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NZ FMA Credit Complaint Route and Charges Checker
Find the current FMA and dispute-scheme complaint route for an old or new consumer loan, and tally actual interest and fees from your statements without guessing a payout.
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A student with NZ$8,600 in qualifying final-year fees could lose that entire conditional Fees Free amount if their recorded completion slips from December 2026 into January 2027. Inland Revenue confirmed on 17 September 2026 that people already enrolled get no transitional exception. Enter the fees within your final 1 EFTS of study or 24 months of work-based learning, then compare the two completion windows. This is a cutoff exposure estimate, not an IRD eligibility decision.
Completion is the date that matters
The September 2026 clarification closed a question that had worried people partway through a course: finishing after 31 December 2026 means no final-year Fees Free, even when enrolment and most teaching happened in 2026. TEC defines completion as the day you have met the requirements for the qualification or programme to be awarded. That may differ from your last class, graduation ceremony, or the day the provider enters the result. Ask the provider which date it will report to TEC or NZQA, then compare that date with the cutoff. A 2026 start date alone cannot preserve the payment. The official decision also depends on residency, programme approval, prior study and payments, and other conditions that this calculator does not verify. Inland Revenue's 17 September clarification and the TEC eligibility rules set out the boundary.
Which fees belong in the input
Enter the part of your final-year fees that could qualify before the NZ$12,000 cap is applied. For provider-based study, that means tuition, compulsory course costs and student services fees inside the final 1 EFTS. For work-based learning, count eligible training and assessment fees in the final 24 active months. The TEC policy parameters updated 4 September 2026 apply the 1 EFTS or 24-month boundary before the NZ$12,000 ceiling. A student can pay more for a whole qualification while only a smaller final slice is in scope. Fees for books or transport do not become eligible because they were paid close to graduation. TEC may also adjust the amount after receiving the provider's reported data. If you have only a whole-course invoice, ask the provider to separate the eligible final-year fees before relying on the estimate.
Why the other-eligibility switch is explicit
Completion by the cutoff is necessary but not a promise of payment. The scheme covers the first eligible qualification or work-based programme, and a person who already received first-year Fees Free cannot use it again for their final year. Residency rules differ between provider-based and work-based learning. Prior study can matter even when the earlier course did not lead to a completed award. Training Incentive Allowance used for final-year course fees can also affect the claim; using it for childcare or transport is a different situation. Set the other-eligibility switch to yes only after checking your position with myIR and TEC. If you are unsure, the zero shown by the tool is a hold on the estimate, not a rejection from IRD. Keep the input marked unconfirmed until the records are checked.
What an extra semester can cost
Mira's eligible final-year provider fees are NZ$8,600, inside 1 EFTS. She has never used Fees Free and meets the other conditions. If her provider records completion on 18 December 2026, the conditional support is NZ$8,600. If one remaining assessment moves completion to 8 January 2027, the conditional support is zero, leaving NZ$8,600 more to finance or pay herself. That amount is based on her fee input, not a government estimate of all students' losses. For a student with NZ$14,400 in eligible final-year fees, the cap limits the conditional amount to NZ$12,000; NZ$2,400 remains their own cost even if they finish on time. The difference between on-time and late completion is still NZ$12,000 for that particular scenario. Do not assume rushing an incomplete assessment is worth the money: ask your provider what is academically possible and what date it will formally record.
The claim window is separate
You apply only after you complete and pass. Someone who completed an eligible qualification during 2026 may apply through myIR within 12 months of their own completion date, with 31 December 2027 as the outer limit. That 2027 application window does not help someone whose qualification itself finishes in 2027. If you finished in 2025, the separate final date to apply is 31 December 2026. Inland Revenue pays an approved entitlement to the student-loan balance when there is one; otherwise it goes to the bank account. If your provider's completion record or fee report looks wrong, contact it promptly. The timing of the report can affect when an application is processed, while the underlying qualification completion date controls the 2026 cutoff. Inland Revenue's current scheme guide explains the payment order and dates.
What the numbers actually mean for you
One assessment can move the recorded finish into 2027
Mira's case turns on an academic record, not a payment form. Inland Revenue's 17 September 2026 statement says there will be no special treatment for people who began their course before the scheme ended. The provider reports when a learner meets the requirements to be awarded the qualification. A last lecture in December does not settle that if an assessment or placement is still outstanding. The graduation ceremony could be in March and still be irrelevant if the award requirements were met in December.
