Commonwealth Bank yesterday launched a new initiative for its home loan customers, a move the institution has dubbed “a first for Australians”.
Home Loan Compassionate Care provides complimentary protection to owner-occupied homeowners if they, their spouse or a dependant passes away or is diagnosed with a terminal illness, through covering their repayments for around 12 months.
New research from CBA revealed a third of Australians would only be able to cover repayments for up to six months if they, their spouse or dependant passed away or was diagnosed with a terminal illness; one in 10 would only be able to cover repayments for one month or less based on current income and savings.
“We know that mortgage repayments are the single biggest financial commitment for Australian homeowners, so when the unthinkable happens we’ll support our customers by making their home loan repayments for around 12 months at no cost,” said Angus Sullivan, group executive of retail banking services.
“We’re proud that together with AIA we have been able to deliver this Australian-first for new home loan customers and will be making it available to our existing customers at no cost to thank them for their loyalty.”
According to the research, over half of Australian homeowners haven’t had a conversation with their spouse or dependants around how they’d meet ongoing home loan repayments if they were unable to continue contributing.
“If something were to happen, the last thing you should have to worry about is your home loan. In designing this protection, we’ve made sure there’s no need to sign up or to activate it,” said Sullivan.
“We’ve also consulted with our own employees who have gone through similar, difficult experiences to ensure the end-to-end claims process is as easy and stress-free as possible, and a dedicated team has undergone specialised training to handle these sensitive matters.”
Home Loan Compassionate Care is available for eligible owner-occupied home loan customers aged between 18 and 59 years.
