The Mutual Association grants its members two types of loans, the ordinary loan and the housing loan, which are repaid by monthly salary deductions.

Brochures

Ordinary loan regulatory brochure

Housing loan regulatory brochure

Conditions

• Employment contract

To apply for a loan members must hold a contract of employment for a fixed-term or indefinite period, or a permanent contract. Members who hold a short-term contract cannot apply for loans unless they are working for WIPO or WMO,

Members who wish to borrow must hold a contract of employment valid for at least 6 months at the time of the request. Members who have a contract of employment valid for less than 6 months must obtain from their Human Resources Department an attestation of renewal and add it to the loan application forms.

• Amount granted

The maximum debt a member can have with the Mutual Association is CHF 250,000, housing and ordinary loans combined,

The amounts granted to members depend on their contractual status (date of entry into the organization, type of contract, salary) and their financial situation, and do not necessarily correspond to the maximum amounts proposed for each type of loan.

• Maximum duration of a loan

The maximum duration of a loan is based on the expiration date of the borrower’s employment contract, but cannot exceed the expected retirement date. Members who do not hold a permanent or indefinite contract will have their length of service taken into consideration in order to extend the reimbursement period beyond the expiration date of their contract,

For members employed for less than one year with their organization, the maximum duration of the loan shall not exceed the expiration date of their contract.

• Monthly loan repayments

Loans are repaid by means of monthly salary deductions,

The freeze of monthly instalments is not allowed.

• Sick leave - leave without pay

Members who are on sick leave, on leave without pay or have submitted to their organization a request for a leave without pay cannot obtain a loan. Members must have resumed their work full time in order to apply for a loan and supporting documents, issued by Human Resources Department, will be requested. If a member does not declare that he/she is on sick leave and that the loan is granted, it will not be covered by the insurance in the event of death or disability,

Members who are on sick leave without full pay must continue to pay the full monthly instalments. The Mutual Association recommends its borrowers to take an insurance with GPAFI or with an external insurer to cover the difference in case of sick leave without full pay,

Members to whom a loan was granted by the Mutual Association and who take a leave without pay must immediately inform the Mutual Association and provide a copy of the administrative notice as well as personal data. The Board of Directors will decide on the instalment to repay during the leave without pay,

If a member does not inform the Mutual Association of his/her leave without pay or does not repay his/her loan(s) during the leave without pay according to what was requested, the Mutual Association will inform the Human Resources Department of his/her organization and the total monthly instalments plus accrued interest will be due.

• Disability - death

Members who apply for loans must complete a medical questionnaire,

An insurance contracted by the Mutual Association covers the amount due on loans in the event of the borrower’s death or total disability, as recognized by the organization employing him/her, as long as the insurer accepts to cover the loan, and that the member did not make any false statement or omission related to his/her state of health from the time of the loan applications until the payment of the loan,

If the insurer refuses to cover the loan in case of death or disability, the Mutual Association will not grant a loan to the member concerned,

If, over the last 4 complete years as well as the current year, a member made a false statement related to his/her state of health on the loan application forms when he/she applied for loans, including consolidated loans, the outstanding debt will have to be repaid by the member, or by the heirs in case of death.

• External debts

Members who apply for loans must declare all external debts/loans, incl. car leasing, credit cards, and submit the last statements with their application,

The Mutual Association is entitled to obtain any information on the borrower’s financial situation and to verify the accuracy of the information contained in the loan application, notably external financial commitments,

Members who are the subject of debt collection proceedings may obtain a loan only in order to clear the debt as a matter of priority. In case of agreement by the Board of Directors, the payment will be made directly by the Mutual Association to the creditors.

• Appeal

Loans can be refused, by the decision of the Board of Directors, to members who have failed to fulfil their earlier obligations towards the Mutual Association, made incorrect statements on previous loan applications (sick leave taken, external financial commitments, debt collection proceedings, etc.), or whose global financial situation is considered as precarious,

Any dispute related to the decision not to grant a loan will be submitted to the Board of Directors whose ruling is final.

• Early retirement - separation - inter-organization transfer - secondment

Members who take an early retirement from their employment are obliged to reimburse their total debt at the time of separation,

Members who leave their organization and are no longer employed by an organization within the United Nations system must fully repay their debt at the time of separation,

For members who have separated or transferred from their organization and who will work for a non-member organization within the United Nations system, final emoluments will be blocked to repay partially or totally any outstanding loans. If the loan is not fully repaid with the final emoluments, members have the possibility to request the repayment of the loan(s) through monthly instalments. The decision of the Mutual Association will depend on the new contractual status of the members,

Members who are on secondment to a non-member organization within the United Nations system, can keep their loans and must continue to repay the balance by means of monthly salary deductions,

Members who leave their organization and continue to be employed by another member organization within the United Nations system, must continue to repay the balance by means of monthly salary deductions.

• Default

Members who do not repay their loan will have their file sent to an external collection office which will recover the amount due.

• Loan simulation - budget simulation

Members can perform loan simulations on the Mutual Association website,

Members can process with a budget simulation on the Mutual Association’s website to determine if their financial situation would allow them to face the charges related to a new loan.

• Loan payment

The payment of a loan is performed when the Mutual Association is in possession of the original loan contracts,

Payment of loans is made, in principle, by bank transfer. If the amount granted is less than CHF 10,000 payment can be done by cash.

• Early loan repayment

A loan may be partially or totally reimbursed in advance as long as a minimum of 6 monthly salary deductions have been done,

Early loan repayment is done free of charge,

A partial reimbursement is allowed only once during the duration of the loan,

Members who wish to repay their loan partially or totally in advance must send a request by email or by mail to the Mutual Association for agreement. Repayments made without prior approval from the Mutual Association are refused,

As a partial or total repayment can be made only between the 1st and the 15th of each month, members must submit their request to the Mutual Association at the beginning of the month,

Early loan repayment can only be done by bank transfer or withdrawal from the members account(s) with the Mutual Association. Repayment by cash is not authorized,

If a member effects an early repayment by bank transfer, the funds can only be accepted from the following sources:

1. an external bank account in the name of the member,
2. an external bank account in the name of persons holding a power of attorney previously registered by the Mutual Association,
3. a member organization,
4. the pension fund of a member organization.

Any deposits originating from other sources are refused.

In case of early loan repayment the Mutual Association may request members for additional information or documents in order to justify the source of funds and tax compliance. If the source of funds and tax compliance cannot be clearly established by the usual procedures, the Mutual Association reserves the right to request additional information or refuse the early repayment,

After having received the approval by the Mutual Association, members will have to strictly follow the instructions provided by the Mutual Association, notably the period of repayment, otherwise the funds will be refused and the early loan repayment cancelled,

For members who have repaid a loan in advance and submit a new loan application within six months from the date of repayment, the approval by the Board of Directors is required. The latter is entitled to request information or documents in order to decide on the request.