About Uniting Financial Services

This guideline applies to all Fixed Term or 31 Day type Investments (personal/retail investors only) or home, car or personal loans held with Uniting Financial Services.Financial hardship occurs when you’re willing but unable to meet your existing financial obligations for a period of time. Financial hardship may be caused by a number of factors, such as an unexpected event or an unforeseen change in your circumstances. This could be because of illness, injury, or a change in employment.We might be able to help if you are experiencing financial difficulties and you are unable to meet your financial commitments and:you have an investment with us that is not an At Call Investment which you would like to access before the maturity date; oryou are finding it hard to make repayments on your home, car or personal loan with us; oryou are experiencing a short-term delay in receiving income, sales proceeds or refinancing and you are requesting a payment deferral or temporary extension for a matured loan.Should your circumstances meet the above criteria, you can complete a Financial Hardship application form located at the end of this page.Completing the application and providing us with the necessary documentation in support of your financial hardship claim will enable us to finalise an assessment and make a decision. 

Business Failure/ DeclineSelf-employed investors experiencing a business or cash flow decline, temporary or long term, including businesses/ companies no longer trading.

Marital dispute Separation, custody disputes, court cases or division of assets resulting from separation or divorce.

Change/ loss of employment Recently ended employment or redundancy with no immediate job prospects. May also include a reduction in working hours and/ or income, including change to employers, or employment industry.

Parental leave Financial difficulty impacted by maternity leave allocation including paternity leave and any unforeseen, unplanned costs resulting from the birth of a child.

Over-commitment Too many loans or financial commitments exceeding investor’s current financial serviceability.

Unexpected events A financial event that has been caused by an unexpected event or natural disaster that was unplanned and not covered in any other definition; and can include but is not limited to illness, injury or death in the family; natural disaster; pandemic; or court order.

Supporting Documentation Required  To enable us to be able to evaluate your application and finalise our assessment, supporting documentation evidencing your financial hardship is required.   Some examples of these documents include, but are not limited to: Notice of employment termination. Medical certificate or any other relevant medical documents confirming inability to earn income due to disability, injury, illness or caring for a sick family member. Outstanding bills i.e. rates notice, phone bill, electricity bill, outstanding loan payments with another institution, outstanding credit card payment with another financial institution etc. Statement(s) of account. Court order. Bank notice, re. unpaid overdraft or repossession of mortgaged property. Eviction notice. Notice of disconnection of essential services. Letter from a charitable organisation re. loss of employment or inability to provide for basic necessities. Repossession notice of essential items, e.g. car, motorcycle. Funeral expenses. Notice of impending legal action. A small business may need to provide some other information.

How long will my application take?

Our assessment of your application will commence as soon as all relevant information and supporting documentation is received by Uniting Financial Services.

What happens if my application is successful?

InvestmentsOnce a financial hardship application has been approved, funds can be deposited to any nominated external bank account you nominate. LoansWe will work with you to try and come up with realistic alternative arrangements such as deferring or reducing loan repayments or restructuring and consolidating loans that would result in the eventual repayment of the debt. Although we are not subscribers to the Code of Banking Practice, and are exempt from Schedule 1 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) (NCCP) – otherwise known as the National Credit Code (NCC), we endeavour to follow their guidelines in relation to financial difficulty.

What can I do if Uniting Financial Services is unable to assist me?

InvestmentsIf your financial hardship application for assistance is not approved, the remaining period of your Fixed Term Investment or 31 day investment will be applied. With your Self Help Investment, 31 days’ notice will still apply commencing from the date you requested hardship assistance until the expiration of 31 days (if you wish to proceed with your withdrawal).LoansWe will provide you with written reasons for our decision if we do not believe alternative arrangements based on the information available will assist. We will then work with you on next steps in relation to your loan.If you’re not satisfied with the decision, you may wish to take the matter further. You may contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), an independent complaints scheme free of charge to customers. Importantly, AFCA will not deal with a dispute unless you have gone through the internal dispute resolution process first.Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)GPO Box 3, Melbourne, VIC 3001Telephone: 1800 931 678 (free call)Email: info@afca.org.auWebsite: www.afca.org.auFor further information: Please contact our Partner Solutions and Support team on 1300 133 673 orcontactus@unitingfinancial.com.au

  CallInvestments and Lending: 1300 133 673Other enquiries: 02 8267 4300

  Emailcontactus@unitingfinancial.com.auWe are here to help.

  Post P.O. Box A2178, Sydney South NSW 1235  

  AddressLevel 10, 222 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000

  Important for you to know Financial services are provided by The Uniting Church (NSW) Trust Association Limited ACN 000 022 480, ABN 89 725 654 978, AFSL 292186 (“UCTAL”) and by The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW) ABN 77 005 284 605 (“UCAPT”) (together and separately “Uniting Financial Services”), for The Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of NSW and the ACT (“Synod”), under a s.911A Corporations Act 2001 (Cth.) authorisation and pursuant to APRA Banking Exemption No. 1 of 2021 and ASIC Regulatory Guide 87 and ASIC Corporations (Charitable Investment Fundraising) Instrument 2016/813 exemptions. Uniting Financial Services® is a registered trademark of UCTAL used with permission of UCAPT. None of The Uniting Church in Australia, UCAPT and UCTAL is prudentially supervised by APRA. Therefore, investments with or contributions to these Uniting Church organisations will not receive the benefit of the Financial Claims Scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth.). All financial services and products are designed for investors who wish to promote the religious and charitable purposes of Uniting Financial Services and The Uniting Church in Australia and for whom profit considerations are not of primary importance in their decision to invest. The information on this page has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, before acting on it, consider its appropriateness to your circumstances or refer to the relevant disclosure document. Loan applications are subject to credit approval. Interest rates are subject to change. Fees and charges may apply.