Supporting vulnerability and hardship 

Our commitment

At RACQ we understand that you or those around you may experience vulnerability at some point in your life and may require specialised assistance or care. We recognise that vulnerability is a state and not a trait, and, just as people are different, so are their needs and circumstances. A person’s vulnerability may be due to a range of factors for example mental or physical health conditions, family or domestic violence, language or literacy barriers, cultural background, financial distress and other impacts.

We are committed to identifying and supporting individuals and families who are experiencing vulnerability. We will provide an extra level of care, compassion and sensitivity when engaging with you or your support person in your time of need.

Our support extends to members/customers, employees, distributors and partners.

We are here to help

We recognise that it can be difficult to talk about your personal circumstances, but we encourage you to tell us about any difficulties you may be experiencing as early as possible. Once we understand your individual needs, we will work with you to provide the appropriate levels of care and support. This support may include, escalation to a specialised support team and/or, we may provide you with information on additional community support services available.
We have processes in place to ensure that we protect your privacy and minimise the number of times you need to disclose information. We do this by:

• Providing employees tailored training to identify, discuss, manage or refer you to appropriate support. Training extends to our Service Suppliers such as loss assessors, collection agents and investigators
• Seeking consent to sensitively record vulnerability details
• Restricting access to your information, to specialised staff where required
• Adherence to privacy and confidentiality legislations and requests

Fill out our supporting vulnerability form

Fill out our financial hardship form

Crisis, mental health, suicide prevention, depression, and anxiety Community Support Services

Uniting Care Queensland / Lifeline

A not-for-profit organisation that provides free, 24-hour telephone crisis support services in Queensland. They can assist and provide support for suicide prevention, mental health and emotional assistance.

You can contact them on 13 1114, face to face, or online www.unitingcareqld.com.au.

Beyond Blue

Provides support to those experiencing issues associated with depression, suicide, anxiety and other related mental disorders. The Beyond Blue Support team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week on 1300 22 4636. Visit the Beyond Blue website for further information www.beyondblue.org.au.

Family/Domestic Violence

RACQ recognises the safety of those experiencing family or domestic violence is paramount, and that it takes courage to talk openly about your situation.

The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) defines ‘Family violence’ as:

“violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person’s family or causes the family member to be fearful” section 4AB

RACQ has deployed specialised training to its employees and Service Suppliers so we can recognise the signs of family and/or domestic violence and are committed to having a conversation with you about how we can best support you. Our dedicated teams will ensure that we minimise the number of times you need to disclose information relating to family or domestic violence. We will ensure your privacy is protected, make certain you are supported in a sensitive and compassionate way including limiting access to your information or information you have provided about your family violence. Our collection arrangements are handled with sensitivity and we will arrange access to financial hardship assistance if necessary.

Community Support Services:

If you or your family are in immediate danger, please call the police on 000.

DV Connect provides emergency accommodation and transport to Queensland women, men, children and pets to safety, away from violence. They are available 24/7 on 1800 811 811. Visit the DV Connect website for more information www.dvconnect.org. 

1800Respect is a 24 hour national counselling line for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault. You can access local support services by contacting 1800 737 732 or using their free app which protects users privacy. You can access the app as well as other community support services by visiting www.whiteribbon.org.au/Find-Help/Help-Lines.

If you are in need of legal support or guidance, you can reach out to these services:

Law Right
PO Box 12217 George Street, QLD, 4003
Phone: (07) 3846 6317
Fax: (07) 3846 6311
Web: https://www.lawright.org.au/

QLD Women’s legal services
PO Box 119, Annerley, QLD, 4103
Phone: 1800 957 957
Web: https://wlsq.org.au/

Financial hardship

RACQ aims to provide prompt financial hardship support as part of our commitment to providing extra support to members / customers experiencing vulnerability, including those impacted by family and domestic violence. This may include fast-tracking financial hardship requests, having a greater understanding of your needs when processing your financial hardship application and providing assistance and flexibility with payments owing.

Our team of specially trained staff are here to assist you and are trained in identifying if you are experiencing financial hardship. We also encourage you or your representative to tell us if you are experiencing financial hardship so that we can discuss your individual circumstances and options available to support you.

Ways we can support you

If you’re in financial stress and are unable to pay money owed to us that is not a premium, support options may include:

• offering instalment payments.
• delaying or extending payment terms.
• putting the recovery of monies on hold.
• releasing your debt (where appropriate).
• agreeing with you to pay a reduced lump sum amount, and/or
• deducting an excess from a claim amount (cash settlement).

