Is deferring finance payments right for you?

In these extraordinary times it is important to keep abreast of the most relevant and recent developments in the financing landscape.

Recently, members are facing difficulties when entering into or have requested COVID-19 deferred payment relief from any of their financiers.

There are many valid reasons for entering into these arrangements, none more so than the immediate closure of your business and many others have also take the option to defer to conserve cashflow or simply to take the offer up because it was there.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that many of the major banks and finance companies are asking the question up front on any new finance applications received for plant and equipment, vehicles or any other assets and are essentially declining the application for any business on these deferred payment plans – irrespective of the reasons and transparency with provided financial information etc to mitigate.

We see this current stance being taken by these lenders as completely out of step with the intent of the deferred payment program initiative advanced by the Federal Government and supported by the Australian Bankers Association (ABA).

Whilst we are working hard to advocate through our representative body (CAFBA) with both the Federal Government and the banks (ABA) to have this stance reconsidered, we strongly caution all of our clients and valued partners to consider the following especially if looking to potentially finance pre-June 30 to take advantage of the generous $150K instant write off;

• If you have not yet entered into a deferred arrangement but are thinking of doing so please consider carefully and discuss with your accountant – by entering into deferred payments you may adversely prejudice your ability to seek competitive finance from the market over the short /medium term.
• If you have already taken up the offer of deferred payments consider your ability to “catch up’ and repay the missed payments and withdraw from the payment plan(s) to increase the breadth of funders that will consider additional finance for your business over the short/medium term.

Also bear in mind that if you seek to withdraw from a deferred payment arrangement already in place/requested you may also be asked by the financiers to waive the right to subsequently seek another deferred payment option through the remainder of the 6 month deferred payment ‘’window’’ period ending September 30 2020.

Finlease are providing assistance across a wide range of packages available to members, such as:

• 6-month payment deferrals
• $250,000 unsecured loans program
• $150k instant asset write-off

To find out more, get in touch with Finlease who can help find the right solution for your finance options.

Author: Miles Beamish Partner Equipment Finance (VIC)

P 03 9878 4633​​​​​​​
M 0410 774 506
E miles@finlease.com.au​​​​​​​