Financial Hardship Information (FHI) includes:
The type of financial hardship arrangement you have entered which will depend on whether the changes to the terms of your loan or obligations are permanent or temporary.
Variation Financial Hardship Arrangement (V) – indicates that a permanent variation to the terms of the consumer credit contract have been made and will be reported once in the month that the contractual variation took effect. Once the FHI has been reported with a Variation (V), the future RHI will be updated to indicate if the new monthly repayments are being paid on time or not.
Temporary relief or deferral Financial Hardship Arrangement (A) – providing temporary relief from or deferral of the individual’s obligations in relation to consumer credit, reported each month that the arrangement is in place. During the period that any temporary relief or deferral Financial Hardship Arrangement is in place, the RHI will be concurrently reported to indicate whether you are meeting the obligations of your temporary financial hardship arrangement where payments were agreed to be made.
This information will be stored on your credit file for 1 year. Only your financial hardship information from licensed credit providers who hold an Australian Credit Licence can be recorded. Telecommunication and utility companies are not licensed credit providers, so your financial hardship information will not include these providers and they will not be able to see financial hardship information details either.
These changes will also allow licensed credit providers to access and use this comprehensive information in order to make more informed lending decisions. However, this information cannot be used by licensed credit providers to calculate your credit score.
You are entitled to a free credit report every three (3) months and you can request one through any of the Credit Reporting Bodies:
Equifax
Web – www.equifax.com.au
Phone – 1300762207
Illion
Web – http://www.illion.com.au
Phone – 13 23 33
Experian
Web – http://www.experian.com.au
Phone – 1300783684
Contact Us
If you would like further information on how we may be able to assist you, are experiencing financial difficulty in meeting your commitments or would like assistance with completing an application, please call us on 1800 133 397 Monday to Friday from 9am to 9pm AEST, excluding public holidays.
Need More Help
You can get free independent counselling and advice from a Financial Counsellor.
For a comprehensive listing of Financial Counsellors please visit the FCA website: financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au/Home
To talk to a Financial Counsellor by phone (or for referral) call 1800 007 007 from anywhere in Australia.
You may also find the following websites helpful, which provide information on managing your money:
