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Financial hardship assistance.
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Let ME help you.
Let ME help you.
Life can take unexpected turns that sometimes make it difficult for you to maintain your account repayments. Perhaps you have lost your job, suffered an illness or injury or have been impacted by a natural disaster like a bushfire, cyclone or flood.
If you find yourself with financial hardship, we encourage you to talk to us as soon as possible about how your change in circumstances is impacting your financial position.
We have a dedicated hardship assistance team that, in many instances, can make a temporary arrangement to help get you back on your feet.
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Bushfire support.
Bushfire support.
ME Bank is activating its Emergency Fast Track Relief assistance to customers impacted by the bushfires across New South Whales and Queensland.
With dangerous conditions threatening parts of these states, the safety of customers is the highest priority. Once safe to do so, impacted ME Bank customers are encouraged to contact the Customer Assistance team on
1300 500 520 to discuss the options available to them.
The Fast Track process provides urgent access to support for ME Bank customers affected by the severe weather, where they can discuss financial relief available including:
- 90 day deferral of loan repayments (i.e. Home Loans, Personal Loans) which may be capitalised to the loan over the remaining term;
- Waiver of fees associated with transactions relating to the financial difficulty assistance;
- Early release of funds held in customer Term Deposits (including waiver of fee);
For emergency help in severe weather call the State Emergency Service on
132 500, or call
000 for life-threatening emergencies.
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Getting back on track.
When you speak with us, it is important for you to be as open and realistic as you can be about your financial position. In turn, we will be compassionate in trying to understand your situation and discussing ways we can help.
Contact us
Reach out to us as early as possible. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can try to help.
The best way to let us know about your situation is to call ME on 1300 500 520
Monday to Friday 8:30am – 5pm (AEST/AEDT)
Contact us
After hours
After hours? Call ME on 13 15 63
Monday to Friday 8am – 8pm (AEST/AEDT)
Saturday 9am – 5pm (AEST/AEDT)
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How we can help.
ME offers a range of support options and the assistance provided will depend on your individual circumstances and needs.
After speaking with someone from our hardship assistance team, we will assess your current financial position and try and work out the best solution to help get you back on track.
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Some options include:
- deferral of repayments
- reduced repayments
- arrears capitalisation
- payment holiday (if loan is variable and in advance)
- fee waivers
- other options can be considered on a case-by-case basis
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What happens when I ask for hardship assistance?
Every situation is unique and depending on your situation, we may need you to provide further supporting documentation when assessing your request for hardship assistance, including:
- pay slips
- tax return (if self-employed)
- centrelink statements
- employment separation certificate
- medical certificate
- property sales agency agreement (if you are intending to sell a property to repay your debt)
- any written advice of current hardship arrangements with other lenders/creditors
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What happens after I submit my application?
After speaking with someone from our hardship assistance team, we will assess your current financial position and try and work out the best solution to help get you back on track. We may ask for further supporting documentation such as:
- Pay slips
- Tax return (if self-employed)
- Centrelink statements
- Employment separation certificate
- Medical certificate
- Property sales agency agreement
- Any written advice of current hardship arrangements with other lenders/creditors.
After we assess your current situation, we’ll tell you in writing about whether we will be able come to an arrangement in relation to your financial hardship that is individual to you. If we need supporting documentation, please allow up to 21 days after we receive the documentation to process your request.
We strongly recommend customers seek independent financial advice to discuss their options. You can contact the National Debt Helpline 1800 007 007 for free financial counselling services.
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What if you are not satisfied?
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Step 1 – get in touch
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your hardship request, you can call our customer relations team on 13 15 63.
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Step 2 – Contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
If your concern is not resolved, you can get in touch with a customer advocate or lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. They will likely encourage you to resolve the matter with ME before they investigate your concerns. The service is free of charge for consumers.
Telephone: 1800 931 678
Email: info@afca.org.au
Australian Financial Complaints Authority
GPO Box 3
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
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Financial hardship and credit reporting
Hardship assistance may take different forms depending on your circumstances and what is agreed with our hardship assistance team.
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What is a credit report?
A credit report is a record of your credit history. It includes:
- personal information to identify you
- loans and other credit you’ve opened or applied for
- a month-by-month repayment history.
You can request a free copy of your credit report every 3 months from any of the credit reporting bodies.
Find out more about credit reporting.
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Who can report financial hardship?
Only lenders (including ME) that have an Australian credit licence, such as banks and credit unions, can report if their customer has entered a financial hardship arrangement. Telecommunications, water, and energy companies are not allowed to report repayment history or financial hardship information for their customers.
This means that a credit report will not show whether an individual has paid their utility, water, or telecommunications bills or if they have entered hardship with these suppliers.
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What happens with my credit report when I apply for financial hardship?
From July 2022, a new type of information can be reported in a credit report – financial hardship information. From then, if a financial hardship arrangement is put in place, this can be shown in a credit report and the customer’s repayment history will show whether they are meeting the requirements of the hardship arrangement.
Missed repayments will be reported if they are 15 days or more overdue. And if your hardship application is approved, financial hardship information but not the reason why you went into hardship, or details of the arrangement, must also be reported.
Taking action and contacting us to discuss your situation as soon as possible may help to reduce any negative impacts on your credit score, noting that financial hardship information cannot be used in calculating your credit score.
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Are previous financial hardship arrangements currently on my credit report?
No, financial hardship arrangements entered with ME before 30 September 2022 will not be reflected in your credit report. ME reports your account but not the repayment history information during a financial hardship arrangement. This means, for those periods, the repayments are not reported as overdue nor are they reported as up to date.
Alternatively, prior to 1 July 2022, some lenders may report the same situation as:
- payments up to date
- missed payments
- or, like ME, cease reporting repayment history information during a financial hardship arrangement.
Neither of these approaches tells the full story about your credit history.
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How long will this stay on my credit file?
Financial hardship information will only stay on the credit reporting system for 12 months. The financial hardship information on a credit report is not intended to suggest bad credit management, as long as you meet the terms of your arrangement. Instead, it provides context to potential lenders and demonstrates that when you were faced with hardship that impacted your ability to make repayments, you notified ME and worked with us to get back on track, in a responsible and open manner.
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Financial counselling resources and support services.
There are services available to assist in times of financial hardship.
National Debt Helpline
Financial debt helpline that provides free, independent and confidential financial counselling
Learn more
Department of Human Services
Access to government services such as Centrelink & Medicare
Learn more
ASIC Money Smart
Information and tools to help make the most of your money, including information about how to manage your debts
Learn more
ME's Financial Education Hub
Equip yourself with knowledge about budgeting, debt, saving and making the bacon.
Learn with ME
Financial Assistance Hub
Resources to help you understand your options if you're struggling financially.
Learn more
Mental health support services
There are services available to assist with any stress or anxiety about financial issues, such as Lifeline and Beyond Blue
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For all Australians.
At ME, we believe banking services should be accessible to everyone. That’s why we’ve adopted our Inclusive & Accessible Banking Statement.
See the statement
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Deferring your personal loan repayments.
We've put together some information about taking some time out from your personal loan for up to one month.
Defer your repayments
Deferring a home loan repayment.
Can’t make your next repayment? Let us know – we can help defer the repayment for up to one month.
Learn more about repayments
Using a financial counsellor or representative.
If you’d prefer, we can discuss your request for hardship assistance with a nominated representative, such as a financial counsellor, advisor, community worker or solicitor.
Hardship assistance support
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