Q. I'm experiencing financial difficulty with my ING Home Loan, what can I do?
A. Before applying for financial support and depending on which type of loan you currently hold, there are a few options which may be available to you, like:
You may be able to access money in your Orange Everyday offset account.
You may be able to access money available to you in redraw on your home loan.
You can reduce your repayments to the minimum fortnightly or monthly repayment amount.
You may be able to switch to a Fixed Rate Loan to give you certainty over your repayment amount.
If you'd like to discuss your options we’re here to support you and our Lending Specialists are available to chat on 133 464 available 8am - 8pm, 7 days a week.
Alternatively, you can message us via logging into online banking or the ING app.
We understand that the impact of the pandemic has been something none of us expected, so if the above options don't suit your needs we may have some other options.
In order to assess what other options may be available we’re going to need a little more information from you, so we’ll need you to complete our online Financial Support form.
You can apply for financial support here. Once we've received your application we will review your situation and complete an assessment before calling to discuss the options that may best suit your needs.
It should take approximately 15mins to complete. Please note, we will need details of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities along with those of your joint account holders, so please have them handy before starting the form.
Q. What is a payment pause?
A. A payment pause means you will not be required to make any repayments during the payment pause period, however interest and fees will continue to accrue on your loan. This means at the end of the payment pause period, your loan balance will be higher, and your minimum repayments will increase so that your loan can still be paid within your loan term. If you have funds available in redraw, we will hold an amount equal to your total minimum repayments from the date we activate or extend the payment pause to the end of the requested period and you cannot access these “held” funds until after the payment pause period.
For variable home loans, if you feel you may need some or all of the funds in your redraw during your payment pause period you may want to withdraw funds before making a payment pause request. You can withdraw funds from your redraw using the ING app or internet banking.
For fixed rate home loans, as per usual, any redraw balance or advanced funds cannot be accessed during the payment pause period or at any time during the fixed rate period. Redrawing additional payments or advanced funds are not features of our fixed rate home loans. Please note, that break costs may be payable if at any time before the fixed term expires, you pay out your home loan or you make additional payments of $10,000 or more in an anniversary year.
If this is an option you'd like to explore click here to complete this form, and after completing an assessment our team will be in touch to discuss the options available to you.
It should take approximately 15 mins to complete. Please note, we will need details of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities along with those of your joint account holders, so please have them handy before starting the form.
Q. What is a repayment reduction?
A. If this is an option you are considering, it means you are paying less than your minimum repayment; your loan will operate as normal with access to any redraw you may have available, subject to the terms and conditions of your loan (not available to Fixed Rate Loans) interest and fees will continue to accrue on your loan.
At the end of the payment reduction period your loan balance will be higher, and your minimum repayments will increase so that your loan can still be paid within your loan term.
If this is an option you'd like to explore click here to complete this form, and after completing an assessment our team will be in touch to discuss the options available to you.
It should take approximately 15 mins to complete. Please note, we will need details of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities along with those of your joint account holders, so please have them handy before starting the form.
Q. If I apply for Financial Support when will my repayments stop?
If you are seeking support for an ING home loan, and make repayments on that loan by direct debit, we will suspend your direct debit payments from the time your financial support request is lodged, until we are able to get in touch with you to discuss.
If you are charged direct debit fees or late payment fees during this time we will refund you these fees. These fees will be refunded prior to any changes being made to your account.
Please note, ING requires 5 business days' notice to cancel or amend your direct debit, so if your direct debit is due in the 5 business days please call us to cancel the direct debit, and then complete the financial support online form.
Q. My payment is due today/tomorrow, can I still apply for financial support?
A. If your repayment is due soon then please call us on 133 464, we require 5 business days' notice to cancel or amend your direct debit.
Q. I have a joint loan; can I still apply for financial support if only one of us is experiencing financial difficulty?
A. Yes, if you have a joint loan and one of you is experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 virus you can apply for financial support here. When you complete the online form it will ask for your details, along with those of the Joint Account holder.
If you are applying for support on a Joint account please complete details for second applicant where applicable. If you do not have the information available please leave fields blank, but understand that we may request this information at a later date.
If you are giving any information about another person please tell them that you have provided their details to ING. For joint account holders, ING assumes that all financial support request are made jointly, and that all account holders are aware of the request being made.
