Responsible Lending: Preliminary Assessment

A preliminary assessment must be completed within 90 days of providing credit assistance to your client. The purpose of the preliminary assessment is to determine that the credit contract in 'not unsuitable' by completing the following 3 steps:

• Make reasonable enquiries about the consumer's requirements and objectives   
• Make reasonable enquiries about the consumer's financial situation
• Take steps to verify the information provided to you

The preliminary assessment must be completed in full with information auto-populated from Mercury this includes:

• client's name
• address
• income
• living expenses
• credit commitments
• funding position (calculations tab)
• Product recommendation (calculations tab) Please note at least three lender/products need to be compared for the basis of your recommendation.
• Needs Analysis Responses (questionnaires tab)

Note: You are not required to provide the preliminary assessment to the client however this must be kept on file for 7 years from the time of providing the credit assistance to the consumer.

If a consumer requests a copy of their preliminary assessment you must provide this to them within the below timeframes:

• 7 business days if the request is within 2 years of providing credit assistance
• 21 business days if the request is 2 - 7 years after providing credit assistance

The preliminary assessment can be generated from the compliance wizard box in Mercury (number 4 in the box). Remember this does not have to be provided to your clients but does need to be completed in full and stored in Mercury.

If you have any questions relating to this topic contact compliance@connective.com.au