Businesses experiencing financial difficulty
Due to COVID-19, small businesses may find themselves unable to make payments on loans and credit cards, this is called financial difficulty.
If you are in need of assistance, you should contact you bank or financial firm for help as soon as possible.
What help is available
The type of assistance offered will depend on business' circumstances, but can include:
- Delaying scheduled loan repayments
- Waiving fees and charges
- Interest free periods or no interest rate increases
- Debt consolidation to help make repayments more manageable
- Deferring loan repayments or other assistance
Applying for help with financial difficulty
- Contact your bank or credit card company. Many have a dedicated team which specialises in helping people experiencing financial difficulty. Use our financial firm look up to find the correct contact details.
- Explain your situation and the assistance you’re asking for. Be sure to give them enough time to respond to your application.
- If they don't respond or you are unhappy with their response, you can contact AFCA for help.
Important - if your financial firm is taking legal action against you, contact AFCA immediately.
Insurance
AFCA is able to consider complaints about insurance cover that is designed to cover a business should something happen that causes the company to be unable to operate.
The first step is to contact your insurance provider to discuss the details of your policy and how to make a claim. If you are unhappy with their response, or you feel your claim has been unfairly denied, contact AFCA.
More information for small businesses about insurance complaints
Establishing Business Interruption loss due to COVID-19
How to submit a complaint to AFCA
If you have contacted your bank, insurer or financial firm, and you are not happy with the outcome, you can submit a complaint to AFCA.
The best way to submit a complaint to AFCA is through our easy to use online form. If you have any questions or can't access the form, call us on 1800 931 678.
Useful links and support
- ASIC: what you can do if your small business is struggling financially
- ASIC: closing a company and where to get help
- ASIC: Business interruption insurance claims and COVID-19: what you need to do
- Government support for small business
- ATO: support for small businesses and individuals
- Australian Banking Association support for small business
- NewAccess – free and confidential mental health support for small business owners developed by Beyond Blue
