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Financial Hardship Policy

Need Money Now prides itself on being a responsible lender. We would discourage anyone with existing debt from applying for a loan. If you have any doubts about your ability to repay a loan, we would recommend you seek budgeting advice from sorted.org.nz or the Citizens Advice Bureau before resorting to borrowing money.

The credit we provide is not intended to meet your long-term financial needs. A Need Money Now loan should only be used for short-term emergencies. Proper budgeting advice should be sought if your income is not regularly meeting your expenses.

If you do take out a Need Money Now loan, and your circumstances change and you are unable to repay your loan, please contact us immediately. We will work with you to make repayment as easy as possible.

Who can make a hardship application?

Under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003, a borrower has the right to ask their lender for a change to their loan if they meet the following criteria:

  • the borrower has suffered a hardship they couldn’t reasonably have seen coming, such as illness or injury, loss of employment, the end of a relationship, or death of a partner or spouse
  • as a result of that hardship, the borrower cannot reasonably meet their debt repayments, and
  • the borrower believes they would be able to meet their debt repayments if the contract was changed in the ways specified by the CCCF Act

Please be aware that if you knew or reasonably suspected you would be made redundant or your circumstances were about to change your hardship application may be declined.

What if I have insufficient funds to make my next repayment?

If you think you will have insufficient funds in your bank account on your repayment date, you must contact us immediately to halt the direct debit. You must contact us at least two business days prior to your scheduled payment date. After this time we will be unable to stop the direct debit as it will have been processed by your bank.

Please call us immediately and we will try to cancel the direct debit. Please note that if we are unable to cancel the direct debit in time you will incur a direct debit default fee (see below). We can help reschedule your loan repayments if necessary.

Are there any default fees payable if I miss my repayment?

The following Fees apply for missed repayments:

  • $60 for each default – charged each time a direct debit from your bank account fails but not more than two times consecutively
  • $60 for any assignment of wages requested
  • $50 for referring your debt to a collection agency

What is Need Money Now's arrears policy?

If any of your payments are dishonoured we will attempt to contact you as soon as this shows up. If there is a genuine reason for a payment dishonouring we will attempt to help you, and if we receive your payment within 24 hours no dishonour fee will be charged. However, please be aware, there may be additional daily interest added for the extra day.

If we still haven’t received the money by the morning of the next business day, you may be charged a $60 missed payment fee towards the cost of a failed collection, plus the additional daily interest costs.

We will then continue trying to contact you to discuss the situation and arrange a new schedule. If your circumstances have changed significantly, we will do our best to offer a solution and come to an arrangement that helps you get back on your feet.

If, after three days, we still have had no response from any of our efforts to contact you, we will look at recovering payments by other means. This may mean us referring your debt to a debt collection agency. As part of our responsible lending policy, interest will cease to accrue on your balance after 45 days have elapsed, if you are in default or are suffering unforeseen hardship, and you have reached a compromise repayment arrangement with us. In all other cases, interest will cease to accrue after 60 days have elapsed.

Please remember, if your situation does change and you need our help to rearrange payments, we will do so if you communicate with us. If you have doubts over whether you will be able to repay a loan comfortably, please act responsibly by not applying. We use the information and technology available to us to make the best lending decisions possible, but we urge you to consider the serious nature of the commitment you are making before you apply for a loan.

Repayment plans for customers who qualify for financial hardship will cap interest and may also extend the payment schedule. Repayment plans require certain disclosures to be made by the customer to reassess the customer’s creditworthiness and affordability, as well as their ability to repay the loan.

Repayment modifications allow the customer to have a reasonable and predictable repayment plan. Any such modifications must be agreed upon by both parties and the customer may repay the full amount due at any time without penalty.