Terms & Conditions

Our terms and conditions

The terms below apply to you when you use the Debtfix website, provide us with your information, such as name, e-mail and phone numbers, phone us direct on our freephone number, or e-mail us direct, so it’s important you read and understand them and agree to them.  

We do reserve the right to change these terms at any time, so keep checking in. If we make any fundamental changes and you have given us your e-mail address, then we will e-mail you with details of the new terms and conditions, but we won’t e-mail if we are just making minor or inconsequential changes. 

If you don’t like the changes to our terms and conditions or the terms of our privacy statement, then just send us an e-mail to compliance@debtfix.co.nz asking us to unsubscribe you (doesn’t matter why) and we’ll remove you from our contact management system.

We do have some specific terms applicable to particular services we offer, and those terms will be specified in our engagement letter, however these terms will remain in operation when you visit our site, or interact with us generally.

All of our terms are based on, and subject to the laws of New Zealand.

Summary of our legal obligations

We try and provide a service that is truly helpful to people that are in debt. By virtue of our charity status we are excluded from complying with most aspects of the Financial Markets Conduct Act and related legislation (the Act), however we are registered as under the Act for acting as a client money handling service as well as being registered with Financial Services Complaints Limited for disputes relating thereto.

The information  on our website is designed as a tool for guiding people through the maze of options available to them, when on the verge of insolvency, or spiralling further into debt.  The advice provided on our website is general in nature and is not, by any means exhaustive, nor is it tailored to individual, personalised advice, which can only be given once a whole heap of financial information has been provided to us, on a client by client basis.

If you provide us with your details online, and then interact with us by answering questions necessary for us to provide you with personalised advice, then it is at that point that we need to take stock, shift gear and pass you on to one of our Debt Navigators to give you personalised advice, tailored specifically to your needs.

We won’t tell you what to do, but give you a summary of the options available to you.  It will then be for you to decide what solution is right for you, and subject to what that decision is, we may then pass you on to others to assist you, refer you to the Insolvency & Trustee Service, or look to sign you up formally as a Debtfix client, all with your agreement of course.

Depending on the solution you decide to run with, we will then need to verify your identity (to comply with our legal obligations) and we use an electronic identity verification service to do that.  You will need to provide us with evidence of who you are, where you live and you will need to formally agree for us to verify your identity, without which we will be stopped in our tracks.

Your Debtfix account 

If you sign up with a Debt Management Plan, Shipshape or Creditors’ Proposal with us, then we will hold money deposited by you in a designated and separate client trust account held in your name, however we will have a right to deduct fees and expenses, and to pay your creditors [people that you owe money to] in accordance with the terms of your plan or proposal, as agreed with your creditors.

We’re responsible for keeping accurate records about the money you pay to us, and how that money is expended.  We will hold the money in an interest bearing account, and will provide you with a six monthly summary of all receipts received from you or others on your behalf, and payments made on your behalf, including a summary of our fees, disbursements and expenses.

Keeping safe online 

Firstly, you agree that we can communicate with you about your financial position electronically.

If you believe that your e-mail account has been compromised or suspect any unauthorised use of your e-mail account then you need to let us know immediately, by emailing us at compliance@debtfix.co.nz, so that we can change your contact details, particularly if you have taken the step of becoming a client of ours.

While we have taken reasonable steps to ensure the security of the information you give us, you acknowledge that you give us information and use Debtfix at your own risk.  We are not liable for any misuse of the information you’ve given us that arises from a breach of our security measures.

Our Availability 

We can’t guarantee that Debtfix team members will always be available and apologise in advance for any undue delays or errors. Our website, our interactive tools and our people are not perfect all the time, but we will make our best endeavours to be so.

Our Fees and Expenses 

We don’t charge any fees for open dialogue with you, we only charge fees and expenses after we have engaged with you to provide a bespoke service to you.  We are fully transparent in the fees and expenses we charge, which will be detailed in the engagement or agreement we enter into with you.

We respect your privacy 

Please take time to read our Privacy Statement – it is an important statement outlining  what we may do with your personal information and data, and what your rights are.

Links

Our website may contain links to other websites, which will have their own terms and conditions, which clearly we are not responsible for.