Contact your Matching and Placement Coordinator as soon as possible if you are facing hardship and cannot make your part payments .
There are financial assistance options that may be available to you across government agencies.
Part payment debt
You need to pay a weekly rent for the TAS arranged temporary accommodation, this is called a ‘part payment’.
If you are late with your part payment by 10 working days or more, your temporary accommodation may be terminated and you will be required to move out of the temporary accommodation.
If your part payment is in arrears, you will receive a notice outlining the amount that is owed and some options available to you to clear the debt. You must either pay the owed amount or come to an agreement on a payment plan with Temporary Accommodation Service to clear the debt.
Email us to discuss a payment plan for your part payment arrears. You will need to provide evidence of financial hardship, or exceptional circumstances for your household, that have caused you to be late with your part payments:
If no payments are made to clear the part payment in arrears, or if a payment plan cannot be agreed to, your temporary accommodation may be terminated and you will be required to move out of the temporary accommodation. TAS may also seek to recover the owed amount through a debt collection agency.
Who can apply for a part payment plan
You can apply for a change to your part payment if your household is experiencing:
- exceptional circumstances, or
- financial hardship
If your application is accepted by TAS, a payment plan may be agreed to for a change to your part payment or to clear debts from part payment arrears.
Exceptional circumstances
Exceptional circumstances are circumstances that are unexpected and have a significant effect on the life of your household and your ability to make part payments.
E.g. situations such as bereavement, or physical or mental health deterioration.
Being displaced because of a civil defence emergency does not qualify as an exceptional circumstance for this purpose.
To qualify for a change in part payments under exceptional circumstances your household must:
- be facing exceptional circumstances that make it financially or practically difficult to make part payments for a period of time, and
- not currently receive financial assistance from the Ministry of Social Development or your insurer that meets the cost of your part payment.
Under this category, changes to your part payment will be temporary, with the period of time for the changes decided on a case-by-case basis.
Undue financial hardship
Part payments may be reduced in cases where displaced households are facing undue financial hardship.
Changes under this category will consider:
- your household’s net weekly income,
- the difference between the standard part payment and your household’s accommodation costs prior to being displaced, and
- any continuing fixed housing costs from your household’s place of residence prior to being displaced, such as mortgage, rates, or insurance payments.
Depending on your household’s circumstances, you may have your part payment temporarily reduced with a specified end date, or reduced on an ongoing basis, with a set review period to make sure the amount remains appropriate and affordable. Change will be decided on a case-by-case basis and as your circumstances are reviewed per the set periods.
How to apply
Complete the following application form to apply for a change to your part payment and return to TemporaryAccommServ@mbie.govt.nz
TAS Hardship application form [PDF, 301 KB]
Talk to your Matching and Placement Coordinator if you need help with your application.
Disputing decisions
If you want to dispute decisions about your part payment application, please email TASPartPayments@mbie.govt.nz within 5 days of receiving the decision.
Provide relevant information for the dispute, including supporting material that you would like considered.
We will review your dispute and be in touch with you as soon as possible.
If the dispute involves other people, for privacy reasons we may be limited in the information and/or updates we can provide to you.
