Eligibility for the Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) 065-19041642

To be eligible for HEAS a customer must meet all of the following criteria:

• be Age Pension age or partnered to someone who is Age Pension age
• be receiving or be qualified for one of the following payments:
• Age Pension
• Carer Payment, or
• Disability Support Payment
• own real estate in Australia of sufficient value to secure a HEAS loan
• have adequate and appropriate insurance for the Australian real estate offered as security for the loan, and
• not be bankrupt or subject to a personal insolvency agreement

The customer must also be in Australia on the date they lodge their HEAS loan application, meet identity confirmation requirements and agree to the terms and conditions of HEAS to be eligible to participate.

Note: Farm Household Allowance (FHA) customers may be eligible to receive Home Equity Access Scheme (Loan Only). This would apply where the customer would not otherwise receive the Age Pension because of their income and/or assets.

• A customer meets the age criteria for HEAS if they are Age Pension age or over. Customers who are under Age Pension age meet the age criteria if they qualified for Carer Payment or Disability Support Pension and, are partnered to someone that is Age Pension age or over
• A customer who is under Age Pension age and receiving Carer Payment or Disability Support Pension, and qualifies because their partner is Age Pension age, will lose qualification to HEAS if they become separated
• There are no early claims for HEAS. If a person lodges an HEAS loan application before they and/or their partner (if applicable) turn Aged Pension age, their HEAS loan application will be rejected

• Customers only need to qualify for 1 of the qualifying payments for HEAS to be eligible, and do not need to have a payable rate. There is no requirement to meet the income and assets tests for HEAS purposes
• If the customer does receive a qualifying pension, the actual rate payable affects the amount of HEAS loan payable per fortnight. See Home Equity Access Scheme for more details

Customers do not necessarily have to lodge a claim for the qualifying payment for HEAS, in some circumstances it is mandatory, for example:

• if the person is under Age Pension age, and
• not current on a qualifying payment for HEAS

See Assessing Home Equity Access Scheme applications for more details

A customer, partner (if applicable), or third party co-owners must own real estate in Australia. The following locations may be used as security for a HEAS loan:

• Norfolk Island
• Christmas Island
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands
• Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and
• Jervis Bay Territory

Note: the following are unlikely to ever be offered as security as:

• Ashmore and Cartier Islands are National Nature Reserves
• Jervis Bay Territory manages housing by lease only

Retirement Villages and Lifestyle Residences

Retirement villages/lifestyle residences that do not provide land ownership cannot be used as security for the purposes of HEAS. This includes retirement villages that make use of:

• land lease
• leasehold, or
• loan licence arrangements

For a charge or caveat to be placed on a Retirement Village as security, the customer and/or partner must have their name on the Land Title Certificate.

Complex Assessment Officers (CAOs) may need to contact Level 2 Policy Helpdesk if there is any doubt the Retirement Village/ Lifestyle Residence being offered is acceptable to secure a HEAS loan. The CAO will need to escalate through the appropriate escalation methods using the  Technical Support Model with all relevant information.

See Security for the Home Equity Access Scheme for more details about real estate and loan security.

• The customer must have adequate and appropriate insurance for the Australian real estate they use as security for the loan
• If the insurance value of the secured real estate falls below the market value of all buildings on the property (or properties), the person may not be eligible to participate in the HEAS
• Customers must provide current (in date) documentation of their insurance policy for each property offered as security with their loan application
  Note: where customers provide insufficient (out of date) insurance documentation, staff must request the customer to provide current (in date) adequate and appropriate insurance details for each secured property offered for HEAS
• At the time of processing a HEAS claim an up-to-date Certificate of Currency for each property being offered as security for HEAS must be provided

See Security for the Home Equity Access Scheme for more details.

• If a customer (the applicant) is bankrupt or subject to a personal insolvency agreement, they are not eligible to receive HEAS loan payments
• If the applicant, partner (if applicable) or third party (co-owner) is bankrupt or subject to a personal insolvency agreement the applicant may not be eligible to receive HEAS loan payments
• Before granting a HEAS loan application, the applicant, their partner (if applicable) and third party (co owners) bankruptcy status must be verified by checking the bankruptcy register through the online tool, Equifax
• If the customer becomes listed as bankrupt or subject to personal insolvency after being granted a HEAS loan, they cease to be qualified to get further HEAS loan payments, or
• If the applicant’s partner (if applicable), or third party (co-owner) become listed as bankrupt or subject to personal insolvency after the HEAS loan has been granted, the customer may not be qualified to get further HEAS loan payments

See the Process page for more details.

