Credit Card Application - 'Odd' work circumstances

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  [Deactivated] on 27/09/2015 - 23:41

  +1

  I'm fairly sure that medical leave (like all other forms of leave) is still considered to be a continuation of your existing employment arrangements. If any form of leave meant that you were no longer an employee, it wouldn't be leave.

  Legally, I'm also reasonably sure leave does not break the continuity of employment, unless the leave is taken (a) in excess of three months for casual employees, or (b) without any prior arrangement or employer approval for any employee.

  Tl;dr - for all intensive purposes, you are still considered to be employed.

  • 

    kyttiekat on 27/09/2015 - 23:50

    Thanks - that makes sense!

    Just to clarify though, I say I'm on "medical leave" but my real leave (ie paid at full rate) ran out a while back. So like I said, I'm on salary continuance, and I'm still in touch with my employer regularly to report on medical progress.

    Do your thoughts still apply? ie I'm still considered employed, even though I've exhausted my paid leave?

    I suppose that makes me on unpaid leave…

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 28/09/2015 - 00:09

      +1

      Correct. That would indeed be unpaid leave (and leave = still employed), provided that there is some sort of an arrangement with your employer where they understand that you have not quit your role and that you will be resuming your duties after a certain milestone (eg. After ____ days, after _____ condition improves, etc).

      Regarding your OP, let's tackle 1) first.

      Assuming that you existing credit card is with a bricks and mortar bank such as NAB, ANZ, WBC or CBA, I would highly recommend that you visit a branch in person to discuss your own circumstances.

      When visiting the bank, take your most recent financial documents along with you, plus any documentation confirming your medical leave and, if possible, a letter on your employer's letterhead confirming your annual salary.

      Doing something like this online in the present situation can be quite daunting, given that you technically don't have income right this second. You're still employed, but for the reasons you've outlined you don't have dollars coming in.

      Ozbargain peeps will understand this, but bank formulas won't. For the bank servers, no $ in = no CC out. And I'm not going to suggest at all you try this online, because a rejected CC increase will show up on your credit report, making future credit applications more difficult.

      Regarding 2), because the 28 Degrees card is managed wholly online and any contact over the phone will be entirely dependent on the call centre employee's intellect, understanding and job requirements (none of which we can directly control without current income information), don't apply for this now.

      Use your existing CCs to make overseas purchases, or else I'd highly recommend the Citibank Plus Transaction Account. 100% fee free, no catches, offering some of the best rates around in the market, and because you use your own cash you don't have to go through the hoops of explaining yourself to every single person who answers your call on the other end, and you won't have to stress like a Gypsy with a mortgage waiting to see if you've been approved for further credit.

      • 

        kyttiekat on 28/09/2015 - 00:42

        Thanks again for your detailed thoughts.

        Not applying online is a really good point - I definitely don't want a ding on my credit report! Lucky I didn't get too ahead of myself and 'try'.

        Sounds like I do need to pop in to a branch. Although, I do receive 'income' via the salary continuance - 75% of income, on a monthly basis. Do you think the bank peeps would count this as income though, in terms of assessing for a credit card? Or possibly not?

        I think I do have an agreement with the workplace, because my salary continuance cover is tied to my employment. i.e. if I quit the role, I lose the cover. And in my ongoing claims documentation, there's always a reference to how soon I can get back.

        Thanks so much again for your thoughts. I'll continue to make overseas purchases on my existing CC (which is fee-free too), but the currency conversion fees are killing me haha. Will just wear them for now. :)

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 28/09/2015 - 01:54

        @kyttiekat:

        No problems, more than happy to help. :)

        Addressing your last point first, most CCs would have some sort of a currency conversion fee which is a percentage of the total foreign amount spend, and some CCs even go further by first converting from AUD to USD, and then to the required currency. So you lose not only once, but twice.

        It might not seem as if you're being charged any other fees, but a closer look might reveal that the bank is giving you less foreign currency for your AUD. And that's a hidden charge right there.

        I've used (and currently use) the Citibank Plus VISA Debit card and I happily swear by it. No currency conversion fees, no account keeping fees, fee-free ATM use (yes, that's any ATM) outside Australia, no minimum balances to maintain. Zilch.

        Also, if you were to apply for the 28 Degrees card, you'd have to disclose your existing CCs and loans. That could also limit how much 28 Degrees wants to give you.

        Further, regardless of the outcome of the 28 Degrees card application you'll still have an enquiry listed on your credit report. If the application is approved, you'll have a 'hard' enquiry listed. If it's not approved, it'd be the same but would also include the reason as to why it wasn't approved.

        Either way, enquiries on your credit report are best kept to a minimum, as future CC or loan applications will work in your favour the lesser number of enquiries you have on your CR.

        Addressing your first point, for special circumstances such as this I'd steer clear of online applications and would see someone in a branch instead. You'd be surprised how much human intervention helps.

        It happened to my Dad recently. Applied for a CC but got told that we needed payslips in his name (despite him having uploaded two). Then it struck us - the payslips were issued in a name which he is known at work, not his legal name.

        So off to the bank we went, with some important info:
        - Payslips in Dad's work alias
        - Dad's work RFID card which has his photo and his work alias
        - His licence, showing his photo, given name and address
        - Other docs such as bills (to prove use of given name amd address) and most recent ATO notice of assessment to prove his income.

        48 hours later, got a call from the same branch, saying that his application has been approved and that his cards are ready for collection.

        Regarding your income situation, I'm not 100% sure if the bank would consider that as 'income', but I'd err on the side of caution and suggest that the bank would probably consider income if it came directly from your employer. Your current payments might be seen as income similar to that received from casual employment, which wouldn't substantially change the bank's opinion.

  • 

    endotherm on 28/09/2015 - 02:09

    +1

    for all intensive purposes…

    for all intents and purposes.

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  altomic on 28/09/2015 - 00:56

  +1

  A friend of mine is on medical leave with income protection and his CC company -28degrees asked if he wanted to increase his limit from 6k to 9k. He accepted. They only asked if he would be able to make the monthly repayments if he used the additional $3000. Which he could easily.

  • 

    kyttiekat on 28/09/2015 - 01:10

    Thanks, that's good to know! I don't intend to use any extra, but just dislike getting so close to the limit each time.