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We provide options for good and bad credit clients.

Both may apply. Applications are subject to our lending criteria, ensuring that any car payment is affordable for you and your family and that it will fit comfortably within your weekly budget. Applications may be declined

Hardship Criteria

Pre-Application

Things to consider before you apply:

Before we approve an application for finance of a vehicle, we will make enquiries with you to ensure that, should you enter into a finance contract with us this is not likely to see you suffer financial hardship. These enquiries will involve us talking to you about your current household budget, income and all expenses, and anything else that could potentially affect your ability, both now and in the future, to afford regular loan repayments on your vehicle.  This includes any pending future event which may change your ability to service your loan, such as pregnancy, illness, fixed term or seasonal employment and benefit reductions.

We will ask you to verify your income by supplying paperwork such as pay slips, full MSD WINZ benefit breakdown, a letter from any current borders confirming that they will be assisting with weekly costs, 90 days of recent bank transactions and other information to verify your identity such as your current driver’s license and proof of your current residential address. When finalizing your budget, we will also factor in other reasonable household and personal expenses.

We will ask you about your credit history and if you have any defaults currently not being paid. This could affect your future ability to have surplus funds to pay for your loan. It is best to be honest about what you owe and to whom, this allows you to be able to budget for it and so we can assess if additional debt is affordable longer term.

In some circumstances we may need to run a credit check to investigate the status of your credit, and to confirm what might need to be considered for possible future payments to creditors.

Before you apply, please read and consider the information provided in the Responsible Code of Borrowing pamphlet below.

The Responsible Code of Borrowing

Unforeseen Hardship Application

For customers with existing vehicle loans and a temporary unforeseen hardship application enquiry

After your application for finance has been considered and approved and you agree to enter a credit contract with us, there may still be times when you face unforeseen hardship affecting your household finances i.e. your ability to pay your debts. In these instances, you may feel the need to speak to us about your situation and request a temporary review of your loan repayments to us. We understand that your personal circumstances may change at times, and we strongly encourage you to keep us updated on any situations affecting your ability to keep repaying your loan on time.

If finances are becoming difficult, you need to contact us and discuss a suitable payment arrangement, rather than defaulting on your loan.  It is important to remember that in some cases defaulting on your loan obligations or breaching your contract could eventually lead to the repossession of your vehicle.

Before you apply, please ensure your application will meet the following criteria:

  • You must have suffered a hardship you couldn’t reasonably have seen coming, such as illness or injury, loss of employment, the end of a relationship, or death of a partner or spouse, and
  • As a result of that hardship, you must prove you cannot reasonably meet your repayments, and
  • You must believe you would be able to meet your repayments if the contract was changed in one of the ways specified by the CCCFA (below).
    • Reducing the amount of each repayment (this will extend the term of the contract), or
    • Postponing debt repayments for a short, specified period of time, or
    • Reducing the amount of each repayment (extending the term of your contract) and postponing debt repayments for a specified period of time.

You do not qualify to make a Statutory Hardship Application if you have:

  • Been in default for 2 months or more, or
  • Been in default for 2 weeks or more after receiving a repossession warning notice, or
  • Failed to make four or more consecutive debt repayments by or on their due dates.

To make an Unforeseen Hardship application:

Please complete the Hardship Application form (link below) in full and return a signed copy to Vehicle Sales & Finance Ltd, together with all required evidence and documentation, as well as any other relevant information (full details on the form below).

Your application will not be reviewed, and the below time frames do not apply until such time as all answers on the form are completed in full and all required evidence and information has been provided.