Suppose Mira's potentially eligible fees are NZ$8,600. If the provider records completion on 18 December 2026, the calculator shows NZ$8,600 as the conditional maximum. Move only the completion timing to 8 January 2027 and the selected-date result becomes zero. That is an NZ$8,600 financing difference for a plausible eight-thousand-dollar fee window. The figure is useful when talking to an academic adviser about a genuine finish date; it should never be used to demand a false date or skip required work.
Ask a precise question: which requirements remain, and what date will appear in the record after each is complete? TEC says the qualification completion date should align with the New Zealand Record of Achievement. If the provider cannot yet answer, keep the estimate conditional. A delayed processing date is different from a genuinely late completion; the provider is the source for the recorded academic event.
The cap comes after TEC identifies the final-year fees
The NZ$12,000 figure is easy to misread as a cheque everyone receives. TEC's September-updated parameters set three distinct constraints. Provider-based study counts only the final 1 EFTS, which is usually 120 credits. Work-based learning counts the final 24 active months. Within that study window, only allowed fees count. The NZ$12,000 inclusive-of-GST ceiling then stops the amount from rising any further. Completing on time satisfies a date rule, but it cannot turn a NZ$7,000 eligible fee record into a NZ$12,000 award.
Aroha's eligible final 1 EFTS costs NZ$14,400. The conditional support is NZ$12,000, leaving NZ$2,400 uncovered even though her qualification is finished in November 2026. On a different qualification with NZ$5,200 of eligible fees, the cap never bites and the conditional amount is NZ$5,200. These are illustrative fee records, not the site's claim about typical New Zealand tuition. They show why the fee box takes your own number and why the gap between the invoice and the scheme may exist before the deadline is considered.
When an invoice mixes several years, optional equipment, accommodation or transport, do not put its total into the tool. Request a breakdown by course and fee type. Inland Revenue lists tuition, compulsory course costs and student services fees for provider study; work-based programmes have their own training and assessment fee treatment. TEC eventually uses reported provider data and checks it against the scheme's boundaries. An estimate built from a rough whole-course total can look precise while being wrong by thousands.
A zero can have three very different causes
If the widget shows zero, read its text result before assuming that the government rejected you. A 2027 finish means the national completion cutoff was missed. A yes answer to prior first-year Fees Free means the scheme's one-use limit is likely the barrier. Marking other eligibility as unconfirmed tells the widget to pause the financial estimate because it lacks your records. Those cases call for different next steps: talk to the provider about completion, check earlier Fees Free records, or resolve an eligibility question with myIR and TEC.
Prior study and residency can be more complicated than a yes-or-no box. The TEC policy distinguishes provider-based and work-based learners, including different residence conditions. The prior-study test looks at study before 2025 and has specified exclusions. Training Incentive Allowance used to pay final-year course fees may also stop a claim for that calendar year's fees, while using it for childcare or transport has a different effect. A learner whose final year spans 2025 and 2026 may need TEC to examine each period. The calculator deliberately leaves those decisions to the agencies and shows only the cutoff amount under your stated assumptions.
The practical order is to verify whether the qualification and your status qualify, obtain the provider's eligible fee figure, then use the widget to see what a 2027 completion changes. Reverse that order and a big number may anchor your plans before anyone has checked whether it was claimable. If you are uncertain, save your provider correspondence and send the specific question to Inland Revenue through myIR rather than treating a search snippet as a ruling.
The payment can arrive in 2027 after a 2026 finish
A learner who finishes in 2026 does not need an approved payment by New Year's Eve. The completion deadline and the claim deadline are separate. Inland Revenue says you apply only after completing and passing, within 12 months of your own completion date; eligible 2026 completers cannot apply later than 31 December 2027. So Mira, finishing on 18 December 2026, could still have time in 2027 to submit her claim, subject to the 12-month rule. If she actually finishes on 8 January 2027, applying quickly does not repair the missed completion cutoff.
Fees Free is retrospective. When you enrol, you still need to pay the provider or arrange a student loan. Once IRD and TEC approve an entitlement, it is credited to a student-loan balance if you have one; without a loan, it goes to your bank account. This matters to a student making a December cash plan: even a possible NZ$8,600 entitlement does not pay the tuition bill in advance. If provider data take time to reach TEC, the claim can be delayed, but an administrative delay is not itself proof that the academic completion happened in 2027.
