Financial Assistance
What is Financial Hardship?
Financial Hardship is when a customer is willing and has the intention to pay, but due to a change in their circumstances, is now unable to meet their repayments or existing financial obligations. With formal hardship assistance, their financial situation will be restored.
Reasons which may qualify you for Financial Hardship
Common events contributing to financial difficulty may include:
· Changes in income and/or expenses
· Changes in employment such as reduced hours, loss of job, reduced pay
· Significant life events such as illness, injury, relationship break down, death or disability
· Natural disaster
· Legal matters such as court actions, judgement or court orders
· Company failure or some other event such as insolvency or administration
Financial Hardship FAQ’s
How long is the assistance period?
Our Financial Hardship Department will assess your individual situation and provide options. This may be short term and in some cases long periods of time dependent on your situation.
What kind of support documents do I need?
Each situation is assessed on its own merits. You may need to provide further information such as proof of income, liabilities, expenditure and anything that is applicable to your circumstances.
How long will it take to receive a response?
We are required to provide you with an outcome or next steps within 21 days of you submitting your application. However, in most cases you will receive a response sooner.
Will I still be contacted by the Collections Department whilst assistance is in place?
No, there will be no collections activity during this period as long as you comply with your hardship arrangement.
What happens if CUPRA Financial Services does not support my request for Financial Hardship?
We will advise you in writing of the reason. You may wish to seek further financial advice from a financial advisor or a third party in regards to the alternate options that may be available to you.
What happens if I am not satisfied with the outcome?
If you are unsatisfied with our response, you can contact our Financial Hardship Department on 1300 092 859 (Option 1) to discuss our decision. If your concern is still not resolved, you may lodge a complaint via our internal disputes resolutions scheme by emailing feedback@cuprafs.com.au.
If you do not agree with our decision or suggested resolution, you may refer your complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), an external dispute resolution scheme of which we are a member.
Mail
Australian Financial Complaints Authority
GPO Box 3 Melbourne VIC 3001
Phone
1800 931 678 (free call)
Email
info@afca.org.au
Website
www.afca.org.au
How to apply
In order to assess your eligibility for financial hardship assistance, we require you to apply online via our Financial Assistance Portal (supported web browsers include Google Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge).
If you have any questions and would like to speak to one of our Financial Assistance representatives, please call or email us.
Phone
1300 092 859
Mon – Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm (AEST)
If you are overseas, please call:
+61 2 9695 6311 (Select Option 1)
Email
hardship@cuprafs.com.au
What happens next?
Once you have lodged your Financial Hardship Assistance application, your circumstances will be assessed to see what arrangements or options may be suitable for you. We will notify you of the outcome within 21 days.
Should we require additional information, one of our Financial Assistance representatives will be in contact with you to discuss the matter further.
