Acknowledgement to Country I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today. I would like to acknowledge and pay my respects to elders, both past and present and extend that to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who also are present. As a proud Dunghutti man, I thank you for welcoming me and allowing me to share my program with you all on your country.

Financial Rights Legal Centre What we do We are a community legal centre specialising in financial services, particularly in the areas of consumer credit, banking, debt recovery and insurance. We operate three advice lines: National Debt Helpline (NSW) 1800 007 007 Insurance Law Service (National) 1300 663 464 Mob Strong Debt Help (National) 1800 808 488 This presentation is for information only. You must seek legal advice in relation legal advice in relation to any particular circumstances.

Meet the Mob Strong Team Mark is a Dunghutti man who has worked with Financial Rights since the beginning of 2018. Before then, Mark worked for several years in the Community Legal Sector including Legal Aid and the Environmental Defenders Office and two years as an inspector with the Australian Competition Consumer Commission. Suwana is a proud Dunghutti/Bundjalung woman who has been working at FRLC since early 2018. Prior to this she was working in various health positions in research, design and delivering programs.

Service Delivery Legal Advice Financial Counselling Legal fact sheets Representation Community Education Legal Tasks Outreach Legal fact sheets Sample letters Online enquiries Outreach – communications plan to travel national especially to communities where there is active limited support services. Community - Education Legal Advice – Legal Tasks – Representation – Financial Counselling -

Case Study – Consumer Credit Sharnie 29 year old Aboriginal woman with 2 kids with her partner Applied for a car loan with Lender when she was 22 years old. Car was worth $24,000 but $9,000 worth of junk insurance was added Lender never properly assessed whether she was able to repay the loan (including checking her bank statement when she had other loans to pay) Loan was unaffordable and Sharnie had to sell the car, but left with a $29,000 shortfall. What we did Sought documents for the loan from Lender Got a Financial Counsellor to assess Sharnie’s income and expense Lodge a responsible lending dispute with Lender. First with their internal department then with the Financial Ombudsman Service Lender agreed to refund $19,000 to Sharnie

Case Study – Insurance Joanne Aboriginal woman who applied for funeral insurance for herself and her son and made repayments since 1996 Son passed away in 2017 from suicide and Joanne applied to insurer to cover the funeral expenses of $19,000 The insurer refused this because of ‘changes to the law last year which prevent any claim if the cause of death was suicide’. Offered $2,200 refund for past premium payments. What we did Called the insurer with Joanne on the phone and confirmed their reasons for refusal. Raised a dispute with the insurer regarding the policy that it stated the exclusion applies if the deceased died by suicide within 12 months of their policy commencing. The insurer agreed to pay out Joanne’s claim fully.

Mob Strong Debt Help Why might you need to call? Credit card Personal loans Mortgage Consumer leases Phone/utility debts Bankruptcy and debt agreements Payday loans Car insurance Funeral insurance Pet insurance Life insurance Home and contents Debts to insurance companies Travel insurance

Mob Strong Debt Help Contact Information Suwana Combo – Aboriginal Service Coordinator Mark Holden – Solicitor FREE CALL 1800 808 488