We’re here to help our personal customers financially
affected by COVID-19.
Find out more about the options available to you.
Repayment assistance
Deferred mortgage repayments are available for six months, as agreed by the Government and banks. This deferral includes principal and interest repayments. Any interest accrued during the deferral period will be added to your loan
Mortgage repayment reductions (similar to interest-only repayments) are available for six months.
Deferred personal loan payments are available for six months. This deferral includes principal and interest repayments. Any interest accrued during the deferral period will be added to your loan.
For a list of Frequently Asked Questions about mortgage and personal loan payment deferrals, please see here.
Six month mortgage and personal loan repayment assistance.
You have several options:
- To fill out a simple online application form, click here.
- If you have a mortgage advisor (broker) please contact them directly and they will be able to assist you.
- Alternatively, please call 0800 606 606 (+64 9 375 9907 for overseas) to speak to our contact centre. We are experiencing high call volumes - thank you for your patience.
Other options
- Temporary Overdrafts are available for up to 45 days. Up to $5,000 (for home loan customers) or $500 (for other customers).
- Personal customers who need to break their Term Investment for hardship reasons under our early withdrawal policy can do so without a reduced rate of return. This applies to break applications made to Westpac NZ on or before 26 September 2020.
- If you need help with your credit card payments, please contact us on 0800 606 606 (+64 9 375 9907 for overseas).
Other help
- On Monday 16 March, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand decreased the Official Cash Rate by 75 bps to 0.25%. We passed the cut on in full to our floating rate customers, bringing our Choices Floating rate down to 4.59%.
- On Thursday 28 May, we cut our 2-year special fixed housing rate to 2.69%.
- On Monday 29 June, we cut our 1-year special fixed housing rate to 2.65%.
- We are temporarily increasing the PIN limit for contactless payments at retailers from $80 to $200. For more information, click here.
- We’re offering free Managing Your Money webinars to help people improve their financial literacy from the comfort of their own home. For more information or to register, click here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Any Westpac home loan or personal loan customer who has been impacted financially by COVID-19 can apply for a payment deferral or reduction. Eligibility may vary for customers who are already under specialist debt management. Westpac Choices Everyday customers are not eligible.
Having your payments deferred or reduced will mean that you will pay more interest over the term of your loan. For that reason, we do not recommend a deferral if you are able to continue making payments.
We will contact you before your current arrangement expires and if a further extension is required, we will make an arrangement at that time.
Whilst you are receiving a repayment deferral or reduction we will take steps to ensure that your credit score is not negatively impacted as a result of this financial assistance, provided your account was not in arrears before the pandemic. Your balance and any overdue amounts will also not be disclosed.
It begins when your next payment is due.
You may be able to reduce your repayments if you’re currently paying an amount above the minimum repayment amount. We also have a range of other financial support options available, including temporary overdrafts.
Please call us on 0800 606 606 to talk to us about your options.
Unless you request otherwise, the loan term would remain the same but your regular repayments would increase at the end of the deferral/reduction period. Alternatively, we could structure the loan so your payments remain the same as they did before the deferral/reduction period, but this would extend the loan term.
We suggest the decision about changes to the loan repayments at the end of the deferral period is best left until you have certainty about your position at that time – there’s no need to decide that now.
If during the assistance period you find you can increase your repayments, please let us know and we can make those arrangements.
You can call 0800 606 606 to talk to us about your individual loan and the effect of deferring or reducing repayments. We will also send a letter or email to every customer who applies for a repayment deferral or reduction confirming the changes to their loan.
Westpac Life home loan and personal loan repayment insurance is an optional insurance that may provide cover for your loan repayments in the event of death, inability to work due to illness or injury, or redundancy. It is different to house insurance, which may cover repairs or a rebuild if your house is accidentally damaged, and which is generally required when you have a mortgage.
If you have home loan and/or personal loan repayment insurance you may have access to benefits which could assist you at this time - please refer to your policy document for the terms, conditions, exclusions and limits that apply to your policy, and consider contacting your insurance provider to lodge an insurance claim. If your policy is underwritten by Westpac Life-NZ-Limited you can call us on 0800 738 641 to lodge a claim (if overseas call +64 3 372 4855). Any claim payment is subject to your claim being accepted.
If you have Westpac Life home loan repayment insurance attached to your home loan (e.g. Flexicover), any insurance premiums will continue to be deducted and (if paid from your loan account) interest will continue to be charged on the premium amount.
After you have been approved for a repayment deferral or reduction, your account/s may show as being overdue or over limit during this period in your statements and in Westpac One. However, your agreed repayments during this period will be set out in your acceptance letter.