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Legal Centre  >

Financial Hardship Information

Financial Hardship Information

We are committed to supporting you if you are struggling to make your repayments, whether this is due to unexpected expenses or a change in circumstances.    

1. What is Financial Hardship?

Financial hardship is when you are unable to meet your financial commitments and may arise due to circumstances relating to: 

  • unemployment or change in employment status; 

  • cost of living pressures;

  • medical illness, injury or loss of a loved one;  

  • natural disasters (eg flood, bushfires);

  • unexpected expenses or business downturns; 

  • domestic and family violence. 

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Whether you are expecting to miss a payment or if you are already in default, please contact us. It’s important to talk to us if you think you will not be able to meet your payments, even if it’s only short term. 

How to Contact Us

If you require support or advice, please notify us of your individual circumstances by contacting us via the following: 

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You may nominate a third party to represent you in your discussions with Elepay (including your financial counsellor, appointed attorney, friend or family member). Please provide this nomination in writing.  


If you need independent assistance, the following free services are available:

3. The Process

Once we receive your request for financial hardship assistance, we will respond to you as soon as possible and no later than 21 days by either: 

  • agreeing to vary your contract; or

  • requesting further information to assist us in assessing your situation;

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If we request additional information, we may ask: 

  • the reason for your inability to make the required repayments;

  • your current income, expenses and employment status; and

  • supporting documentation to substantiate your current circumstances (such as bank statements, medical certificates, pay slips).

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If we request further information from you, we will allow you a reasonable period to provide it. If you do not provide the requested information, we will assess your request based on the information available to us.

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If we have requested further information, we will respond within 28 days of receiving your original request.


We will only request information that is reasonably necessary to assess your hardship request. We recognise that in some situations (for example, domestic and family violence), gathering documentation may be difficult, and we will exercise sensitivity and flexibility in such cases.


All information provided will be kept confidential and assessed on a case-by-case basis in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable privacy legislation.

4. What are your options?  

If we assess that you are experiencing financial hardship, we will work with you to agree on a suitable arrangement. Depending on your individual circumstances, options may include:

  • a variation or an extension of time to repay the debt; 

  • suspension or reduced payments for a period of time; 

  • concessions or waivers of certain fees or charges; and 

  • the option to make small instalment payments to your existing contract (or a payment plan); 

5. When Elepay may decline a hardship request? 

Elepay will not refuse a request for hardship assistance without genuine consideration of your individual circumstances.


However, there may be limited circumstances in which Elepay is unable to agree to a hardship variation, including where:

  • you have not provided us with sufficient information to assess your request, despite our reasonable efforts to obtain it;

  • a reasonable variation to the contract would place you in additional hardship;

  • you are subject to formal insolvency proceedings (e.g. bankruptcy) which may require the matter to be dealt with through a different legal process.


If we decline your request, we will:

  • notify you in writing of the decision and the reasons for it;

  • explain your options, including your right to apply to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) for an independent review; and

  • provide you with AFCA’s contact details, (phone number 1800 931 678) with further details available on our External Support Services page. 

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