Q. If I request financial support will my loan term be extended?
A. Each financial support application will be assessed on an individual basis, and depending on the outcome of the credit assessment you may or may not be offered a loan term extension.
However, if you do not require financial support and would like to discuss the possibility of extending your loan term in general, please call one of our Lending Specialists on 133 464 available 8am – 8pm, 7 days a week. Alternatively, you can message us via logging into online banking or the ING app.
Q. If I request financial support will I be charged fees?
A. There is no fee charged for requesting financial support. Fees associated with your ING Home Loan will be charged as usual in accordance with the terms and conditions of your loan. If you are charged Direct Debit fees or Late Payment Fees during the time you’ve requested financial support, once it is processed we will refund you these fees. These fees will be refunded prior to any changes being made to your account.
Q. If I request financial support, what happens if interest rates change?
A. For Variable Rate Home Loans - during this period your interest rate may change.
For Fixed Rate Home Loans – your interest rate is fixed for the fixed interest rate period.
Q. If I request financial support, will this impact my future lending with ING?
A. We may take this into consideration if you choose to take up further lending with ING in the future.
Q. After I've requested financial support, will I still receive letters & calls etc. about my home loan?
A. You will continue to receive letters and communications about your ING accounts as per normal.
If you are on a payment pause; as your payments will stop for a period you will not receive any communications about missed repayments while you are on the payment pause.
If you are on a repayment reduction arrangement; we will only communicate with you about missed payments.
Q. If I have requested financial support, can I make additional repayments?
A.
For variable home loans, you can make additional payments. However, if you are on a payment pause you may not be able to access some or all of these funds from your redraw during the payment pause period, please consider this before making any additional payments into your loan at this time.
For fixed rate home loans, you can make additional payments up to $10,000 in an anniversary year. Break costs may be payable if at any time before the fixed term expires, you pay out your home loan or you make additional payments of $10,000 or more in an anniversary year. As per usual, any redraw balance or advanced funds cannot be accessed during the payment pause period or at any time during the fixed rate period. Redrawing additional payments or advanced funds are not features of our fixed rate home loans.
Q. If I request financial support, will it affect my credit rating?
A. No, as long as you call us before you miss a payment. The financial support options are designed to help our customers through the uncertainty brought about by COVID-19 and will not impact your credit record. So if you are concerned that you may miss a payment due to COVID-19, please speak to us to initiate support early.
Missed payments before requesting financial support are reported to the Credit Bureau as usual and may impact your credit record.
If you miss a payment between the time you request financial support and when your request is actioned we will not report this to the Credit Bureau.
Q. Can someone else request assistance on my behalf?
A. If you're not comfortable speaking to us about this, we can speak to your financial counsellor or authorised representative instead. You'll need to complete the Appointment of Representative form. This gives us their contact details and your authority that they can speak with us on your behalf.
You can find the relevant form to be completed by logging into Online Banking and:
1) Selecting 'My profile'
2) Selecting 'Forms'
Q. If I request financial support, can I make a product switch request or loan variation during the period?
A. No, once your financial support arrangement is in place we will not consider any requests for changes or variations to your loan.
Once we reach the end of the financial support phase with you, normal processes will resume.
Q. Can I cancel my financial support request and revert to repaying my loan as normal?
A. Yes. Please call one of our Lending Specialists on 133 464 available 8am – 8pm, 7 days a week, as soon as possible and we can help out.
Q. If I request financial support, will you communicate with me when it’s coming to an end?
A. The details of your arrangement will be outlined in the confirmation letter we send to you.
Q. What are my options when my request for financial support ends?
A. If you still require financial support we will work with you to find an option that suits your situation. Apply here and fill out our financial support form. After completing an assessment our team will be in touch to discuss the options available to you.
It should take approximately 15 mins to complete. Please note, we will need details of your income, expenses, assets and liabilities along with those of your joint account holders, so please have them handy before starting the form.
If you no longer require financial support;
- Your repayments will resume as outlined in your confirmation letter.
Did you know you can also manage other options yourself, these include;
Via online banking
- reducing your repayment to the minimum amount;
- accessing funds from your offset account;
- accessing your redraw (where available).
Via our Contact Centre
- apply to switch to a Fixed Rate Loan to give you certainty over your repayment amount;
- accessing redraw for repayments.