Making a request for financial hardship
What rights do I have against the credit card company, if I find myself in financial hardship?
The law states (Section 72 of the National Credit Code) that a credit card company / debt collection company must respond to your request to change your repayments, if you send them a “hardship notice”.
What is a hardship notice?
A hardship notice is any type of communication (could be email, text, or a conversation over the phone) that identifies that you are having difficulty meeting your credit card repayments.
How can I send a hardship notice to my credit card provider / debt collector?
You can use the Credit Card Debt Assistance Tool to generate a hardship notice and instructions to help you send it.
The Credit Card Debt Assistance Tool will help you
make a hardship request
This tool will:
- Ask you how you what kind of hardship assistance you want;
- Generate a hardship request letter that you can send to your credit card company / debt collector.
- Ask you some questions about your credit card account and your current financial situation;
- Send you an email with a link to the letter and some other information to help you take the next step in dealing with your credit card debt.
