Missing repayments and/or defaulting on your loan can have significant consequences for your credit rating and your ability to obtain credit in the future. That’s why it’s important to act quickly and put a plan in place to get back on track.
A Hardship Care arrangement doesn’t mean your credit rating is ruined.
Hardship Care is here to help you manage your repayments and rebuild a healthy repayment history. Your repayment history will be a key consideration for lenders assessing any future application for credit you may make.
Who needs to know about your Hardship Care arrangement?
If your application is successful, we’re required to update your credit report status to reflect that you have entered a Hardship Care arrangement. For information on our Privacy and Credit reporting practices, please see www.gemfinance.co.nz/privacy .
If you have payments overdue at the time you’re approved for Hardship Care, we’ll reset your account to a ‘current’ or ‘up to date’ status at the start of your Hardship Care arrangement. If you maintain the payments agreed under your Hardship Care arrangement, your account will remain ‘up to date’ and each repayment you make will help to rebuild your repayment history.
Keeping in touch during your Hardship Care arrangement.
You can rebuild a better repayment history by keeping up to date with any payment arrangement we’ve agreed.
We’ll keep an eye on how things are going throughout your Hardship Care arrangement and reach out from time to time to let you know how things are progressing or if anything goes off track. As you approach the end of your Hardship Care arrangement, we’ll get in touch to let you know what the next steps would be.
Want to know more? Click here to view our other articles about Hardship Care.
Need more advice?
If you’re worried about your finances, you can get free and confidential advice from an independent service such as MoneyTalks. They offer over-the-phone budgeting support, or they can put you in touch with a local Financial Mentor for face-to-face help.