What Is Considered a Financial Hardship on a Fee Deferral?
Whether you're facing a hefty payment on your taxes, a school enrollment fee or something else that you can't quite afford, you may be eligible to defer the fee because of a financial hardship. Depending on the fee and the circumstances, you may be able to negotiate with the organization to which you owe money -- explaining the situation is generally the key to getting a deferral based on financial hardship, though the definition of financial hardship varies.
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Unforeseeable Emergency
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In some cases, dealing with an unforeseeable emergency gives you the leeway you need to defer a fee payment. Unforeseeable emergencies are the things you cannot predict that stretch your budget, like prolonged illness that keeps you out of work, a personal injury or a death in the family. Depending on the fee and the organization to which you owe it, you may need to provide documentation like a doctor's note proving that you have been the victim of such circumstances.
Receiving Government Benefits
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Receiving government benefits that are designed for people in difficult economic circumstances may serve as evidence that you are facing financial hardship. Since government programs like food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and other public assistance are programs for which you must qualify and apply, the fact alone that you receive assistance from them demonstrates your financial hardship and may qualify you for deferrals.
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Living in Poverty
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Living in poverty may qualify you for a fee deferral -- if you can demonstrate via pay stubs that you do not make much money, you can show your financial hardship. To defer student loan payments, for example, you may need to demonstrate that you are working full-time and make less than 150 percent of the poverty level income for a family of your size in your state. You may also demonstrate financial hardship by earning less than the federal minimum wage rate while working full-time.
Volunteering
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If your primary occupation is that of a volunteer, you may qualify as a person with financial hardship. Specifically, you may be able to defer your federal student loan payments if you are a volunteer with the Peace Corps. Since working in such a capacity does not pay you the money you need to repay your loans, it qualifies you for a deferral.
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