Amnesty on late payment penalties
Find out about the amnesty on late payment penalties if we accepted your application or you were eligible but didn't apply.
If you were overseas on 31 March 2006 and had late payment penalties on your student loan, there was an amnesty on late payment penalties that you needed to apply for by 31 March 2008.
If you were eligible for the amnesty, the late payment penalties on your account on 31 March 2008 have been reversed.
Find out what you need to do if:
- we accepted your amnesty application, or
- you were eligible but didn't apply.
What you need to pay if we accepted your application
You have to pay the amnesty amount as below.
| If your loan balance is ... | the total amount you have to pay over 2 years is ... | and your 6-monthly payment is ... |
|---|---|---|
| less than $2,000 | your total loan balance | 1/4 of your loan balance. |
| $2,000 to $15,000 | $2,000 | $ 500 |
| $15,000.01 to $30,000 | $4,000 | $1,000 |
| more than $30,000 | $6,000 | $1,500 |
When you've repaid the amnesty amount
You'll get a letter telling you what your new repayment obligations are. If you're still overseas you can apply for a repayment holiday of up to 3 years by contacting us - go to "Contact us" for details. While you're on a repayment holiday you don't have to make any compulsory repayments towards your loan but interest will still be charged.
If you don't pay the amnesty amount
Any late payment penalties that were on your account on 31 March 2008 were reversed. But if you don't meet your amnesty repayment obligations an amnesty penalty will be added to your loan balance.
If you were eligible for the amnesty but didn't apply
You were eligible for the amnesty if you were:
- a non-resident for tax purposes on 31 March 2006 and had late payment penalties owing on 1 April 2007, or
- overseas on 31 March 2006 and hadn't told us that you had left New Zealand.
If you didn't apply for the amnesty by 31 March 2008, we still reversed all the late payment penalties that were on your account. However, an amnesty penalty was added to your loan balance. It will have shown on your May/June 2008 statement.
How much the amnesty penalty is
The amnesty penalty is the smaller amount of either:
- 5% of your total loan balance owing on 31 March 2008, or
- all the late payment penalties on your account on 31 March 2008.
If your amnesty application was accepted but you didn't meet your amnesty repayment obligations, an amnesty penalty will be added to your loan balance. However, the amount will be reduced based on how many payments you made.
Contact us if you're having difficulties making your amnesty repayments
If you'd like us to explain anything about the amnesty penalty or you're having difficulties making your amnesty repayments, contact us and we'll look at your situation and talk through your options. Go to "Contact us" for details.
Back to What payments do I have to make?
Date published: 20 Jul 2009
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