• To be eligible for HEAS, the customer and their partner must accept and agree to the HEAS terms and conditions
• Consent to the terms and conditions is obtained through the HEAS loan application. Customers (and their partners, if the customer is a member of a couple) must read the terms and conditions and ensure they have a full understanding of the HEAS loan arrangements they are entering into before lodging an application

• Customers applying for HEAS (and their partners, if the customer is a member of a couple) are required to satisfy identity requirements before their application can be accepted
• If a customer or their partner do not have a confirmed identity status (see Identity Confirmation), they are required to provide documents that establish commencement of identity and use of identity in the community. The link between the identity and the individual will then be established via an approved photographic identity document
• If the HEAS loan applicant is a member of a couple, their partner must also complete linkage
• If a customer has a confirmed identity status, they should not be asked to provide further identity documents
• Identity Confirmation must not be confused with Proof of Record Ownership (PoRO). Customers will still need to answer PoRO questions that confirm they are the person identified in the record
• Nominees must provide their identification to Services Australia if not already confirmed, and they:
• have submitted a claim on behalf of a customer, and
• hold a legal authority to make financial decisions for the customer
• CAOs:
• request nominee identification if required
• code the nominees identification in Process Direct
• tell nominees to attend a local service centre, to have their identity sighted and confirmed by a Service Officer

See Claiming a Home Equity Access Scheme loan for details about checking identity status before accepting a loan application.

HEAS customers must notify the agency within 14 days of any changes to their circumstances that may affect their eligibility for HEAS.

For details on the notification obligations, and reviewing changes to a customer's circumstances, see Home Equity Access Scheme reviews.

For a HEAS loan application to be valid, the customer must:

• be physically present in Australia
• qualify for a qualifying payment, on the day they lodge their HEAS application
• sign the application
• get their partner to sign the application, if partnered

Applications signed by another person on behalf of an applicant are not accepted unless the person is a legal representative for the applicant. For example, they hold Power of Attorney (POA). The legal representative must:

• have a correspondence nominee arrangement in place, and
• provide a copy of the legal documentation with the application

See Assessing Home Equity Access Scheme applications for more details.

For online claims:

• the correspondence nominee that holds POA or another form of legal document advising their legal responsibilities to the customer, must:
• physically sign a consent form to submit a claim
• provide any legal documents that outline the details of their responsibilities and permission to manage the customer’s finances, and
• provide medical documents pertaining to the ailment if the customer does not have the capacity to make their own decisions

See Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) – Consent requirements for more details.

• HEAS loan payments continue to be paid while the customer is outside Australia as long as they remain qualified for HEAS, including retaining:
• qualification for their associated pension payment, and
• equity in the Australian real estate they used to secure the loan
• Any qualifying payment the person receives is subject to normal portability provisions. If the customer ceases to be qualified while they are outside Australia (for example, a Carer Payment recipient is no longer providing care as a result of an overseas absence), their loan payments will stop

Generally, requests to be paid under HEAS will not be successful from residents of non-agreement countries who are not already current on a qualifying payment.

The claim for the relevant social security payment will be rejected if the person is either not an Australian resident and/or not in Australia on the day on which the claim is lodged (unless lodged under an international social security agreement). Consequently, any HEAS loan application will also be rejected.

• Financial hardship provisions do not apply to HEAS applications in most circumstances. For more information, see Processing timeframes and enquiries to a Complex Assessment Officer (CAO)
• The assets hardship provisions applicable to income support payments are mutually exclusive with the HEAS
• If a person is receiving income support under hardship provisions, this does not prevent them from being able to lodge a request for payment under HEAS. However, payment can only be made under one or the other provision
• If an applicant is at risk of financial hardship, see Immediate new claim and non-new claim priority processing
• It may be appropriate to investigate whether a customer has entitlement to income support under the assets hardship provisions before proceeding with a request for a loan payment under HEAS

Customers who are registered in the Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) can apply for HEAS loan however need to be aware their eligibility for the PBS will be impacted if they claim a qualifying pension as well.

Customers registered for the PBS must attend an appointment with a Financial Information Services Officer to consider these impacts.

If the customer is applying for an HEAS loan only arrangement under HEAS, receipt of the loan does not constitute receipt of income support and eligibility for PBS will not be affected.

Note: PBS closed to new registrations from 1 July 2014. For more information, see Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS) or Cancellation of membership for Pension Bonus Scheme (PBS).

Where a customer is requesting legal or financial information from a Complex Assessment Officers (CAOs), The CAO should advise the customer to seek  independent  legal or financial advice before applying for a HEAS loan.