We understand that your personal circumstances may change which can make it hard for you to meet your payment obligations to us.  For example, if you have:
●recently lost your job or experienced a reduction in income; or
●suffered an injury or illness that has affected your financial situation; or
●experienced a relationship breakdown making it difficult for you to meet your financial commitments; or
●experienced an unexpected or unforeseen event that has affected your financial situation; or
●had a natural disaster that has affected your household and your finances. 

If you are experiencing hardship, let us know immediately as we may be able to change the terms of your Loan. 

The statutory hardship regime under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 provides you with a statutory right to apply to ICBC NZ for certain variations to be made to your credit contract if you meet certain criteria, namely:
√you have suffered hardship that you could not reasonably have seen coming, such as illness or injury, loss of employment, the end of a relationship, or death of a de facto partner, civil union partner or spouse.  ‘End of relationship’ includes spouses or civil union partners living apart or separating, a marriage or civil union being dissolved, de facto partners no longer being in a de facto relationship, one spouse or partner endangering the relationship property or seriously diminishing its value, or a spouse or partner being an undischarged bankrupt;
√as a result of that hardship, you cannot reasonably meet your payment obligations under the credit contract; and
√you believe that you would be able to meet your repayment obligations if the contract was changed.

To apply for a hardship variation, please write to us using our Financial Hardship Relief Application form and include all the information set out under the heading 'What to do if you suffer Unforeseen Hardship' in your Loan Agreement.  You will also need to tell us how you think the changes to your Loan will help you meet your payment obligations to us. 
We may only agree to change your Loan if we consider the changes you want to be fair and reasonable given the hardship that you are experiencing.  

When You Cannot Make a Financial Hardship Relief Application

You cannot make an application in circumstances where you are in default of your obligations to make payment under the contract, and in relation to that default:
※have been for two or more weeks after receiving a repossession warning notice or notice under section 119 of the Property Law Act 2007;
※have failed to make four or more consecutive periodic payments by the due dates; or
※have been in default for two or more months.
However, any application can be made once you have remedied the relevant default.

A hardship application also cannot be made:
※within four months of a previous application, unless ICBC NZ agrees to consider the application in a shorter timeframe, or the grounds for seeking a change to the credit contract are materially different from the grounds given in the previous application; or
※where the inability to meet repayment obligations was reasonably foreseeable to you at the time of making the contract.

To make a Financial Hardship application, please click here

For more information, please contact us:

Telephone: +64 9 379 5588 (from overseas); Contact Centre: 0800 99 55 88 (from within New Zealand).
Website: www.icbcnz.com 
Email: operation@nz.icbc.com.cn
Retail Branch address : Ground Floor, 2 Queen Street, Auckland
Postal address: PO Box 106656 , Auckland 1143
(Call Centre is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For branch hours please refer to our website)