Banks assist flood-affected areas in Kimberley region

Bankwest and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA or CommBank) are providing emergency assistance for flood-affected areas in the Kimberley region.

On January 05, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) announced a severe weather warning for parts of Kimberley, North Interior, and eastern Pilbara for heavy and locally intense rainfall and damaging winds brought by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie.

Bankwest's emergency assistance options

In a statement, Bankwest said it is prepared to help customers with any special arrangements. Its financial team can also discuss:

• Personalised solutions if you have a loan, including changing the repayment arrangements;
• Restructuring your business loan without having to worry about the usual bank establishment fees;
• Reviewing credit card payments if you have good standing, including requests for emergency limit increases (subject to credit approval);
• Waiting for pre-payment penalties over the next month if you want to access term deposits; and
• Waiving other selected fees and charges.

The bank encourages customers to contact its teams as soon as possible:

• Make a home insurance or car insurance claim.
• Call the financial assistance team at 1300 -769-173 to talk about personalised solutions for credit card or loan products.
• Call 13-17-19 for help with term deposits or other products and services.
• Small business customers may call 13-70-00, while relationship-managed business customers may reach out to their relationship manager for support.
• For merchant banking queries, contact the merchant support team at 1800-230-177.
• Visit your nearest branch if it is safe to do so.

CBA's emergency assistance options

CBA stated that it has special arrangements to support its customers should they need it, and its team is ready to assist customers with any financial concerns or inquiries.

For customers with home insurance distributed by CBA, Hollard can assist with emergency accommodation if their home has been damaged. It can also expedite claims for customers seeking help for their home and contents if they took out their home insurance through CBA.

The bank's other emergency assistance options include:

• Customised payment arrangements for home loans, credit cards, personal loans, and some business loans;
• Waiving fees and charges;
• Temporary overdrafts, additional loans, or emergency credit limit increases (subject to credit approval);
• Waiving fees and notice periods for early access to term deposits;
• Loan restructuring for business customers and existing loans; and
• Waiving fees for temporary and damaged merchant EFTPOS terminals and support with merchant terminal rental fees.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by dangerous flooding across a number of remote communities in the Kimberley, and we thank emergency services who are working tirelessly to protect these communities. We are here to alleviate some concern with a range of support measures for our customers,” said CBA retail banking services group executive Angus Sullivan.