NAB fined $15m for failing struggling borrowersThe big four bank has been fined $15.5 million after failing to respond to home loan borrowers seeking hardship support - in some cases for up to five years. The Federal Court found NAB and subsidiary Advantedge Financial Services (AFSH) failed to respond to 345 hardship relief requests within the three-week legal limit. By law, when a borrower in financial hardship contacts their lender, the lender must consider adjusting the contract, perhaps allowing payments to be deferred or loan terms extended. The failure to respond to hardship requests stemmed from NAB staff incorrectly using a 'reject' button in the bank's systems. Of the 345 customers who didn't receive a response to their hardship request, 282 were NAB customers while 63 held products with AFSH.