If you’re in financial stress and are unable to pay your premium, then we will work with you to see if we can support you to keep you covered. Support options may include:

• offering instalment payments.
• delaying one or more instalment payments for an agreed period.
• delaying the date your payment is due to be made.
• reviewing your policy coverage to see if any reductions can be reasonably made.
• determine eligibility for a Financial Hardship discretionary discount.
• provide a Financial Hardship extension.

Managing our debt collectors

If you tell our collection agent or solicitor that you’re experiencing Financial Hardship, they must notify us and will give you information in writing about our Financial Hardship process.

How to request support

If you are experiencing financial hardship and need support, you can contact us in a number of ways. These are outlined below:

If you	Then
Have difficulties with paying Insurance premiums, renewals or Roadside Assistance	Give our friendly Member Engagement team a call on 13 1905 or, speak with one of our Branch consultants to see how we can assist.
Have difficulties with paying an insurance excess or Insurance recovery amount	Complete the RACQ Insurance Financial Hardship Application Form or contact our Claims team on 13 7202.
Require financial assistance with personal or mortgage lending repayments	Get in touch with RACQ Bank Collections team on 13 1905 or complete the Banking Request for Hardship Assistance Form and send it to Collections@racq.com.au.

Contact us

RACQ offers many other convenient ways for you to get in touch with us. 

Reach us online
Record your feedback

Social media
Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn

Email us
racq@racq.com.au

Write to us
RACQ
PO Box 4
Springwood  QLD  4127

Visit your nearest RACQ store
Find a store

Accessibility services
National Relay Service
Translation Services

Our financial hardship application process

• We will put any collection action on hold until we have assessed your application for Financial Hardship and provide you with an outcome on your application.
• Upon receiving your application one of our consultants will contact you to discuss your individual circumstances. At this time, we will confirm the information within your application and may ask you to provide additional documentation to support your application.
• We will only request information that is reasonably necessary for us to assess and make a decision relating to your financial hardship application.
• If additional documentation is requested by us, we will provide this request in writing. If you cannot provide this documentation, please phone us on 13 7202 or 13 1905.
• Once we have the information we require, we will assess your application and provide our decision in writing within 21 calendar days. 

Natural disaster and fast tracking of urgent claims

We support all our members and their communities by responding to catastrophes and natural disasters efficiently, professionally and compassionately.

If a natural disaster has meant you have to make a claim under your policy and caused you financial hardship, we may:

• fast track both our assessment of your claim and the process we follow to make a decision about your claim, and/or
• pay you an advance amount in order to ease your urgent financial need within 5 days after you demonstrate your urgent financial need.

If you're in this position, please let us know - we're here to support you. 

Access to Financial Community Support Services

There are community support and financial counselling services that may be able to provide advice that can assist you. Some examples are included here to help. The National Debt Helpline - National Debt Helpline is a not-for-profit service that helps people tackle their debt problems. They have financial counsellors who are non-judgmental, qualified professionals working in communities across Australia. You can contact the National Debt Helpline from 9:30 to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday on 1800 007 007 or visit the National Debt Helpline website for more information www.ndh.org.au.

The ASIC MoneySmart website - moneysmart.gov.au

View the Good Shepherd website for affordable financial programs to people who are financially excluded - goodshep.org.au/services/financial-services.

For support services relating to Family/Domestic Violence, click here.

Access to language/communication support

RACQ welcomes calls through the National Relay Service. For more information, visit the NRS website www.communications.gov.au to choose your preferred access point or call the NRS Helpdesk on 1800 555 660.

The Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) is an interpreting service providing services to non-English speaking Australian citizens and permanent residents.

1. Call TIS National on 131 450.
2. An automated prompt will ask you which language you need. Please state the language you require.
3. Once connected with an interpreter in your language, please provide your name, advise you wish to speak with RACQ, and provide them with RACQ’s phone number: 13 1905.
4. Stay on the line while the operator connects you and the interpreter to RACQ.

We can also arrange translator services for you when you contact RACQ.

Access to support for employees & distributors

RACQ recognise that employees including service suppliers and distributors can be affected or experience vulnerabilities and may require additional care and support.

RACQ provide support to impacted employees through:

• Training & Coaching
• Regular employee check ins
• Personal Leave entitlements
• Internal Counselling
• External Support Services
• Security and accessibility measures