Financial Hardship Policy
What is financial hardship?
The Financial Hardship process is designed to help you come to an arrangement with us to help you catch up on your financial and contractual obligations with Amnet.
Financial Hardship assistance is made available for customers who are experiencing temporary or long-term financial stress.
Common events leading to Financial Hardship include:
- Declining business or sales revenue
- Injury or illness
- Unemployment or reduction of income
- Family breakdown
- Domestic or Family violence
- Natural disasters
- Death in the Family
- Incarceration or other legal issues
How can we help?
Our aim is to get you back on track and in control of your monthly Amnet bill.
If you are experiencing Financial Hardship, we have a variety of options to help you get back in control. Any help we can give will depend on your individual circumstances and will be on a case by case basis. Some of these options include, but are not limited to:
- Spend controls
- Restriction of services to reduce financial overcommitment
- Transferring the Customer to a contract which includes hard caps or shaping
- Long-term payment arrangements
- Waiver of late payment fees
- Waiving cancellation fees
You can also take control of your monthly bill using our online portal: https://myaccount.amnet.com.au/
Starting the process
We’ll always try to find a solution that helps you to discharge your financial obligations to us and meets your needs. To fully understand your situation, we will ask questions about your circumstances and might request supporting documentation. We might as for details of your income, and your current contact details, for example, but we’ll keep this information strictly confidential and in accordance with our privacy policy. You can find a copy of that policy here https://www.vocus.com.au/legal/privacy-policy.
If you believe you are suffering from financial hardship and would like to discuss options that may be available to you, please contact Amnet or get your financial counsellor to contact Amnet.
By Webform:
Hardship Enquiries: Click here
Hours of Operation: weekdays between 10am and 6pm (WST).
Outcome
If we request information about your circumstances and it’s not provided to us, we may not be able to make an assessment about your eligibility under our Financial Hardship policy. Once all requested information (if applicable) has been provided, we will make an assessment within 5 business days and advise you of the outcome. We will not charge you for this assessment.
Your financial hardship assessment will be subject to a review every three months, to make sure this arrangement is still suitable to your financial position. If your financial position changes, for better or worse, please contact us at your earliest convenience to discuss your situation.
Registered Financial Counsellors
If you are facing financial difficulty, you may wish to obtain advice from a community financial counsellor.
You can talk to a financial counsellor from anywhere in Australia by calling 1800 007 007 (Monday to Friday, 9.30 am – 4.30 pm). This number will automatically switch through to the service in the State or Territory closest to you, or you can visit the National Debt Helpline www.ndh.org.au.
If you would like a Financial Counsellor to work with us on your behalf, you’ll need to contact us to provide authority for this.
Need more help?
Sometimes the cause of financial difficulties or even the problem itself can have a knock-on effect on people and their business. There are many helpful organisations offering support and resources for people experiencing Financial Hardship and the effect this can have on their lives.
| ORGANISATION | DESCRIPTION |
| Department of Human Services | Information about contacting Centrelink, Medicare or Child Support, and the Department of Human Services. |
| MoneySmart | MoneySmart offer free, independent guidance so you can make most of your money. |
| National Debt Helpline | Get free and independent assistance by speaking to one of National Debt Helpline's Financial Counsellors. |
If you would like to speak to someone about a complaint or dispute, our complaints policy can be viewed on the Amnet website under our Legal section. A direct link can be found below:
http://www.amnet.com.au/legal/complaint-handling-policy
If you are unhappy with the assessment of your Financial Hardship application or wish to seek a review, please contact us using the financial hardship contact details above and advise our team that you have a concern. We will endeavour to resolve any issues or concerns you have in accordance with our complaints policy.