Privacy and Student Loan Procedures

Many people with student loan debt worry about having to disclose their private information to the IRD or to the Official Assignee. 

We thought it would be useful if we discussed how much needs to be disclosed for the various procedures:

• Application for a lump sum write off: In most cases no details are required, for you or your partner, other than the amount you can pay. In some cases, providing more details can make your case stronger. In rare cases the IRD will require full details in order to consider this procedure.
• Application for a time payment arrangement for your arrears: In most cases a brief, bare outline of your financial situation is required. In rare cases the IRD will require full details in order to consider this procedure.
• Application for hardship: The IRD will require full details of the financial situation for both you and your partner. The information required is primarily the current information, but with supporting documentation that covers the last few months. Many people object to providing their partner's details. Unfortunately, the IRD will generally not consider a hardship application if you leave details out (like your partner's finances).
• Bankruptcy application: This is made to the Official Assignee, not to the IRD. You will have to provide full details of your finances. You will have to provide your partner's income and expenses in your budget. Other than that, if your partner, a trust, a business, or any other person has, or had, assets that have never been owned by you, and to which you have not contributed, those details do not usually have to be included, except if it involves a motor vehicle that is owned by someone else and is used by you. The difference between the information requirements for a hardship application and a bankruptcy application, is that a hardship application requires the same details relating to both you and your partner but the main focus is on the present finances, while the bankruptcy application mainly focuses on you but it considers both the present and the past.