You are entitled to apply for the JobSeeker payment and Coronavirus Supplement which is up to $1,100 a fortnight. The Jobseeker payment is income tested but we are expecting more relaxations on the rules to be announced soon. Both the assets test and mutual obligation test (looking for work test) have been relaxed.

If you employ unrelated staff you are also entitled to the $20,000 minimum cashflow boost. See here for more information.

You can also pause your home loan during this crisis. The health and well being of your family is the most important thing during this time. See below for more information.

You can withdraw $10,000 in superannuation this financial year and another $10,000 next financial year. We recommend talking to Glenn Hilber from Precision Wealth Management about this option and what impact it may have on your finances.

Get in touch with Brenton Pavey as each bank is different and has different requirements. We are here to help in the good times and the bad.

Another option, is.. instead of stopping your loan repayments which would result in accrued interest, we could calculate if you can afford interest only repayments which would put you in a better financial position at the end of this crisis.

Each bank will consider either options on their merits, but they must consider under COVID 19 rules.

Contact us so we can assist you through this process.

As long as you have approval from your Bank to stop loan repayments, there will be no default on your credit file. But the Banks are still accruing interest on your loan. If you don’t notify your lender about the need for a repayment holiday, it could result in defaults on your credit file. Notifying your bank is vital under COVID 19 rules.

Currently the Government is working on a solution to protect your rights. More information should be released this week. We will release detailed information on this when available.

• The First $750 cash payment to pensioners, social security or veteran income support recipients and eligible concession card holders (see list here). The payment will be tax free. The payment will be made from 31 March this year and recipients will only receive 1 payment even if they receipt multiple sources of social security. If you are not receiving social security you will not be eligible for the payment.
• The Second $750 payment available to all of those who receive the first payment except those receiving the $550 coronavirus Supplement (see here).

In relation to car and equipment finance, banks are not extending the terms of these loans. Instead they are adding the missed repayments to the final balloon payment at the end of the term. For example, if your balloon is $10,000 then also add any missed repayments and this becomes your new balloon. You will need to get approval and confirm with your lender. We can help arrange this for you.

Many of the banks have dropped their interest rates in the wake of the crisis, with as low as 2.09%! In addition to this, some banks are offering up to $4,000 cash bonus for refinancing new customers (existing customers do not qualify).

If you’re interested to see how much we can save you on your monthly repayments and interest costs please get in touch as we are seeing significant savings (annually in the $000s)  at the moment for most customers.

This will put you and your family in the best position to weather the Covid-19 crisis. This money is better off in your pocket than the banks.

The Employsure website offer a Resource Hub for employers with plenty of useful information as we go through this crisis.  See here for more information.

Sometime tough decisions need to be made to protect your business and also your employees. If your business is forced to shut down, the goal is to have a job for your employees to come back to once this is all over.

If you want more detailed information see our Covid-19 Finance Options Here.