BOS has obligations under various Codes and Government principles, such as the Code of Banking Practice  and the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (National Credit Code), as to how we may provide financial hardship assistance to our customers. 

If you find yourself in a situation of financial hardship, we encourage you to talk to us about how your change in circumstances is impacting your financial position – we may be able to offer you some assistance to help you deal with the financial difficulties you’re facing.

We will seek to understand your situation by gathering information from you on:

• How your circumstances have changed and how you expect them to improve;
• Your current financial position; and
• How assistance from us will help you get back on track with your loan, credit card repayments or other debt with BOS.

Apply for assistance using our   Financial Hardship Application & Declaration Form

You can return your completed form by fax or post using the following details:

Attention: Compliance
Fax: 02 9283 7723 
Post: GPO Box 4288, Sydney NSW 2001
You can also call your Bank Manager on 1300 BANKING (1300 226 546).

We’ll let you know if we need you to provide any documents such as:

• medical certificates;
• Centrelink statements;
• notice of employment termination;
• verification of your income;
• statements of loans and credit cards with other lenders; or
• any other documents that may support your request for assistance

For eligible customers, assistance may include options such as:

• deferring loan repayments for a short period of time;
• reducing repayments by converting the facility from Principal &Interest to Interest Only payment temporarily;
• extending the term of a loan to reduce ongoing repayment; and/or
• Debt consolidation/restructuring (if applicable)

These are a guide of potential assistance options only – we need to look at your existing account, loan or credit card, and your particular circumstances, to see what might be suitable.

To deal with your concerns, we offer free internal dispute resolution to all our customers and free external dispute resolution through the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for personal and small business customers. The FOS can investigate a matter, but will only do so once you have given us the opportunity to investigate and review it. You can contact the FOS at www.fos.org.au or by calling 1300 BANKING (1300 226 546).

If assistance is declined, BOS will advise you of the reason your application was declined. You may wish to seek further financial advice from other parties such as a financial counsellor, about other options available to you. Financial counselling is offered free of charge through Financial Counsellors of Australia who may be contacted by calling 1300 BANKING (1300 226 546).