Credit Guide | Domain Home Loans

About us

Domain Home Loans is the trading name of Digital Home Loans Pty Ltd which is an Authorised Credit Representative of the licensed credit assistance provider, Auscred Services Pty Ltd. This Credit Guide sets out important information about the licensee, credit representative and the services we provide.

What is Credit Assistance?

Digital Home Loans Pty Ltd is appointed as a credit representative of Auscred Services Pty Ltd (a licensed credit assistance provider). Digital Home Loans Pty Ltd is authorised as a credit representative to provide credit services to you under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, which includes credit assistance. We are required to provide this Credit Guide to you as soon as practicable after it becomes apparent that we are likely to provide credit assistance to you. We provide "credit assistance" when we:

• suggest or assist you to apply for a particular credit contract with a credit provider; or
• suggest or assist you to apply for an increase to an existing credit contract with a credit provider;
• suggest you remain in a particular credit contract with a credit provider.

Preliminary Assessment

What we will need from you

When we provide you with credit assistance, we must only recommend credit products that are not unsuitable for you. To be able to determine which loan products are not unsuitable, we are required to complete a Preliminary Assessment. When we make this preliminary assessment, we will ask you about your requirements and objectives, your financial and personal situation and your ability to repay the loan that you are considering. In assessing these factors, we are also required to take reasonable steps to verify some of the information you provide us. This verification may include asking you for copies of documents that demonstrate your financial situation (in some cases we may also need to sight original documents) and contacting third parties to assist in verifying the information that you provide.

Obtaining a copy of your Preliminary Assessment

You may request a copy of our Preliminary Assessment, and we must give you a copy of it within 7 days (if the request is within the first 2 years post completion of the document) or within 21 days (if the request is after 2 years but before 7 years after it has been prepared). There is no charge for requesting or receiving a copy of the Preliminary Assessment.

How do our Representatives get paid?

We are paid commissions by lenders for introducing customers. The lenders we deal with will usually pay us a commission based on the size of loan and the particular loan product you have selected. We will only be paid this commission if your loan is settled and drawn down. We may also be paid an ongoing commission by your lender based on the outstanding balance of your loan. The licensee is not paid any commissions from lenders. The commissions that we are paid by your lender are not payable by you (they are paid to us either directly by the lender, or paid to us by our Aggregator).

At this stage the amount of fee payable is unascertainable. As part of the application process we will provide you with a Credit Proposal Disclosure Document, which will include an estimate of the commission that we will receive from the Lender if you decide to proceed with the application and the loan settles. You can also request this information from us.

Fees and charges that are payable by you in relation to our credit assistance

We do not charge a fee for our credit assistance.

Our top 6 credit providers

We currently have 41 lenders available to customers and in the last financial year (to 30 June 2020), we submitted loans to 22 lenders. In the last financial year, our top 6 lenders based on the number of settled loans were ING (23.3%), Macquarie (19.9%), HSBC (14.7%), Bankwest (11.2%), Adelaide Bank 7.4%) and Westpac (6.2%)

Other people we deal with

Our Aggregator

We gain access to the loan products we recommend to you through the services of our Aggregator. In order to gain access to their panel of lenders, our aggregator charges us an annual fee as well as a monthly fee for each of our loan writers.

Referrers and Referral fees

In some cases, your business may have been referred to us by non-regulated third parties such as real estate agents, accountants, financial planners etc. Where this is the case and a referral fee is being paid to these parties, the fee will be disclosed in the Credit Proposal document that will be given to you prior to your finance application being lodged. You can also ask us for a reasonable estimate of these fees and how we worked it out.

Dispute resolution and complaints

Whilst we always strive to provide the best possible service, we understand that there may be times where you are not satisfied. If this occurs, and you wish us to do something about it, we have a formal process in place to address your concerns.

Internal Dispute Resolution

If you do have a complaint, please contact our Complaints Officer using the details at the start of this document. If you choose to contact us by email, please make sure you include as much information as you can. You should explain the details of your complaint as clearly as you can. You may do this verbally or in writing.

When we receive a complaint, we will aim to acknowledge it within five (5) business days and try to resolve it as soon as we can (usually within 45 days). Where we are unable to provide a final response to your complaint within 45 days, we will send you an email or letter advising of the reasons for any delay, and your right to complain to our External Dispute Resolution (EDR) scheme.

External Dispute Resolution

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint, you may make a formal complaint to our EDR Scheme, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), which can be contacted on:

T: 1800 931 678 (free call)
E: info@afca.org.au
W: www.afca.org.au
P: Australian Financial Complaints Authority
GPO BOX 3
MELBOURNE VIC 3001

Time limits may apply to complain to AFCA and so you should act promptly or otherwise consult the AFCA website to find out if or when the time limit relevant to your circumstances expires.

Things you should know

We don’t make any promises about the value of any property you finance with us or its future prospects. You should always rely on your own enquiries. We don’t provide legal or financial advice. It is important you understand your legal obligations under the loan, and the financial consequences. If you have any doubts, you should obtain independent legal and financial advice before you enter any loan contract.

Privacy

We are committed to protecting your privacy. We use the information you provide to assist you with your credit needs. We only provide your information to the companies with whom you choose to deal (and their representatives) unless we are compelled by law. We do not trade, rent or sell your information. If you don’t provide us with full information, we can’t properly advise or assist you. You can check the information we hold about you at any time. For more information about our Privacy Policy please visit our website here www.domain.com.au/home-loans/privacy/ or ask us for a copy. For more information on your privacy rights please visit oaic.gov.au.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this credit guide or anything else, just ask as we are here to help you.