20 May 2024 - ASIC report: Australians need better hardship support from their lenders

The report, Hardship, hard to get help: Lenders fall short in financial hardship support (REP 783) outlines findings from ASIC’s review of 10 large home lenders. The review found they should be doing more to support Australians who were struggling to meet their repayments.

The report highlights failures of lenders to identify customers in financial stress, use of ‘cookie-cutter’ approaches to dealing with hardship requests, as well as onerous assessment and approval processes.

ASIC is also concerned lenders have inadequate arrangements for supporting vulnerable Australians including those experiencing family violence.

ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland, whose remit includes support for vulnerable consumers, said lenders were not “putting customers front and centre” in their approach to financial hardship.

“Many lenders aren’t taking their customers’ unique situations into account, instead providing a standardised ‘one-size-fits all approach’, which is not meeting customers’ needs,” Commissioner Kirkland said.