Covid-19 update.
Our contact centre is experiencing extremely high call volumes and wait times are very long.
We want to get to everyone but if your enquiry is not urgent, please call us back
in the next few days. Thank you for your understanding.
Repayment assistance
Deferred mortgage repayments are available for six months, as agreed by the Government and banks. This deferral includes principal and interest repayments and is sometimes known as a mortgage holiday. 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 and is sometimes known as a payment holiday. 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.
We are now able to process requests for 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 to speak to our contact centre. We are experiencing high call volumes, so please call us next week if your repayment is not due in the next 5 days.
Other options
- Temporary Overdrafts are available for up to 45 days. Up to $5,000 (for home loan customers) or $500 (for other customers).
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 Monday 23 March, we cut our 1-year special housing rate to 3.09% and our 2-year rate to 3.39%.
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.
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.
Customers who are not in arrears at the time they are granted this loan repayment deferral or repayment reduction will be marked with a 'Payment not Required' flag which will be reported to credit agencies, but will not impact on a customer’s ability to get new credit in the future.
If a customer is in arrears at the time their loan repayment deferral or repayment reduction application is granted, they will be marked with a Hardship flag which will be reported to credit agencies. This may impact their ability to get new credit.
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.