I need help paying for my internet
Solitary Technology is committed to assisting customers who are facing Financial Hardship to maintain access to telecommunications services. Our policy prioritises keeping customers experiencing financial hardship connected. If you are having trouble with payments and are concerned about your connection, we want you to know that suspending or disconnecting a service is always a last resort.
What is Payment Assistance?
Payment assistance is designed to reduce the pressure when you are unable to pay your bill. This support is free to set up and is tailored to your individual situation.
Payment assistance can include:
- Giving you more time to make a payment.
- Setting up a payment plan that works for you.
- Looking into your costs and finding ways to reduce them, such as changing to a lower-speed internet plan or removing unneeded add-ons.
- In some cases, we may consider removing some of what you owe or applying a credit.
Payment assistance can be short-term (up to 3 billing cycles) or long-term (more than 3 billing cycles).
Who is Eligible?
You are eligible for payment assistance if you are a Solitary Technology customer with an active account and are having trouble keeping up with your regular payments.
Certain life events can lead to financial stress and the need for payment assistance. These may include:
- Losing a close family member.
- Serious illness of yourself or someone in your household.
- Being impacted by domestic or family violence.
- Becoming unemployed.
- Reduced or insufficient income.
- Being affected by a natural disaster.
These are just some examples, and we offer assistance in situations beyond those listed. Having an open complaint or fault does not prevent you from receiving assistance. You can also receive assistance more than once.
How to Apply or Find Out More
Whether you are ready to apply or just want to discuss your options, our Payment Assistance team can help. We understand it can be difficult to ask for help and promise to be kind and discreet. With your permission, a financial counsellor or authorised person can also seek assistance on your behalf.
Our team is trained to assess your situation and provide clear information on available support.
Application Process
- Initial Contact: Reach out to us via phone or email.
- Assessment: We will assess your situation to determine what assistance we can provide, making sure it’s fair, flexible, and affordable.
- Review Options: If you’d like, we can give you time to consider your options or discuss them with someone you trust.
- Confirm Your Plan: You let us know what you would like to do. We will apply the support to your account as soon as possible and confirm your plan in writing.
While your application is being assessed, we will pause payment notices for any charges you owe. If you are not eligible for assistance, we will notify you using your preferred contact method.
While You’re Receiving Payment Assistance
While on a payment assistance plan, you need to:
- Make your agreed payments when they are due.
- Let us know if you cannot make a payment.
- Notify us within 14 days if your situation changes in a way that affects your plan.
- Keep your contact details up to date.
- Respond as soon as possible if we ask you to get in touch.
If you don’t make your agreed payments and we don’t hear from you, we may stop your payment assistance. We will send reminders and try to contact you before making changes. If we still cannot get in touch, we may suspend or disconnect your service.
Other Financial Support
You can also contact the National Debt Helpline (NDH) for free financial counselling and other helpful services.
Complaints
If you believe there is something wrong with how we have provided payment assistance, please let us know.
You can find more information about our complaints process here. If you are not happy with how we handle your complaint, you can contact the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman (TIO).
Privacy
We understand that you might share sensitive information when seeking payment assistance. We handle this information in line with our privacy policy and relevant laws.
You can read our privacy policy here.