As we all grapple with the changing world of Covid-19 and the impact it is having on our daily lives, our livelihoods, and our dear friends, families and fellow Australians, know that we are committed to helping our clients through what is going to be a challenging time.
We ask that you to share this page with those that are impacted or about to feel the impacts of Covid-19 on their business to assist them with resources and understanding. Further, Wilson Financial is trading as normal, though 90% of our team is now offsite we are able to assist easily via phone, email and video as required to navigate through these troubled waters together.
Information below is collated based on the services we offer for ease of reference…
Home Loans
Banks are offering relief for their home loan customers. In my opinion this is vital to ensure people can continue to care for themselves and their families.
If you cannot afford to make your mortgage payments then jump on the front foot and contact your bank preferably via their websites forms and make arrangements. At all times please understand if you are not sure what to do, contact us and we will be happy to help. We cannot make the hardship claims for you unfortunately, but we can discuss anything credit related to help you make decisions.
With call centres buckling under pressure, we would suggest you use the lenders online forms when available to apply for home loan deferment we have listed the main lenders at the base of this email for you.
Equipment Finance
Car Loans, Car Leases, Chattel Mortgages
The process is really no different to the above for home loans but generally there is a different department or contact line to reach out to. If you are unsure, please contact myself or Geoff about the contact points for putting your equipment finance facilities on hold. As these are often large payments, this could really assist you moving forwards.
Methods for access:
ANZ request a call back https://www.anz.com.au/business/enquiry/
Capital/Westpac defer payments form https://www.westpac.com.au/cfal-defer-business-loan-payments-form/
Commonwealth Bank / CBFC – auto deferrals – read this https://www.commbank.com.au/latest/coronavirus/business-support.html?ei=cor_deferbusloan#defer
Macquarie Finance Leases 1300 368 908
https://www.macquarie.com/au/personal/forms/financial-hardship
Pepper hardship line Australia: 1800 356 383
For those not listed as yet, please contact liz@wilsonfinancial.com.au or geoff@wilsonfinancial.com.au
Superannuation
Are you eligible to access $10,000 of your super? Click on this link to find out:
https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/Fact_sheet-Early_Access_to_Super_1.pdf
If you are eligible, you can contact your super fund directly to ask any questions. Withdrawing superannuation should always be a last resort, but in a situation like this where people are going to go through serious financial hardship, this could be essential.
Insurance
Life, TPD, Trauma and Income Protection
One of the main questions here is, are we covered by our policies if someone dies from Covid-19 who holds life insurance setup through Wilson Financial. The answer is yes, you are.
For income protection claims, this is a case by case basis. This is because Income Protection generally has a 14, 30, 60, or 90 day waiting period. If you recover within the period of your waiting days, you will not be able to claim. As many cases of Covid-19 are mild, you may not need to claim. If you are sick for a long time, and unable to work, you should contact George to make a claim.
Income Protection insurance covers you for sickness or injury, not redundancy. It covers your ability to work and replaces your income if you are sick or injured, but in most cases won't cover you for being unable to work due to the closing of a business. Like mortgages, you may be able to get a premium holiday while involuntarily unemployed. This may also be relevant where your spouse has been made to be involuntarily unemployed. A premium waiver will not mean a suspension of your insurance cover. To arrange this, please contact your insurer direct as they all have slightly different offers and will have questions that only you can answer. Unfortunately we cannot apply for hardship provisions on your behalf. Once again, contact us if you have any questions or concerns, need to know who to get in contact with or need any help.
Business assistance
This area has created a lot of confusion with our customers purely because it seems to keep changing rapidly and it’s hard to keep track off.
The below is some assistance for Business and not for profits
Instant asset write off enhancements
The depreciating asset instant asset write-off threshold has been increased from $30,000 to $150,000* (for businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $500 million) until 30 June 2020. This increased threshold also continues to operate on a ‘per asset’ basis, which means that eligible businesses can immediately write-off multiple assets
*for businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $50 million, but please check with your accountant that the asset satisfies all eligibility criteria before purchase
The measure applies to new and second-hand assets even if they are financed, and first used or installed ready for use in the period beginning on 12 March 2020 (i.e., the date on which this measure was announced) and ending on 30 June 2020.
