Guidelines.
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Everything you need to know.
We stand beside our customers and brokers—with flexible solutions that are integral to supporting their home buying customers.
Our Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) underwriting standards and guidelines are designed to assist in completing proposals for LMI.
They represent the minimum acceptable requirements for submission of an LMI proposal to Helia.
To support financial wellbeing, now and for the future, Helia will consider any LMI proposal that does not meet our guidelines based on individual merit.
| LMI guidelines bulletin | Effective date |
|---|---|
| LMI underwriting standards and guidelines bulletin | 2 December 2024 |
| LMI underwriting standards and guidelines bulletin | 1 July 2024 |
Valuation minimum standards
| Title | Effective date |
|---|---|
| LMI valuation minimum standards | May 2023 |
Cancellations and refunds.
Depending on your lender, you may be entitled to a partial refund of your LMI fee if you repay your home loan within two years of the settlement date.
In some cases you may not receive a refund due to an arrangement to receive a larger up-front discount (instead of the right to a refund). In this case, the amount of this discount would have been reflected in the fee passed onto you, by your lender.
If you have repaid your home loan, all cancellation and refund enquiries should be directed to your lender.
Lender questions – For further details please contact us on 1300 655 422 between 9am and 5pm Monday - Friday or by email at cancellationsAU@helia.com.au
For further information, please contact our Loss Management Leader, Matthew.Keli@helia.com.au
Hardship Assistance.
Unexpected life events can have a devastating impact on a home owners financial wellbeing including their ability to meet home loan repayments. Life changing events can include sudden job loss, reduced income, illness, domestic violence, and relationship breakdowns.
Home owners
Please contact your lender who will work with you to determine the options and solutions for your circumstance.
Lenders
Please contact our Loss Mitigation team to talk through our offerings to support your customer.
Contact: Loss Management Leader – Matthew Keli Matthew.keli@helia.com.au
Loss Mitigation
Reporting requirements for lenders
Our Master Policy sets out our terms and conditions when dealing with arrears.
Any insured loan which is 60 days in arrears needs to be reported to us within 14 days of the end of each month using our arrears reporting template.
Arrears reporting templates can be found in The Hub.
Arrears reporting can be submitted to ArrearsAU@helia.com.au or submitted via Helia's Managed Secure File Transfer (MFT)
When life gets in the way of meeting home loan repayments
If there’s been a change in circumstances and the home owner is finding it difficult to make their home loan repayments, it’s likely they are experiencing financial hardship.
Hardship reporting can be found in The Hub
Hardship reporting can be submitted via our eLMI portal, HardshipsAU@helia.com.au or our Managed Secure File Transfer (MFT)
Debt Recovery - Borrower Information (2023)
When it’s time to sell, with home owner still in control
For a borrower experiencing difficulties meeting their loan repayments, one of the hardest decisions they will have to make is to sell their home.
It is important they speak to their lender or broker and are encouraged to seek independent financial and/or legal advice before doing so to ensure they make the correct decision.
A borrower sale can be submitted to LossMitigationAU@helia.com.au
The lender has taken possession of the property
Mortgagee-in-possession (MIP) sales occur as a last resort when a borrowers financial difficulties are regrettably unable to be resolved and they have chosen not to sell their property themselves. As the lender is in possession of the property, we will work with the lender throughout the MIP sale process.
Information on MIP reporting requirements can be found in The Hub.
A MIP notification can be submitted to LossMitigationAU@helia.com.au
The property is sold with a shortfall incurred
A claim form must be completed by the lender and submitted with any ancillary information to the Claims Adjudication team for assessment before payment will be made.
A claim for the shortfall loss form can be found at THE HUB
A claim can be submitted via our eLMI portal or to claimsAU@helia.com.au
For more information.
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