Time’s up: Banks begin contacting deferred mortgage holders

PHOTO: Australian Banks

Over half of the 900,000 loans that were deferred in Australia will be assessed in the coming weeks, as the six-month period winds to an end.

According to the Australian Banking Association, banks have already started contacting customers to “discuss the next stage of support and assistance.”

Among these, 260,000 deferred mortgages will be assessed before the end of this month, with a further 180,000 by the end of October.

“The loan deferral measure offered to customers by Australia’s banks has led to the largest ever customer contact process in the industry’s history,” said ABA CEO Anna Bligh, “with an additional 5,000 new or redeployed staff working to ensure customers understand their options.”

Their options include resuming repayments; restructuring their mortgages (“including converting to interest only payments for a period of time”); or being granted an extra four month deferral – which will be at the banks’ discretion.