Mortgage assistance hardship lines and online information (some include forms to apply)
Adelaide Bank 1300 650 259 https://www.adelaidebank.com.au/support/financial-difficulty-assistance/
AMP 13 30 30 https://www.amp.com.au/home-loans/financial-hardship
ANZ 1800 252 842 https://www.anz.com.au/about-us/sustainability/financial-hardship/
Bankwest 1300 769 173 https://www.bankwest.com.au/personal/guides/financial-hardship-assistance
CBA 13 3095 https://www.commbank.com.au/support/financial-difficulty.html (applications via net-banking https://www.commbank.com.au/digital/HardshipRequest/)
Homeloans - Resimac 1300 793 741 https://www.resimac.com.au/hardship-resimac-funded-loans
Homloans – Pepper https://www.resimac.com.au/hardship-wholesale-partner-funded-loans
ING Direct 1300 349 166 https://www.ing.com.au/help-and-support/tips-hints-guides/financial-hardship.html
Liberty 13 11 33 https://www.liberty.com.au/about-us/covid-19-update
Macquarie 1300 363 330 https://www.macquarie.com/au/en/disclosures/financial-hardship.html
ME Bank 13 15 63 https://www.mebank.com.au/support/financial-hardship/
NAB 1800 701 599 https://www.nab.com.au/personal/help-and-guidance/financial-hardship
Pepper Money 1800 356 383 https://www.pepper.com.au/lending/help-centre/customer-service/financial-hardship-assistance
Resimac 1300 793 741 https://www.resimac.com.au/financial-hardship-assistance
Suncorp 1800 225 223 https://www.suncorp.com.au/banking/help-support/financial-difficulty.html
Westpac 1800 067 497 https://www.westpac.com.au/help/disaster-relief/coronavirus.html/
As always, your team at Wilson Financial are here for you. Whilst we cannot make the hardship applications for you we are available to assist you with questions surrounding it, ideas for restructuring debt, or simply just to work out the game plan with you. It is important that you know you’re not alone during this time, so please reach out.
The team at Wilson Financial
(02) 4860 3399
We ask that you to share this page with those that are impacted or about to feel the impacts of Covid-19 on their business to assist them with resources and understanding. Further, Wilson Financial is trading as normal, though 90% of our team is now offsite we are able to assist easily via phone, email and video as required to navigate through these troubled waters together.
Information below is collated based on the services we offer for ease of reference…
Home Loans
Banks are offering relief for their home loan customers. In my opinion this is vital to ensure people can continue to care for themselves and their families.
- APRA has ruled that if you do receive hardship from the banks, this will not be a credit arrears on credit report. This is the bank regulating body in Australia, so this is firm.
- Lenders prefer that clients contact the financial hardship lines directly, not the normal call centres so I have listed these at the base of this announcement
- Lenders may be moving towards automated process of lodging repayment suspension requests as call centres are buckling under the calls coming in.
- The important thing to remember is that it is not free money they are giving away it is merely a pause in payments of up to 6 months.
- Interest will still be calculated and in most cases added to the loan at the end, terms may be extended, so ultimately you will simply 'pay later'.
If you cannot afford to make your mortgage payments then jump on the front foot and contact your bank preferably via their websites forms and make arrangements. At all times please understand if you are not sure what to do, contact us and we will be happy to help. We cannot make the hardship claims for you unfortunately, but we can discuss anything credit related to help you make decisions.
With call centres buckling under pressure, we would suggest you use the lenders online forms when available to apply for home loan deferment we have listed the main lenders at the base of this email for you.
Equipment Finance
Car Loans, Car Leases, Chattel Mortgages
The process is really no different to the above for home loans but generally there is a different department or contact line to reach out to. If you are unsure, please contact myself or Geoff about the contact points for putting your equipment finance facilities on hold. As these are often large payments, this could really assist you moving forwards.
Methods for access:
ANZ request a call back https://www.anz.com.au/business/enquiry/
Capital/Westpac defer payments form https://www.westpac.com.au/cfal-defer-business-loan-payments-form/
Commonwealth Bank / CBFC – auto deferrals – read this https://www.commbank.com.au/latest/coronavirus/business-support.html?ei=cor_deferbusloan#defer
Macquarie Finance Leases 1300 368 908
https://www.macquarie.com/au/personal/forms/financial-hardship
Pepper hardship line Australia: 1800 356 383
For those not listed as yet, please contact liz@wilsonfinancial.com.au or geoff@wilsonfinancial.com.au
Superannuation
Are you eligible to access $10,000 of your super? Click on this link to find out:
https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/Fact_sheet-Early_Access_to_Super_1.pdf
If you are eligible, you can contact your super fund directly to ask any questions. Withdrawing superannuation should always be a last resort, but in a situation like this where people are going to go through serious financial hardship, this could be essential.
Insurance
Life, TPD, Trauma and Income Protection
One of the main questions here is, are we covered by our policies if someone dies from Covid-19 who holds life insurance setup through Wilson Financial. The answer is yes, you are.
