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Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003

Consumer credit contracts - Changes on grounds of unforeseen hardship

56: Changes that can be made

You could also call this:

"Changing your credit contract: what you can ask for"

Illustration for Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003

You can ask to change your consumer credit contract in certain ways. You can ask to extend the term of the contract and reduce the amount of each payment. You can also ask to postpone the dates when payments are due. You can ask to make these changes by applying under section 55. The change you ask for must not be more than what you need to pay back what you owe. It must also be fair to both you and the person you owe money to. A change is not unfair just because it changes the original agreement.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM213120.

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Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection
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55: Changes on grounds of unforeseen hardship, or

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Part 2Consumer credit contracts
Changes on grounds of unforeseen hardship

56Changes that can be made

  1. An application by a debtor under section 55 must seek to change the terms of the consumer credit contract in one of the following ways:

  2. extending the term of the contract and reducing the amount of each payment due under the contract accordingly (without a consequential change being made to the annual interest rate or annual interest rates):
    1. postponing, during a specified period, the dates on which payments are due under the contract (without a consequential change being made to the annual interest rate or annual interest rates):
      1. extending the term of the contract and postponing, during a specified period, the dates on which payments are due under the contract (without a consequential change being made to the annual interest rate or annual interest rates).

        1. The change that the debtor seeks—

        2. must not be more extensive than is necessary to enable the debtor to reasonably expect to be able to discharge the debtor's obligations; and
          1. must be fair and reasonable to both the debtor and the creditor in all the circumstances.

            1. A change is not unfair or unreasonable merely because it involves a change to the agreed terms of the consumer credit contract.