For people who completed in 2025, Inland Revenue sets 31 December 2026 as the final application date. That is a separate cohort and falls outside the two completion windows in this widget. Use the official application instructions for your cohort, and keep a copy of the recorded qualification completion date, fee statement and any student-loan entry. Those documents are more useful than a screenshot of an estimate if a claim is queried later.
Conditional Fees Free amount at the 2026 completion cutoff
F is the eligible fee amount you enter after applying the final 1 EFTS or 24 active work-based months. E is one only when you confirm the scheme's other eligibility conditions and have not already received first-year Fees Free. D is one only when your qualification or programme is completed by 31 December 2026. S is the conditional amount at your selected completion date. The NZ$12,000 ceiling is from TEC's final-year policy parameters, updated 4 September 2026; Inland Revenue's 17 September clarification confirms there is no transition for 2027 completers.
The calculator runs the same fee amount twice: once under a by-2026 completion scenario, then at the timing you selected. Their difference is the amount exposed to a 2027 finish. This isolates one decision you can discuss with your provider. It does not calculate your actual TEC entitlement, decide whether your earlier study counts, or assume an invoice for the entire qualification is eligible.
Calculation Steps:
- Ask your provider for the date it will report as the day you met the requirements for the award. Choose the by-2026 or from-2027 window; the enrolment date does not decide this cutoff.
- Find tuition, compulsory course costs and student services fees inside your final 1 EFTS of provider study, or eligible training and assessment fees inside the final 24 active months of work-based learning.
- Enter only those potentially eligible fees. The tool caps them at NZ$12,000, but it does not determine whether TEC will accept each line item or the provider's reported fee window.
- Confirm the remaining residency, programme, previous-study and payment conditions with Inland Revenue and TEC. Mark the self-report switch no if you have not confirmed them.
- State whether you previously received first-year Fees Free. A prior payment normally prevents another final-year claim, even when the 2026 completion date is met.
- Read the on-time amount beside the amount at your selected date. For a 2027 completion, the difference is the conditional support lost to the cutoff; verify the result against your myIR record before planning cash or borrowing.
Worked example
Mira is finishing a provider-based design qualification. Her provider has separated NZ$8,600 of tuition and compulsory fees inside the final 1 EFTS from earlier fees for the rest of the qualification. She has checked that the programme and her residency meet the rules, and she never used first-year Fees Free. The academic office expects to record her completion on 18 December 2026.
With an on-time completion, the conditional amount is min(NZ$8,600, NZ$12,000), or NZ$8,600. Mira still has to complete and pass, apply through myIR afterward, and wait for TEC to assess the fee and eligibility data. The widget cannot turn that estimate into a confirmed grant.
A remaining assessment is then rescheduled and the provider says it would record completion on 8 January 2027. The same NZ$8,600 of fees now produces zero conditional Fees Free support. The amount exposed to that delay is NZ$8,600, which may be added to her student loan or paid from savings. Whether she can complete the assessment earlier is an academic question for the provider, not something the calculator can answer.
Her friend Aroha has NZ$14,400 of potentially eligible fees within her own final 1 EFTS and finishes in November 2026. Even with every other rule met, the cap reduces her conditional amount to NZ$12,000; NZ$2,400 remains outside the scheme. If her completion moves to 2027, the amount exposed is NZ$12,000, not the entire NZ$14,400 invoice.
Input definitions
Review the glossary of terms used in the calculation model below. Click on highlighted links to read more in-depth definitions in our financial glossary:
| Parameter | Definition & Context |
|---|---|
| Qualification completion timing | The date the provider records that you met the award requirements, grouped by the 31 December 2026 cutoff. It is separate from enrolment, ceremony and application dates. |
| Fees inside the eligible study window | Potentially covered final-year tuition and compulsory costs inside 1 EFTS of provider study, or eligible fees inside 24 active months of work-based learning, before applying the NZ$12,000 cap. |
| Other eligibility self-check | Your own confirmation of residency, programme, previous-study and other rules after checking IRD and TEC. The tool does not assess them independently. |
| Previous first-year Fees Free | Whether you have already benefited from the earlier first-year scheme. Inland Revenue says Fees Free is normally available only once. |
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