Target Market Determination (‘TMD’)

1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW:

Prepared by Lawfunder Pty Ltd, ACN 107 346814 Australian Credit Licence number 456 404 (Us, We, Our). This Target Market Determination (TMD) applies to our Personal Injury Compensation Loan product (the product). This document was last updated: 13 December 2023.

This TMD is designed to offer consumers, distributors and staff an understanding of the class of consumers for which this product has been designed and is likely to be consistent with the likely objectives, financial situation and needs of the consumers for whom they are intended (the target market). This TMD is general in nature and should not be construed as financial advice. Consumers should obtain independent advice prior to acquiring the product to ensure that it is appropriate for their particular objectives, financial situation and needs.

What is a Target Market Determination?

This TMD describes:

1. the attributes of the product;
2. the class of customers that the product has been designed for;
3. how the product attributes meet the target market needs;
4. the product distribution conditions;
5. review periods for the determination;
6. review triggers for the determination.

2. TARGET MARKET IDENTIFICATION (TMD)

The target market for the Personal Injury Compensation Loan product is defined as follows:

Individuals who:

• have a common law personal injury compensation claim on foot;
• with a reasonable expectation of receiving compensation;
• whose claim is sufficient to repay any loan made to them by Lawfunder;
• who have legal representation;
• who require immediate financial assistance before settlement of their compensation claim/s;,
• require minimum finance of $5,001and maximum finance of $25,000; and
• who face challenges accessing credit.
• want the certainty of a fixed interest rate and loan costs;
• require a simple and efficient loan application and payment process with plain English contract documents; and
• do not want to pay for more expensive types of credit such as small amount credit contracts.

These borrowers are likely to have the following objectives, needs and financial situation and must meet the eligibility criteria for this product.

(A) OBJECTIVES

The likely objective of a borrower is to satisfy immediate living standard needs. The objective may be to buy an asset like a car, cover household and/or motor vehicle expenses, paying medical expenses, consolidate existing debts, go on a holiday or to satisfy day to day living expenses, including but not limited to paying a mortgage or paying rent.

B) FINANCIAL SITUATION AND SUITABILITY FACTORS (NEEDS):
The loan product is suitable for consumers:

• whose legal representatives are confident in the successful outcome of their compensation claims and expecting a substantial settlement;

• with the ability to make a single repayment from the anticipated proceeds of their compensation when it concludes;

• who have difficulty making regular loan repayments and need access to finance without the need to make any regular repayments; until they receive the proceeds of their compensation claim.
• with a good or bad credit history.

(C) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

Borrowers must satisfy the following criteria:
• be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or resident with a residency status acceptable to us.
• 18 years or older
• have legal representation which agrees to abide by the terms of Lawfunder’s lien or charge over the anticipated compensation proceeds;
• have a common loan compensation claim on foot acceptable to Lawfunder; and
• it can be demonstrated that the Borrower has the capacity to repay the loan from the proceeds of their compensation claim.

3. KEY ATTRIBUTES OF THIS LOAN PRODUCT

• Fixed interest rate of 20% – 30% per annum
• Establishment fee of 7% of the amount of credit.
• Fixed Annual Fee of $595.
• Single repayment schedule linked to the payment of the relevant compensation claim.
• Flexible terms 9 weeks to 2 years, (which can be extended or reduced without penalty) depending on when the settlement of the customer’s compensation claim occurs.
• Secured by a lien or charge over the nett proceeds of the compensation claim.
• Minimum amount financed of $5,001 and maximum of $25,000.
• No payment required other than from the proceeds of the customer’s compensation claim or other security (if any).
• Fast approvals and payments when eligibility criteria satisfied.
• Simple plain English contract documents.

4. HOW THE KEY ATTRIBUTES OF THIS LOAN PRODUCT MEETS THE NEEDS OF THE TARGET MARKET

• No repayments required other than from the proceeds of the customer’s claim.
• Available to customers with either good or bad credit history.
• Flexible term if needed;
• Fixed interest, annual  and establishment fees at less than those usually charged for small amount credit contracts.
• Efficient approval and payment process with plain English documents.

5. DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

The following distribution channels and conditions will ensure the Personal Injury Compensation Loan product reaches the intended target market.

The product may only be accessed by:

• Application through the website;
• Telephone to the number on the website which may also be made available to selected personal injury compensation lawyers.
• Contact Form on the website

All material on our website will be accurate and compliant and all staff who communicate with customers and prospective customers will be trained to be accurate and compliant in such communications.

The product will not be sold through third parties, brokers or intermediaries. Personal Injury Compensation Lawyers may refer their clients to us but:

• they have no authority to conduct any business on our behalf; and
• no commission or other benefit or payment is made for such referral.

Only customers who satisfy our eligibility criteria and have the other attributes of our target market outline above will be considered for our product

6. REVIEW OF TMD

Scheduled Periodic Reviews

We will conduct periodic reviews of this TMD every two years. Our responsible manager will conduct all Design and Distribution Obligation (DDO) reviews and record the results in a report which will specify:

1. As to what, if any, trigger events have occurred.
2. Why, if known, that event has occurred and in particular if it is due to an external factor and not our product.
3. What, if any, action to take in order to ensure compliance with DDO:
   ● No change if all is within the parameters published above; or
   ● The product needs a redesign;
   ● A new distribution condition is required; or
   ● The product must cease to be offered.

Other Review Triggers

We will conduct further reviews if any trigger event occurs. Our responsible manager will monitor our loan files for any trigger events on a quarterly basis. We will review this TMD if the following trigger events occur in relation to this product:

1. One or more terms of the product are altered and we consider that this alteration reasonably suggests that this TMD is no longer appropriate.
2. If any external sources such as:

a) AFCA; b) ASIC; and c) Community based consumer organisations;

communicate to us that they have identified a systemic issue with our Product or if the number of complaints referred to AFCA or by community based consumer organisations increases by 10% in a 6 month period..

3. The number of complaints to our internal dispute resolution process from approved customers as a percentage of customers increases by 10% in a 6 month period.

Significant Dealings

If at any time, we detect that more than 5% of the consumers receiving our product within a twelve (12) month period are not within our Target Market, we shall report this to ASIC as a Significant Dealing within ten (10) business days.