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Carmel is a First Nations woman in her late 70s. Carmel’s funeral insurance was going to expire when she turned 80, and so she would soon be unable to claim on the policy. Further the cost of the premiums had become prohibitive.  Carmel was concerned about how her family would pay for her sorry business. Carmel had been getting assistance from another service but they had not been able to reach an outcome with the insurer.

Financial Rights raised a further complaint, and the insurer offered for Carmel to be able to continue the policy until she was 99, but premiums would continue, or they would refund her premiums paid to date of almost $70,000. Carmel opted for the refund and was very happy with the result.

Josie’s car was parked on the street overnight. The next morning she woke up to find it had been ploughed into by another car and the police were in attendance. They told her that the driver had been arrested and they did not know if he had insurance. Josie contacted her insurer and made a claim. They asked her to pay an excess. Josie said that she wasn’t at fault but her insurer says she still needs to pay. Financial Rights was able to give Josie advice about how excess works, how she can raise a dispute with her insurer if she has the other driver’s contact details.

Two years ago, Steve sold his car and cancelled the e-tag which was installed in the car. A few months ago, Steve received a letter from a debt collector stating that he owed $15,000 in unpaid tolls for a car which he sold 2 years ago. Steve ignored the letter and has now received a Statement of Claim, commencing court proceedings against him for failure to pay the debt. Financial Rights helped Steve respond to the court proceedings and complete a statutory declaration saying he sold the car two years ago and the new owner of the car is responsible for paying the tolls.

Sally is 55 years old and has $55,000 in credit card debt. Previously she was earning $70,000 per year, but has been out of work for almost 12 months now. She lives in a private rental and owns a car worth around $10,000. She had been meeting the minimum repayments on her credit cards but is struggling to reduce the balances. She wants advice about going bankrupt. Financial Rights was able to talk Sally through the pros and cons of bankruptcy and to think about all her options. A financial counsellor helped her make a money plan and to contact her credit card lenders about affordable repayment arrangements.

Christine, Frank and their young family live in regional NSW. During COVID Frank lost his job. Christine opened a BNPL account to buy essentials. Minimum payments were a struggle and enforcement fees made the situation worse. Christine stopped work due to ill health, and the family relied on food vouchers to make ends meet. Financial Rights argued that Christine was unable to pay the debt without substantial hardship. We asked for a waiver due to the family’s severe financial situation. This was agreed, Christine was barred from opening any new BNPL accounts with that provider.

Shane lives on the age pension. 20 years ago, when he was working, he took out a credit card for $30,000 and paid the monthly balances until 2015, when his mother became ill and he had to stop work. Usage of the account increased, and in 2016 the debt of $22,000 was assigned to a debt collector. Shane was in financial hardship and making payments of $50 a fortnight, but because of interest by 2018, the debt had increased to $27,000.

In 2022, Shane spoke to one of our financial counsellors who identified the persistent debt issue. Shane’s statements revealed a current balance of $18,000. Shane had paid over $17,000 since 2016 but the debt had only decreased by about $4,000. We lodged complaints with the debt collector, ASIC and the Australian Collectors and Debt Buyers Association. We also sought and obtained a waiver of the outstanding balance of $18,000. Shane was extremely relieved.