Pension Boost has a petition running to bring the government's reverse mortgage solution, known as the Pension Loans Scheme (PLS), in line with regulations that were applied to commercial reverse mortgage providers in 2012 to protect vulnerable seniors.

“The numbers may be modest, but the sentiment amongst seniors is strong and the Government needs to listen if they want to remove barriers to the take up of the PLS across Australia,” said Paul Rogan, Pension Boost Founder and CEO.

Pension Boost strongly believes that all seniors should be afforded equivalent protection when accessing ‘reverse mortgage style contracts’, irrespective of whether they are provided by commercial providers or the Government. Currently, the Government provides no protection to consumers for negative equity situations arising from the PLS.

Without this crucial consumer protection, the most vulnerable seniors (or their estates) may be exposed to the risk of owing the Government a debt after their home is sold. Based on the 1000s of PLS projections Penson Boost has done for our clients, the seniors most exposed to negative equity risk appear to be those who:

• Have modest levels of net equity in their home
• Have a relatively large existing loan mortgaged against their home
• Live in remote or rural areas with low property growth rates/prospects
• Are relatively early in their retirement (late 60s/early 70s) so can be expected to live for another 25 years, or more

Want to learn more about Pension Loans Scheme? Check out our frequently asked questions today.