Christopher complained, and in early February the bank agreed to reassess his initial application, resulting in the release of further funds. The bank acknowledged there had been delays in processing his October application because it had received so many applications at the time. It also acknowledged that the amount released to him should have included funds to repay his $200 unarranged overdraft with the bank. The bank cleared the overdraft and offered Christopher $500 for the inconvenience its processing delay had caused him. Christopher rejected the offer and asked us to investigate.

Our investigation

The bank’s hardship withdrawal application form said withdrawals would generally cover minimum living costs and any overdue bills or arrears.

The information Christopher gave the bank and the records held by the bank showed Christopher had disclosed a number of overdue bills on the application and supplied evidence of one overdue bill. However, the bank did not include this information in its assessment and took no steps to seek evidence from Christopher about his other overdue bills. As a result, the money released to Christopher was not enough to relieve his hardship.

We raised concerns about these things with the bank. The bank accepted it had rushed the application and not handled it well. The bank increased its offer to $2,000.

Outcome

Christopher accepted the bank’s offer.