For income protection claims, this is a case by case basis. This is because Income Protection generally has a 14, 30, 60, or 90 day waiting period. If you recover within the period of your waiting days, you will not be able to claim. As many cases of Covid-19 are mild, you may not need to claim. If you are sick for a long time, and unable to work, you should contact George to make a claim.
Income Protection insurance covers you for sickness or injury, not redundancy. It covers your ability to work and replaces your income if you are sick or injured, but in most cases won't cover you for being unable to work due to the closing of a business. Like mortgages, you may be able to get a premium holiday while involuntarily unemployed. This may also be relevant where your spouse has been made to be involuntarily unemployed. A premium waiver will not mean a suspension of your insurance cover. To arrange this, please contact your insurer direct as they all have slightly different offers and will have questions that only you can answer. Unfortunately we cannot apply for hardship provisions on your behalf. Once again, contact us if you have any questions or concerns, need to know who to get in contact with or need any help.
Business assistance
This area has created a lot of confusion with our customers purely because it seems to keep changing rapidly and it’s hard to keep track off.
The below is some assistance for Business and not for profits
- Sole traders now eligible for Jobseeker Allowance and Coronavirus Supplement
- Sole traders may be eligible to access money tax free from superannuation
- Up to $100 000 to eligible businesses with a minimum payment of $20 000. There are 2 separate payments:
- Boosting cash flow for employers – which is delivered as a 100% credit for PAYG, with a minimum $10,000 and up to a maximum of $50 000
- Additional payment – which is delivered as an automatic credit in the activity statement, equal to the aforementioned Boosting Cash flow for Employers payment
- Financial support for apprentices and trainees
- Increases to the instant asset write off now up to $150,000 for equipment purchases which CAN be financed as well see below
- Centrelink / Services Australia https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/contact-us/phone-us
- Accelerated depreciation deductions
- Temporary relief for businesses that find themselves in financial distress
- The following website of Treasury is a very good reference point https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus
Instant asset write off enhancements
The depreciating asset instant asset write-off threshold has been increased from $30,000 to $150,000* (for businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $500 million) until 30 June 2020. This increased threshold also continues to operate on a ‘per asset’ basis, which means that eligible businesses can immediately write-off multiple assets
*for businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $50 million, but please check with your accountant that the asset satisfies all eligibility criteria before purchase
The measure applies to new and second-hand assets even if they are financed, and first used or installed ready for use in the period beginning on 12 March 2020 (i.e., the date on which this measure was announced) and ending on 30 June 2020.
Mortgage assistance hardship lines and online information (some include forms to apply)
Adelaide Bank 1300 650 259 https://www.adelaidebank.com.au/support/financial-difficulty-assistance/
AMP 13 30 30 https://www.amp.com.au/home-loans/financial-hardship
ANZ 1800 252 842 https://www.anz.com.au/about-us/sustainability/financial-hardship/
Bankwest 1300 769 173 https://www.bankwest.com.au/personal/guides/financial-hardship-assistance
CBA 13 3095 https://www.commbank.com.au/support/financial-difficulty.html (applications via net-banking https://www.commbank.com.au/digital/HardshipRequest/)
Homeloans - Resimac 1300 793 741 https://www.resimac.com.au/hardship-resimac-funded-loans
Homloans – Pepper https://www.resimac.com.au/hardship-wholesale-partner-funded-loans
ING Direct 1300 349 166 https://www.ing.com.au/help-and-support/tips-hints-guides/financial-hardship.html
Liberty 13 11 33 https://www.liberty.com.au/about-us/covid-19-update
Macquarie 1300 363 330 https://www.macquarie.com/au/en/disclosures/financial-hardship.html
ME Bank 13 15 63 https://www.mebank.com.au/support/financial-hardship/
NAB 1800 701 599 https://www.nab.com.au/personal/help-and-guidance/financial-hardship
Pepper Money 1800 356 383 https://www.pepper.com.au/lending/help-centre/customer-service/financial-hardship-assistance
Resimac 1300 793 741 https://www.resimac.com.au/financial-hardship-assistance
Suncorp 1800 225 223 https://www.suncorp.com.au/banking/help-support/financial-difficulty.html
Westpac 1800 067 497 https://www.westpac.com.au/help/disaster-relief/coronavirus.html/
As always, your team at Wilson Financial are here for you. Whilst we cannot make the hardship applications for you we are available to assist you with questions surrounding it, ideas for restructuring debt, or simply just to work out the game plan with you. It is important that you know you’re not alone during this time, so please reach out.
The team at Wilson Financial
(02) 4860 3399
