We understand the COVID-19 situation may create uncertainty or financial pressure for some of our customers. We are here to help.
This fact sheet contains some important information to help you understand the process when applying for financial assistance on your home loan, and what you need to know about loan repayment holidays.
Financial difficulty occurs when you’re having trouble meeting your repayment obligations like paying bills or making repayments on your loans.
This can occur because of an unexpected event or change (such as illness or injury, becoming unemployed or being affected by a natural disaster or pandemic like Coronavirus).
If you are experiencing financial difficulty, depending on your situation you can apply for financial assistance.
Applying for financial assistance by phone
You can apply for financial assistance by contacting us on 1300 650 931 to discuss your situation and the options which may be available to you.
A request for financial assistance can be made by any party to the loan however, if the loan has multiple borrowers, we will normally require all parties to supply information to us which will allow a more thorough assessment of the application.
We will need to understand your unique situation to be able to consider your request for financial assistance and discuss your options. This may include asking you:
The reasons why you need financial assistance
An indication of how and when you think your situation will improve
Whether you can continue to make any repayments to your loan and over what period
To provide a statement of financial position, which sets out your income and expenses, as well as relevant supporting documents.
Applying for financial assistance via the website
When an application for financial assistance is made via the website, Pepper Money will be in contact with you within 5 working days.
Please note that your direct debit payments will not be automatically suspended as a result of submitting a request via the website.
Loan repayments which are due shortly
We do understand customers may have a repayment due in the next few days. If your next loan repayment is due within the next 5 working days and you are unable to pay it, please call us on 1300 650 931 between 8am to 6pm AEST.
If your scheduled repayment is deducted before we contact you, any arrears or missed payment fees will be resolved when we contact you.
Confirming your financial assistance plan
Once you have completed an application for financial assistance, you will receive confirmation of the details of your approved financial assistance plan via letter or email. We will outline the details of the variations to your loan account and your temporary repayment schedule during the assistance period.
Financial assistance in the form of a repayment holiday
Typically, a repayment holiday is a temporary suspension to your loan repayments because of temporary financial stress. In other words, it is a short-term repayment break which involves putting a pause on making your monthly contractual repayments for a temporary period of time, as agreed with us.
If you have applied for assistance with Pepper and we agree to pause your repayments, interest will continue to accrue on your loan account but will be deferred and added onto your loan balance. This will mean that in the longer term, your repayments will likely increase for the remainder of your loan term. Keeping this in mind, and assuming you can, you may choose to make repayments during the assistance period.
Calculate the impacts of deferring your home loan repayments using our Deferral Calculator here.
As everyone’s circumstances are different, the exact length of time for the repayment break will depend on your individual circumstances.
Direct debits are not automatically cancelled when an application for financial assistance is received. When you speak to us, we will discuss your options which may include cancelling direct debit repayments to prevent additional fees or charges to the loan.
Your repayments will be paused during the repayment break; however, it is important to note that interest will continue to accrue and will be added to your loan balance. At the end of the repayment holiday, your loan repayments will likely increase to ensure your loan is repaid within the original loan term. We will contact you prior to the end of the repayment break to discuss your circumstances.
Calculate the impacts of deferring your home loan repayments using our Deferral Calculator here.
While you are not making repayments on your mortgage, the unpaid interest is being added to your loan balance. In other words, the interest you accrue while you’re not making your loan repayments will still be added to your loan balance each month. Let’s say you have a $300,000 mortgage and normally pay $825 in interest each month. This interest amount of $825 will still be added to your loan balance each month repayments are not made. This is called capitalising the interest on your loan.
You can make repayments during the repayment holiday period if you are able to. These additional repayments will reduce the interest accruing on your loan during the repayment break period and result in the total loan balance being less at the end of the repayment holiday period than if no additional repayments were made during this period of assistance. This may result in less interest being repaid over the term of your loan.
Please be aware that if you have excess funds in your account, they will be used to make your next scheduled repayment even if you have been approved for financial assistance. The funds will be debited 14 days after the repayment due date.
Customers who receive financial assistance from Pepper Money as a direct result of COVID-19 and who were up to date with their repayments prior to the assistance, will not have their credit history negatively impacted. To learn more about COVID-19 and your credit health, visit CreditSmart.org.au.
For customers who are under financial assistance arrangements with Pepper Money, you will not be charged Default, Arrears or Dishonour fees during this time, and we will not apply additional default interest on amounts in arrears.
If you’ve recently been granted financial assistance from Pepper, you may still receive a system generated late payment notice via SMS or letter. Please disregard this notice and be assured that you will not be charged late payment fees or default interest, and your credit rating won’t be impacted. If you still have questions, please contact our Customer Service team on 1300 650 931.
Pepper Money is committed to assisting customers who are experiencing problems making repayments on their loan wherever possible. We will contact you each month to understand your current situation.
If you still have questions, please contact us on 1300 650 931.
Individuals and business owners directly affected by COVID-19, may have access to Government assistance. Read more.
You may also want to obtain support from an advice professional, or a financial counsellor to assist you to understand your options. Learn more.