Financial Hardship Policy

We understand that at certain times life presents circumstances that may affect your ability to meet your financial obligations.

If you are having difficulty paying your Pivit bill, we may be able to assist you through our Financial Hardship Policy. 

REASONABLE AND COMMON CAUSES OF FINANCIAL HARDSHIP MAY INCLUDE:

• Loss of employment
• Family breakdown or death in the family
• Illness, or injury including physical incapacity, hospitalisation, or mental illness of the customer
• Unusual family circumstances (e.g. death family member)
• Natural disasters

If you would like to chat to our customer support about this assistance, please contact us by calling our team on 1300 66 33 20 within business hours, Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, or e-mail billing@pivit.com.au

HOW WE CAN ASSIST YOU

We will assess your claim, discuss your payment and service options with you and aim to reach a reasonable outcome. Possible solutions may be to apply credit limits, service restrictions or payment plans to assist you in looking after your related charges.

For more information please see our financial hardship policy located below.

CUSTOMER ELIGIBILITY

If you are a Pivit residential customer or a small business customer and are experiencing financial hardship, you are eligible to lodge a claim. We will assess your claim for eligibility and will consider your circumstances as part of the assessment.

If you are simply experiencing temporary payment difficulty, our Financial Hardship Policy will not apply to you. Please call us on 1300 66 33 20 to discuss your situation.

LODGING YOUR CLAIM

If you would like to lodge a financial hardship claim, please contact us by calling our team on 1300 66 33 20 within business hours, Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm. You can also email  billing@pivit.com.au or via our ‘Contact Us’ page on our website.

Please be advised with we may ask you to submit evidence to us to support your claim.

1. ABOUT THE POLICY

1.1. You may be experiencing Financial Hardship when you are unable to meet the financial obligations of your agreement with Pivit for reasonable causes over a limited or long period of time.
1.2. the objective of the financial hardship policy is to give you assistance and to change your payment and/or service arrangements so that your payment obligations to us can be met.
1.3. Reasonable causes of financial hardship may include:

1. Loss of employment
2. Family breakdown or death in the family
3. Illness, including physical incapacity, hospitalisation, or mental illness of the customer
4. family member
5. Natural disasters

2. CUSTOMER ELIGIBILITY
2.1. If you are a residential customer or a small business customer and are experiencing financial hardship, this policy may apply to you.
2.2. We will assess your claim for eligibility and will consider your individual circumstances as part of the assessment.
2.3. If you are simply experiencing temporary payment difficulty, this policy would not apply to you. Please call us on 1300 66 33 20 to discuss your situation.

3. HOW WE CAN ASSIST YOU
3.2. We will assess your claim, discuss your payment and service options with you and aim to reach a reasonable outcome. Possible solutions may be to apply credit limits, service restrictions or payment plans to assist you in looking after your related charges.
3.3. In addition to contacting us, we urge you to engage the assistance of a financial counsellor. We are aware that there are sometimes waiting lists to see financial counsellors so in the interim you may be asked for documents to substantiate your claim.

4. MANAGING YOUR CLAIM
4.1. We may ask you to submit evidence to us to support your claim.
4.2. We will take into account your circumstance and financial position to reach a financial arrangement that is suitable to both you and us.
4.3. Payment arrangements will be made with the view to cover any future use and reduce your debt.
4.4. We may suggest that some or all of your services be restricted to prevent you falling further in debt whilst the arrangement is in place. We will attempt to contact you if this action becomes necessary and has not been discussed with you. Pivit reserves the right to change this Financial Hardship Policy at any time and notify you by posting an updated version of the Policy on our website. The amended Policy will apply between us whether or not we have given you specific notice of any change. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically because it may change from time to time.
4.5. We will send you written confirmation of the agreed arrangement only if you request us to do so.
4.6. We will attempt to contact you both by telephone and letter should the arrangement not be kept by you; prior to us taking further credit management action.
4.7. If you require us to review your arrangement due to a change in your circumstance we will do so.
4.8. Whilst your payment arrangement remains in place we will not report your debt to a Credit Reporting Agency.

5. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
5.1. You must:
1. make the agreed payments on the agreed dates.
2. show a willingness to reduce usage to a minimum during the term of the financial arrangement
3. contact us within 48 hours of an agreed payment date if you are unable to keep your commitment.
4. contact us to advise us if your circumstance has changed favourably or unfavourably during the term of the arrangement.
5. act promptly and honestly at all times throughout the course of this arrangement.

6. TERMINATION OF THE ARRANGEMENT
6.1. In the event the arrangement is not adhered to and we have not been contacted by you, we will take reasonable steps to contact you or your authorised representative before taking further action.
6.2. The arrangement will be considered terminated after this time and full credit management action will resume.
6.3. In the event that you choose to cancel your account with us, the arrangement will no longer be valid and normal credit management action will apply.
6.4. Failure to make the agreed payments on a regular basis may result in termination of the arrangement.

7. REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION
7.1. We may ask for any of the below types of evidence to support your claim of financial hardship:
1. Statement of financial position
2. Evidence that you have engaged a financial counsellor or evidence of a pending appointment to see a financial counsellor.
3. Statutory Declaration from a person that is familiar with your situation. (Family Doctor, Clergy, Bank Officer, etc.)
4. Medical certificates from treating specialist or other medical professionals.

OUTCOME OF YOUR CLAIM


If you are unhappy with our review process and the result of your claim we encourage you to follow the Complaints process as outlined below.

Complaints Process
Pivit has a complaints process to help ensure that we can resolve your complaint quickly, fairly, efficiently and courteously.

During the process of your complaint, we will aim to provide a fair and reasonable outcome for all parties involved. Once accepted, we aim to resolve your complaint within ten (10)  business days or less. Please click here to see our complaints process and follow the steps to escalate and raise your complaint.Authorised Advocate or Representative

Please Note: If you would like to add an authorised party to act on your behalf please contact a Customer Service Representative (CSR) on 1300 663 320 or download the Appointment of Advocate or Authorised Representative document here.

Additional Information in regards to the Financial Hardship Policy

Financial Counsellors

The contacts below may be of assistance to you for your state:
• New South Wales – Credit and debt Hotline – 1800 808 488
• Queensland – Financial counsellors Association of Queensland – 07 3321 3192

Contact
If you wish to speak to someone from Pivit about this policy please contact us by calling our team on 1300 66 33 20 within business hours, Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm. You can also email  billing@pivit.com.au or via our ‘Contact Us’ page on our website.