---
title: "Response to a hardship notice under the National Credit Code: information request, agreement and refusal letters"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/debt-recovery-and-civil-enforcement/hardship-notice-response-letters"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a46-hardship-notice-response-letters"
area_id: "A46"
kind: "letter"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A46-A20260923-2"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-18"
---

# Response to a hardship notice under the National Credit Code: information request, agreement and refusal letters

> Three linked letters for a credit provider answering a debtor's hardship notice under s 72 of the National Credit Code: a request for information, an agreement to change the contract (with the s 73 notice) and a…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/debt-recovery-and-civil-enforcement/hardship-notice-response-letters  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-18

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

Three linked letters for a credit provider answering a debtor's hardship notice under s 72 of the National Credit Code: a request for information, an agreement to change the contract (with the s 73 notice) and a refusal with reasons and AFCA details.

## Key facts

- Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Practice area: [Debt Recovery & Civil Enforcement](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/debt-recovery-and-civil-enforcement.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia
- AI level: Yellow. AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-18
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-18 against the 3 authorities it cites, for Australia.

## When to use it

Use when a debtor under a regulated consumer credit contract says, orally or in writing, that they cannot meet their obligations, including when the notice reaches the creditor's lawyers or collectors during recovery. Diarise the 21-day response period from the day after the notice is received.

## Used for these tasks

- [Draft an instalment or settlement agreement from the approved terms](https://ailawframework.com/practice/debt-recovery-and-civil-enforcement.md#A46-A20260923-2)

## How AI may be used

AI may draft the chosen letter from the hardship notice, the account and the decision record; a lawyer or authorised credit officer checks the dates, the decision and the reasons before it is sent.

**AI may:**

- Calculate the 21-day and 28-day response dates from the date the hardship notice or the requested information was received
- List the information the debtor has already given and what is still missing to make a decision
- Fill the agreement letter with the varied repayment terms exactly as approved in the decision record

**AI must not:**

- Must not decide whether the contract will be changed, or state reasons the decision-maker did not give
- Must not omit the AFCA contact details and the debtor's right to complain from a refusal letter
- Must not refer to default notices, enforcement or credit listing in a letter answering a hardship notice unless the lawyer has confirmed the step is lawful at that point

**The lawyer checks:**

- The date the hardship notice was received (oral notices count) and the response date that follows from it
- The contract is a regulated credit contract and the debtor is the person who gave the notice
- For an agreement: whether the change defers or reduces obligations for more than 90 days, so a written notice of the change is required within 30 days
- For a refusal: the reasons are the real reasons on the file, and AFCA's current contact details are correct

## Authorities

- [National Credit Code (Sch 1, National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth)) s 72, hardship notices and response timeframes, as explained in ASIC, FAQs: Dealing with consumers and credit](https://www.asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/credit/credit-notices-and-offences/faqs-dealing-with-consumers-and-credit)
- [National Credit Code s 73, notice of a change agreed after a hardship notice (deferral or reduction for more than 90 days; notice within 30 days of the agreement), as explained in ASIC, FAQs: Dealing with consumers and credit](https://www.asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/credit/credit-notices-and-offences/faqs-dealing-with-consumers-and-credit)
- [ACCC and ASIC, Debt collection guideline for collectors and creditors (April 2021), part 2 s 14 (repayment negotiations) and s 15 (contact when a payment arrangement is in place)](https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Debt%20collection%20guideline%20for%20collectors%20and%20creditors%20-%20April%202021.pdf)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/debt-recovery-and-civil-enforcement/hardship-notice-response-letters and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*