Covid-19 support

Financial Assistance Packages are available to customers who have had their income impacted by COVID-19.

These can vary depending on your circumstances and the product(s) you have with us, however customers with home loans, personal loans and businesses can apply for a Financial Assistance Package.

Customers with Great Southern Bank Credit Cards and CUA Health Insurance also have a range of options for financial relief.

Do you have insurance?

You may have insurance cover for events of illness or involuntary unemployment. This could be through an income protection policy, a policy linked to your superannuation, or you may have purchased loan repayment insurance.

If you purchased loan repayment insurance with your Great Southern Bank loan, contact the Credicorp claims team on (07) 3552 4289 to see whether you’re eligible to make a claim.

You can apply to defer your home loan repayments if you are experiencing financial hardship.*

If you’re ahead on your repayments, consider redrawing those extra repayments fee-free to support you during this time.

Other ways we can assist:

• Reducing your home loan repayments to the minimum amount
• Switching to Interest Only repayments for up to 12 months**

*Please note that if you defer your home loan payments, interest will continue to be added to your loan balance and your loan balance will progressively increase. You can still access and redraw any additional funds or additional payments you’ve made while your repayments are on pause. However, you should be aware that all else being equal, the total amount of interest you will pay for the life of the loan will increase slightly overall.

If you are considering a repayment deferral and would like to discuss your options, please call 1800 110 440 and select option 2 for the Financial Assistance Team.

**An increase of interest rate may apply, as the rates for Interest Only loans could be higher than Principal and Interest Rates. Our current interest rates for Interest Only products are available on our website.

To discuss your financial assistance options, you can contact us on 1800 110 440.

Are you ahead of your scheduled home loan repayments? If so, then you can consider redrawing those extra repayments fee-free to assist during this time.

Unlike much of the industry, we allow redraw from our fixed rate loans. Redraw is available via Online Banking or via your local branch. Contact us on 133 282 for more information.

If you have the available funds, redrawing may be a better option for you than pausing your repayments. A redraw also helps you avoid additional payments and interest that arises out of deferring or extending the length of your home loan.

Repayment relief and other assistance options are available for customers on request and are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. As an example, we can switch your loan to interest-only repayments or defer your payments for a period of time.

Are you ahead of your scheduled loan payments?

Many Great Southern Bank customers are currently ahead of their scheduled personal loan repayments. If you are one of these customers, and are on a product that supports redraw, then you could consider redrawing those extra repayments fee-free to support you during this time.

If you wish to discuss your financial assistance options further, please call us on 1800 110 440 and select option 2 for the Financial Assistance Team.

Please note: If you defer or reduce your loan payments, interest will continue to be added to your loan balance and your loan balance will progressively increase. To help keep your repayments as similar as possible (when the assistance period finishes) and to discuss your options further, please call us on 1800 110 440 and select option 2 for the Financial Assistance Team.

Repayment relief is available for customers with small business loans. We can also extend your loan term by the same length of time to ease the pressure and minimise the increase to your repayments when you start to make them again.

If you need to discuss your options further, please call us on 1800 110 440 and select option 2 for the Financial Assistance Team.

We can help in a number of ways, including waiving late fees on credit card repayments. Repayment relief may also be available for customers with incomes affected by COVID-19. Repayment relief is available on request and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The Repayment History Indicator is a month-by-month report showing whether you’ve made your payments on time. If your account is not overdue when an application is processed, your Repayment History Indicator will continue to report your account is up to date.

If your account is already in arrears, Great Southern Bank will need to continue to report the outcome. If you are behind on your payments and have any concerns, please contact us on 1800 110 440 and select option 2 for the Financial Assistance Team.

Once you are approved, you will receive a letter detailing your new repayment amount and the date your payments will recommence.

It is important to understand that your minimum repayment amount after the repayment deferral (sometimes called a “repayment holiday”) ends will be different to before you applied. This is because during a repayment deferral, interest continues to be added to your loan balance and therefore your loan balance will progressively increase.

Your repayments are then recalculated on the loan balance at the end of the deferral period to ensure you still repay your loan over the approved term. You may be able to apply for an extension on your loan term; however, you should be aware that this will affect the total amount of interest you will pay for the life of the loan.

If you need more information or wish to discuss your options, please 1800 110 440 and select option 2 for the Financial Assistance Team.

You will receive a letter with the date your repayments resume and the revised repayment amount.

You may also want to set up an automatic transfer to re-start your payments on the date specified.

If you’re unable to recommence your repayments, please call us on 133 282 to discuss further support options.

We recommend restarting your loan repayments as soon as possible – even if it's only reduced repayments. This will help you save on interest in the long term