Financial Hardship

Financial Difficulty and Hardship  

At Geelong Bank, the personal and financial wellbeing of our members, the health of our people and their families and being a good corporate citizen of the broader community, remain our top priorities.

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.

If you are finding it difficult to make your repayments, depending on your circumstances, the following types of assistance may be available:

• Reduce your repayments for a period of time.
• Put your repayments on hold for a period of time. Interest will still accrue, however, your loan term may be extended to so your repayments don’t increase.
• Make your normal repayments and get help with missed repayments.
• Restructure your loan over a longer term to reduce your repayment amount.
• Fill out this financial assistance form 

Other options

• We will help you lodge a claim if you took out Consumer Credit Insurance with your loan.
• If you have an investment property, we can help you investigate if you have loss of rent cover on your Landlords’ Insurance policy.

*Redraws from the Affinity Home Loan Package and the Mutual Home Loan (formally Easy Start Home Loan) are free. The redraw fee for the Basic Home Loan (formally Value Home Loan) will be waived. For all other Home Loan redraws via internet or telephone banking are free and over the counter redraws will be waived.

Everyone’s situation is different, and we will tailor the assistance to your circumstances and needs. If you are experiencing financial hardship please fill out this form or contact our Lending Team on 1300 361 555, 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, or email info@geelongbank.com.au. 

Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice 2022

Geelong Bank is a signatory to the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice 2022.

https://www.customerownedbanking.asn.au/how-it-works/code-of-practice

The code sets out support for customers experiencing financial difficulty in paragraphs 136 to 143.

Useful links

Managing your finances when times are tough can get overwhelming. Here are some organisations that provide free help and information.

Money Smart - COVID-19 financial assistance

https://moneysmart.gov.au/

National Debt Hotline - Financial Survival Guide

https://ndh.org.au/debt-problems

Beyond Blue Looking after your mental health 

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support

Lifeline – Mental health and wellbeing 

https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/information-and-support

The challenges presented by financial difficulty and hardship may be hard to deal with, which is why we are here to make your banking as smooth as possible.