An unexpected line item on a home loan statement is frustrating partly because it is ambiguous. It may be a charge you agreed to in the contract, an administrative error that should be reversed, or a signal that your repayments are slipping and fees are compounding the problem. Those three situations need three different responses, so the first job is diagnosis, not argument.
This guide covers how to identify what you are looking at, how to put the query to your lender in a form that gets a decision, and how to escalate — internally, then to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) — if it is not resolved.
Step one: match the charge against your own documents
Before you contact anyone, compare the line item with two documents you already have or can request: your credit contract or loan agreement, and the fee schedule or schedule of fees and charges that sits alongside it. Your statement should describe the charge in words; the contract is where the trigger for that charge is defined.
What to record before you make contact:
- The date the charge was applied, the exact amount, and the description shown on the statement.
- Whether the same charge appears in previous statements or is a one-off.
- Whether anything changed recently — a missed or short payment, a fixed-rate period ending, a request you made, a direct debit change, a property revaluation.
- The page, clause or fee-schedule wording you think applies, or the gap you think exists.
Legal Aid WA's financial hardship and mortgage stress information notes that you are likely to be charged fees on your account and your mortgage. Fees existing is normal. The question worth asking is whether this particular charge matches something disclosed, triggered and notified correctly.
Write your notes down in date order. Every later stage — an internal complaint, a hardship request, an AFCA complaint — is easier when you already have a clean timeline.
Step two: put the query to your lender
How you frame the first contact affects everything after it. A general complaint ("why am I being charged this?") usually produces a general answer. A specific request ("which clause of my fee schedule permits this charge, and what event triggered it?") forces the lender to point to something concrete.
Ask your lender:
- What the charge is called and which document permits it.
- What event or date triggered it, and whether notice was given to you beforehand.
- Whether the charge was applied correctly — administrative and system errors do occur, and reversal is the outcome to request if so.
- If it was applied correctly, whether there is discretion to waive or reduce it. Ask plainly. Do not assume the answer either way.
- What internal complaint options exist if you are unhappy with the response, and how to start one.
- For a written response, not just a verbal one, and a reference number for your query.
Log the date and time you contacted them, who you spoke to, and the reference number. If the matter escalates later, this record is what turns your version into a documented one.
Two things worth separating here. Fact: AFCA is the free and independent external dispute resolution scheme available to financial service providers, borrowers and consumers, according to Legal Aid NSW's mortgage information. Practical interpretation: the practical route there usually runs through your lender's internal complaints process first, because that is where the lender's final position gets put in writing. That final written position is generally the most useful document to carry into any external complaint. Treat the internal route as building your case file, not as a hoop.
If the fee is a symptom of repayment trouble
Sometimes the unexpected charge is arrears-related, and the fee is not the real issue — the missed payment is. Handle both at once.
Legal Aid NSW's mortgage information is direct on sequencing: if you have fallen behind with your mortgage repayments, you must act quickly and inform your lender. You can also ask your lender for a hardship variation, depending on your circumstances. If the lender does not accept your hardship variation application, you can apply to AFCA.
Legal Aid WA publishes information on the same territory — what to do if you cannot repay your mortgage, when you can apply for a hardship variation, what you can ask for, and what happens if the application is unsuccessful. Read that description of what to ask for before you call; knowing which options exist makes the conversation more productive.
Worth knowing about how loans were assessed: The Conversation reports that when assessing home loan applications, lenders are required by law to check that a borrower could still make repayments if interest rates rose by a certain amount. That check happened at approval; it does not freeze the actual repayment you face later.
On the bigger affordability question, The Conversation makes two unromantic points. If your mortgage is still unaffordable and you want to keep your home, you will need to cut back in other places to afford repayments over the long term. And if you reach the point of selling, you will generally get a better price selling the property yourself than letting the bank take possession and sell it to recover the outstanding loan balance. Both are arguments for acting early rather than late.
Escalating to AFCA
Legal Aid NSW states that if your lender does not accept your application for a hardship variation, you can apply to AFCA, describing it as the free and independent external dispute resolution scheme for financial service providers, borrowers and consumers. It also sits within the lender-does-not-resolve track covered in that same guidance.
When you complain to AFCA, your submission should be short and evidenced. Include:
- A plain timeline of events, with dates.
- Copies of statements showing the charge, your correspondence, and the lender's written response.
- Reference numbers for your phone calls, emails and internal complaint.
- What you are actually asking for: reversal of the charge, correction of a process, reconsideration of a hardship variation, or something else stated precisely.
Keep the emotional weight out of the first two paragraphs. A complaint that opens with "on 3 May I was charged $X labelled Y" is stronger than one that opens with how you felt about it.
Questions you should verify yourself
These are not facts stated here — they are checks to run against current sources, because the details can change:
- What exactly does your credit contract and fee schedule permit, and does this charge match?
- Is AFCA the correct scheme for your specific complaint type and your specific provider? Confirm on AFCA's own guidance.
- Are there time limits for bringing the complaint to AFCA, and does your matter fall inside them? Check this early rather than assuming.
- Is free legal help available in your state or territory? Legal Aid NSW and Legal Aid WA both publish self-help material in this area and may also offer advice services.
- If your loan involves a rent-to-buy arrangement, read Legal Aid NSW's material on it specifically. Their guidance flags hidden fees and charges, questions about who legally owns the property, and the high weekly repayments these arrangements can involve. Elevated repayments there are a feature of the structure, so the "query this fee" route may not be the right first move.
- If English is not your first language or the contract is hard to read, ask whether your lawyer: interpreter services or a community legal centre can go through it with you.
Our boundary
This is general information for people living in Australia, not legal, financial, tax or credit advice. It does not account for your circumstances, your loan terms or your lender's processes, and it is not a prediction that a fee will be waived, a hardship variation granted, or a complaint decided in your favour. Nothing here makes a recommendation of any lender or product as "best". Confirm details with your lender's documents, AFCA, or a solicitor or financial counsellor before relying on them.
Practical next step
Pull up this month's statement alongside your fee schedule and identify the single charge you want to query first. Write down the six questions above, contact your lender using its documented complaints or feedback channel, and ask for a written response with a reference number. If the charge relates to repayments you cannot meet, say so in the same call and ask about a hardship variation — try home loan options on Australian Cash if you also want to understand how your loan's pricing compares, or start with our home loan match tool to narrow what is worth looking at.