The regulator alleges the bank breached the National Credit Code and Corporations Act for ignoring hundreds of pleas for help from struggling customers.
The corporate regulator will launch legal action against Westpac on Tuesday alleging it failed to respond to requests from hundreds of its customers struggling with loan repayments over a seven-year period, who wanted to enter hardship arrangements with the bank.
Westpac apologised for the situation. The bank said it had identified the incident, self-reported it to ASIC and had co-operated with its investigation. Still, ASIC’s case will outline how in some cases, customers endured debt collection activities by Westpac, while waiting for the bank to respond to their hardship notices. “ASIC has taken this action to highlight the importance of lenders responding to hardship notices within the required timeframe to reduce harm to their customers,” ASIC deputy chairman Sarah Court said. “Westpac’s failures to respond to these notices compounded their customers’ difficult financial circumstances.
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