Unforeseen Hardship Application

After we receive your application we will do the following

  • Acknowledge receipt of your application in writing within 5 working days.
  • Within 10 working days of receiving your application we will request any further information required to consider your application. Such as proof of income, by way of recent payslips or a full MSD WINZ benefit breakdown, proof of any boarders, 90 days of your most recent bank transactions and details of all your current expenses.  This will enable a revised and current budget to be considered as part of your financial hardship application.
  • We will take note of any proposed payment plan and consider the validity of your request in a fair manner and in good faith.  Please keep in mind this must be a reasonable solution to a temporary change in your circumstances.  This means if there is no viable plan to resolve the hardship and return your loan repayments to the contracted rate, within a reasonable and agreed time frame, we will also have to consider your ability to service loan repayments in the long term. Naturally at this time we will take into account your payment history with us, and we will endeavour to make the process as easy as possible.  However, at the same time we must be mindful that your budget needs to also allow for the costs of running and maintaining the vehicle including repairs, registration and annual WOF inspections.  Additionally, all vehicles must be insured, in most instances we are able to assist you to arrange a policy.  Failure to keep the vehicle roadworthy, legally compliant and insured are all breaches of the terms of your contract and if it is unlikely that you will be able to comply as well as return repayments to the contracted amount, we will then discuss your options for surrendering the vehicle to us.
  • Please note that if you reduce payments, miss or short pay regular instalments your loan completion date will automatically extend, and the total lending amount will increase.
  • You will be advised of our decision regarding your Unforeseen Financial Hardship Application in writing within 20 working days of the later of:
    • Receiving your completed application form with all supporting evidence and relevant information, or
    • 20 working days after we request you provide further information, or
    • 10 working days after we receive the further information requested. Please note – while your unforeseen hardship application is being considered you are required to continue making repayments and to comply with your contract.  During this time, in accordance with the CCCFA, we will not repossess the vehicle unless we consider the vehicle to be “at risk”. However, if your loan account falls into default just before or during your application you will be charged, and continue to be charged, any relevant default or missed/communication payment fees.

Please note the Statutory Unforeseen Financial Hardship Application process is only available to clients who qualify.  To be eligible you must not have:

  • Been in default for two months or more, or
  • Been in default for two weeks or more after receiving a Repossession Warning Notice, or
  • Failed to make four or more consecutive repayments in accordance with the due dates

Vehicle Sales & Finance Limited is under no obligation to approve your unforeseen hardship application if we believe the evidence does not prove you are unable to continue to meet your repayments and comply with your contract.  You will receive notification and an explanation in writing if your application is declined.

Financial Mentors

Offering budgeting advice to assist you

If you are struggling financially and need assistance, we would also encourage you to make contact with an independent financial mentor or budgeting advice service. Confidential advice is offered free of charge by many organisations including:

  1. The Salvation Army www.salvationarmy.org.nz or call 0800 530 000
  2. Christians Against Poverty www.capnz.org or call 0508 227 111

Privacy Waiver

I/We apply for a loan and certify that the particulars above and overleaf are true and correct, and that I/we are over the age of 18 years and are not undischarged bankrupts.

Pursuant to the Privacy Act 2020, I/we authorise the Finance Company and any related finance company to contact any credit reporting agencies, credit providers, employers, Government agencies or departments, accountants, identity verification providers, debt collection agencies, repossession agents, insurers, or any other source, to obtain, check, collect and exchange (both now and in the future) such personal, financial, credit and commercial information and references about me/us as is necessary for the purpose of considering this application, verifying my/our identity, administering and protecting any loan arising from this application, enforcing any agreement between me/us and the Finance Company, recovering any monies owing, or complying with legal and regulatory obligations.

I/We understand that personal information may also be collected indirectly from third parties in accordance with the Information Privacy Principles, including IPP3A, where permitted by law.

I/We agree that this authority may be provided to such parties for the purposes of obtaining or correcting such information. Under the provisions of the Privacy Act 2020, I/we are entitled to request access to and correction of any personal information held about me/us.

Furthermore, I/we specifically authorise the Finance Company to undertake a credit check for any Ministry of Justice overdue fines that may be outstanding. Overdue fines are defined as fines or reparations overdue for payment to the Ministry of Justice and not subject to a current payment arrangement.