​Loans and credit card debts

This figure is a flowchart with labelled boxes linked by lines. The flowchart describes the steps you can take if you have received a default notice from a lender. Each box in the flowchart contains a hyperlink to further information. The action you take will depend on your responses to each step in the flowchart. The flowchart is described as a list of four steps. Where there are possible actions, these are listed beneath that step. 

Step 1.  You received a default notice from the lender asking you to pay the debt within 30 days [link to Loans and credit cards]. Possible action:

• ​You contact your lender and apply for a hardship variation or dispute that you owe all or part of the debt [link to Resolving your dispute with the bank]. Go to step 2.
• You pay the debt in full [link to Loans and credit cards].

• You do nothing [link to Going to court]. Go to step 4.

Step 2.  You go through your lender's internal dispute resolution process [link to Resolving your dispute with the bank]. Possible action:

• ​Your dispute is resolved [link to Resolving your dispute with the bank].
• Your dispute is not resolved [link to Resolving your dispute with the bank]. Go to step 3.

Step 3. You apply to the External Dispute Resolution (EDR) scheme, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority [link to Resolving your dispute with the bank].

Step 4. The lender can start a court case to recover the debt [link to Going to court​].