Financial hardship

How can we help?

Heartland Bank has a dedicated Hardship team who can provide tailored support. The exact support we can offer depends on your financial circumstances. If you’re eligible, options include:

• Providing a payment holiday for a period of time.
• Extending the term of your loan and reducing the amount of each repayment.
• Extending the term of your loan and providing a payment holiday for a period of time.

Impact of receiving financial hardship assistance

Financial hardship assistance is a formal application and receiving financial hardship assistance may mean you will pay more interest over the term of your loan.

If you’re struggling to meet your repayments, please get in touch sooner rather than later. If you fall too far behind on your repayments, the financial hardship options may not be available to you.

If you would like to talk to us further about any potential impact, please call our helpful team on 0800 42 08 42.

What is the expected timeframe for a decision?

1. We will confirm we have received your application within five working days.

2. If we have all the correct information, we will provide an outcome within 20 working days.

3. If we need further information from you (such as proof of income or evidence of unforeseen hardship), we’ll contact you within ten working days of receiving your application.

4. Once you have provided the further requested information, we will provide an outcome within ten working days.

5. If you are unable to provide the requested information, we will inform you of an outcome within 20 working days.

To apply, you can either complete the form below, or call our dedicated hardship team on 0800 42 08 42.
All applications are subject to approval.

Other options to consider

Even if you do not qualify for unforeseen hardship assistance or decide hardship assistance is not right for you, there may be other options you could consider:

• If you have insurance (e.g. redundancy cover, Personal Protection Insurance), you could consider making a claim.
• You may be able to access Kiwisaver funds through a hardship application with your Kiwisaver provider.
• Speak with a financial mentor service (free and confidential) such as Money Talks on 0800 345 123.
• Call us on 0800 42 08 42 to discuss other options that may be available due to your specific circumstances.

Please note: Heartland Bank do have several staff who speak other languages and can utilise the New Zealand Relay Service if you have a hearing or speech impairment. If you would prefer to speak with a staff member in your native language or wish to utilise the New Zealand Relay Service, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your request.