Complaints and Compliments

At Brighten, we are committed to resolving complaints promptly, fairly and transparently. If you are dissatisfied with our products, services, staff or complaints handling process, we encourage you to let us know.

We take all complaints seriously and will work with you to understand your concerns and find a fair and reasonable resolution.

You can submit a complaint using any of the following channels: 

Form: Contact us for any loan questions
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 131488
Post: PO Box H338 Australia Square NSW 1215

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint promptly and work with you to reach a resolution. 

If you have specific communication or accessibility needs, we can provide additional support. Please let us know how you would prefer to communicate with us. We can also help you access support services at no cost.

You’re also welcome to have someone you trust support you or speak with us on your behalf, such as a family member, friend, carer, financial counsellor or community worker. Just let us know what you need and we’ll explain how to arrange this.

If you are experiencing vulnerability, including family or domestic violence, financial abuse, elder abuse, serious or terminal illness, mental health challenges or the impact of a natural disaster, we are here to help. We will treat your situation with care, sensitivity and confidentiality, keep the number of times you need to share your situation to a minimum, and work with you to find a safe way to stay in contact.

Once we receive your complaint, we will: 

1. Acknowledge your complaint promptly.
2. Investigate the matter thoroughly and fairly.
3. Provide you with the outcome of our investigation and any proposed resolution within 30 calendar days.

If we need additional time, we will contact you to explain why and advise when you can expect our response. 

If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may be able to escalate it to an external body. The avenue available to you depends on the type of loan you have with us. For most of our loans, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is the external dispute resolution scheme which applies.

Where you are a business which is not a small business, or your dispute is above AFCA’s monetary limits or compensation caps, your complaint may not be covered by AFCA’s Rules and other avenues may be available. All your options are set out below.

AFCA provides free, fair and independent dispute resolution for financial complaints.

AFCA may consider complaints from:

• Individual consumers.
• Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
• Not-for-profit organisations and clubs that are not registered charities, provided they carry on a business and have fewer than 100 employees.
• Registered charities, regardless of the number of employees they have or whether they carry on a business.

Please note that where a business forms part of a group of related companies, AFCA may not be able to consider the complaint if the group employs 100 or more people in total.

If you are a small business customer and your complaint is not eligible for an AFCA review, you may wish to contact the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) or your relevant state-based small business body, and/or obtain independent legal advice.

ASBFEO is an independent body that provides information about dispute resolution options and access to mediation and alternative dispute resolution processes for small businesses. 

Depending on where your business is located, you may be able to access mediation or dispute resolution support through your local small business agency.
A list of these can be found here: Small Business Commissioners | ASBFEO