Protection of customer payments 103-04050000

If the customer has contacted about their:

• payment being taken by a financial institution to repay an overdrawn account, go to Step 2
• bank account being garnished by a third party organisation, go to Step 6

If customer lodges a complaint to Centrelink that their payment has been taken by a financial institution due to an overdrawn account:

• Advise the customer that due to the Code of Operation: Recovery of debts from income support payments or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) payments with participating financial institutions, they should be able to retain at least 90% of their regular income support or DVA payments in any fortnight
• Check that the customer's financial institution and specified payment is covered by the Code of Operation by referring to:
• member lists on the following websites (see Resources page for links)
  Australian Banking Association (ABA)
  Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA)
  Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA)
• the Code agreement - Section 9 Payments relevant to the Code
• Advise the customer:
• to immediately contact their financial institution and refer to the Code of Operation
• that the financial institution, under the Code of Operation agrees to consult with the customer on the debt and, where necessary, the level of repayments over a period, and
• there is customer information they can take with them to the bank to support them (see Resources page)

Refer the customer to the Code of Operation document on the Services Australia webpage.

Is the customer willing to discuss the matter with the financial institution directly?

• Yes, procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

• If the customer is not satisfied with the financial institution's response or has concerns with dealing with the financial institution on their own behalf, they can ask for help

Note: generally, Services Australia cannot contact a Financial Institution on a customer's behalf. A Financial Institution may talk to Services Officers if the customer is present and able to provide consent.

Collect the following details from the customer:

• date the payment was taken to repay the overdrawn amount
• amount taken to repay the overdraw
• account number, name and branch of financial institution
• action taken by the customer to recover the funds

If the customer is present and provides consent to contact the Financial Institution, go to Step 4.

If the customer is not present or is unable to provide consent to contact the Financial Institution, go to Step 5.

With the customer present, contact the bank manager to discuss the following:

• Under the Code, specified financial institutions have agreed to only withhold 10% of any Services Australia income support payment or regular Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) payments to repay overdrawn accounts
• Organise for the customer to have an appointment time to attend the bank to negotiate a repayment plan to ensure the customer has enough funds to live on

Advise the customer the result of discussions with the Financial Institution, and if they have:

• agreed to help the customer to access 90% of their income support or DVA payment, give the customer the contact name, address and phone number for the financial institution and the appointment time
• refused to refund part of the withheld funds.

If the customer wants to follow up further, go to Step 5

If the customer is happy with the response, record the outcome on a DOC. Procedure ends here.

• If the financial institution will not discuss the overdrawn account details with the Service Officer or has refused to refund part of the withheld funds and the customer wants to follow up further, refer the customer to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) for help. For contact details, see Australian Financial Complaints Authority

Record details of outcome on a DOC. Procedure ends here.

There are provisions under social security law and family assistance law to ensure that garnishee orders to not apply to 'saved amount' of the customer's funds. The intention of the 'saved amount' is to allow the customer adequate funds to meet their living expenses.

Calculation of 'saved amount'

The saved amount is equal to the following:

• the total amount of the customer's payment, including advances, paid into the account in the 4 week period immediately before the order
• less the total amount withdrawn from the account in the same period

Note: the customer will need to negotiate repayment of the amount with the third party organisation.