Request a compassionate waiver
What is a compassionate waiver?
This is where a company agrees that you don’t have to pay them back, because they understand that you have experienced difficult circumstances.
Why might a credit card company offer you a compassionate waiver?
A credit card company might agree to a compassionate waiver for a number of different reasons.
For example:
- because you have experienced family violence
- because you are in financial hardship and are caring for children or other family members
- because you have experienced serious health issues or have a disability and this has impacted your ability to repay the debt
- because you have paid a lot of money back to the credit card company over the years and are currently experiencing financial hardship
The Credit Card Debt Assistance Tool will help you request a compassionate waiver
This tool will:
- Ask you some questions about your credit card debt and your general situation
- Ask you if you have experienced any particular circumstances that are commonly used as grounds to request a compassionate waiver
- Generate a letter that you can send to your credit card company / debt collector, asking them to waive your credit card debt on compassionate grounds
- Send you an email with a link to the letter and some other information to help you send the letter
If you would like to speak to an financial counsellor about requesting a compassionate waiver, you can call 1800 007 007.
