contract
• Providing interest only repayment options

Where a financial assistance arrangement is accepted and entered, this may result in an increase in your repayments and or to pay more interest over the loan term.

Financial assistance is approved on a temporary basis, provided that we reasonably expect that you will be in a position to meet your financial obligations following our assessment and in the future.

If you’ve been paying more than the scheduled repayments into your home loan or personal loan you might be able to access these funds via a redraw. To find out more about this you can contact our Client Service Centre on 1300 160 160 or speak to your banker.

Automated payments that have been created as a transfer order from an external institution will remain in place. It is important if possible to continue to make repayments to your loan or credit card whilst your application for financial assistance is being considered.

If you have a BOQS term deposit account, you can submit a Notice of Withdrawal to the Client Service Centre to obtain access to your funds after 31 days. In circumstances where you are in financial difficulty, your banker can talk to you about financial difficulty options relating to these accounts. We’ve also put together a Fact Sheet.

In exceptional circumstances of long term hardship for unsecured credit contracts, we may look outside our usual processes to reduce or waive your debt on compassionate grounds. This will be treated on a case by case basis and have regard for your individual circumstances.

Call our Customer Assistance Team on 1800 950 399 (option 2) between 8:30 am - 5:00 pm AEST, Monday to Friday.

For existing clients who are calling from overseas, please call: 0061 2 9293 2121

Term Deposit/ 32 Day Notice Account

If your request is for access to your BOQS Term Deposit or 32 Day Notice account, please call the Client Service Centre on 1300 160 160 or contact your banker to discuss your options.

If you would like further information on how BOQS may be able to assist you during financial difficulty or would like assistance with completing an application, please call our Client Service Centre on 1300 160 160 and speak to one of our team members.

If you are not satisfied with the assistance provided, you can email us at complaints@boqspecialist.com.au

You may find the following websites helpful, which provide information on managing your finances

Helpful contacts and services

National Debt Helpline