Car loans and COVID-19: Support for those who are struggling to make payments

Not only is coronavirus having a huge negative impact on physical health across the world, but also financial health. The ongoing lockdowns, restrictions and changes to people’s spending habits changing substantially is doing a heap of damage to a great number of Australians.

Whether you’re a business owner who has had to make the difficult decision to shut down operations or an employee whose hours have been drastically reduced (if not completely cut), making ends meet has arguably never been more difficult. As such, if you have a car loan with ongoing monthly repayments you might be finding it really hard to keep up and meet your monthly repayments.

So what can you do?

Because there are so many Aussies in the same boat as you, most lenders will have a strategy in place to assist their customers who are experiencing financial hardship. And this might not even be due to COVID, but because of other life-affecting issues such as illness or the breakdown of family.

So if you do find yourself in the unfortunate position where you’re struggling with repayments on your car loan, it’s vital that you get in touch with your lender to discuss what options are available to you. We’ve put a list together that includes several lenders’ contact details as well as specifics about the support each of them are providing currently.

The lender might then be able to help by offering repayment deferrals, waiving fees, freezing interest or working with you to create a more flexible payment arrangement.

Refinancing your current loan

Another option you might want to consider if you’re finding it increasingly difficult to make your monthly car repayments is by refinancing.

If you’re able to find a car financing package that offers a lower interest rate, this will of course reduce the monthly repayment amount to something that’s a little easier to manage. But if you’re not able to find a lower interest rate than the one you currently have, you might think about refinancing to a loan with a longer term, which will also reduce your monthly repayments.

Though if refinancing is something you’re likely to explore, it’s important to remember that some lenders can charge early exit fees and other fees, so make sure you’ve done your calculations to determine whether it’s actually financially better to do it in the first place.

Call us today on 1300 787 288 if you’d like to discuss refinancing. We’ll help you navigate through all the confusion and make sure you’re making the right decision based on your circumstances, and can find you the best car financing deal out there that’ll save you money.

Speak with us to find out how we can help alleviate the stress

If you’ve been adversely affected financially due to the ongoing pandemic and are finding it hard to stay on top of your car loan repayments, we’re here to help guide you through things.

Because at Stratton Finance, we firmly believe that customer service shouldn’t stop when the loan has settled. We’re here for you long after the financing process has finished, too. So give our friendly team a call now on 1300 787 288 if you’d like to discuss your situation. If you’d prefer, you can send us an enquiry online and we’ll get back to you with a response ASAP.