We're here to help.
At People First Bank, we know that life can take unexpected turns and that unplanned events can happen. As a result, it may sometimes be difficult to meet your financial obligations. If you start to feel like you might need support, contact us early to see how we can help. Reaching out at an early stage will give you the best possible chance of receiving assistance when you need it most.
Financial difficulty can come about quickly
Difficulty meeting your loan or credit card repayments can affect anybody – whether you’re an individual, a couple, joint account holder, small business, borrower or a guarantor. We understand that there are a wide range of circumstances that can result in a customer experiencing financial difficulty.
Situations that can arise unexpectedly:
- Changes in income or expenses (cost of living pressure)
- Changes in employment and unemployment
- Significant life events (such as relationship breakdown, death in the family)
- Serious Injury or ill health
- Emergency event, pandemic, or natural disaster
- Domestic or family violence
- Financial abuse
Here for you
At People First Bank, we pride ourselves on doing our best to support our customers. Asking for help isn't always easy, but it's important to contact us early if your circumstances change (even if it's only short term) so we can work through how best to support you.
When you feel ready to reach out, we assure you that we will:
- Treat you fairly and with respect
- Be open and honest about what options are available
- Be respectful of your situation and needs
- Keep your information confidential
- Work with you to form a plan of support
How hardship assistance can support you
We may be able to offer Financial Hardship Assistance to customers having trouble meeting their loan or credit card repayments.
If you're finding it hard to stay on top of your loan repayments, get in touch with us to see if we can help. Depending on your circumstances, some of the ways we may be able to help include:
- Deferred payment arrangement
Providing you with a temporary payment break in your loan arrangement. - Reduced payment arrangement
Temporarily reducing your minimum repayments under your loan arrangement.
What happens next?
Once you feel ready and comfortable to talk to us, we will work with you to create a support plan. During this process we encourage you to be as open and honest as possible about your financial position.
If you do ask us for hardship assistance, we encourage you to keep making whatever payments you can while we consider your request.
If you have a joint account, we can assist you in the initial stages of your request without involving the other party, if needed.
After we receive a request for hardship assistance, we:
- Consider the request for assistance, taking into account the current situation.
- Consider the long-term and short-term financial issues where they are relevant.
- Pause collection activity whilst reviewing your request
- Respond to the request promptly.
How to contact us
If you're experiencing financial difficulty and would like to discuss your options, please contact our dedicated team at (08) 8124 2146 or email cmanagementpccu@peopleschoice.com.au as soon as you can.
Alternatively, you can apply for Hardship relief by completing the Hardship Assistance Form and emailing it to People First Bank Customer Assist at cmanagementpccu@peopleschoice.com.au. When the form is received, we will contact you to discuss your application further.
Please keep in mind that our staff may ask you about your income, expenses, assets, and supporting documents to assist with your application. Our friendly team has been specially trained for these situations and to help you with the next steps.
Supporting you through life’s challenges
We understand that life can throw unexpected challenges your way. Our customer relief package is here to support customers affected by events like floods or bushfires. It includes:
- Hardship provisions to help impacted customers through their situation
- Waiving fees associated with restructuring of loans needed because of flood or bushfire impacts
- Waiving or refunding fees incurred because flood or bushfire impacts have made it impossible for customers to comply with requirements of their accounts, for example missed payments
- Early redemption on Term Deposit accounts for customers impacted by flood or bushfires, without fees or penalties
Above all, safety is the number one priority. If you live in an impacted area we encourage you to monitor the situation through the media and emergency service websites.
FAQs
Being in a financial hardship arrangement won’t impact your credit score. However, repayment history information can be included in the calculation of your credit score, so if you’re under a temporary financial hardship arrangement and you miss a payment under the arrangement, your credit score might be impacted. You can read more here.
At People First Bank, we treat each case with respect, empathy, and equality. To help us work out how we can help you, we may ask for more information about your financial situation and supporting documents for your application.
If you have contacted the above and are still not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA):
Online: www.afca.org.au
Email: info@afca.org.au
Phone: 1800 931 678 (free call)
Mail: Australian Financial Complaints Authority, GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001
Financial hardship and credit reporting
From 1 July 2022, if we approve you for temporary financial hardship assistance, or permanently change your loan contract due to financial hardship, this will be reflected in your credit report.
This is an industry wide change which has been introduced through new legislation by the Australian government.
Click here to get more details about how hardship arrangements will be reflected on your credit report.
External support services
When you need extra support, there are a range of free services you can access for information and confidential counselling.
Need some help? We've got you covered.
Get in touch with us and we can help you get the answers you need.
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