Mortgage payment difficulties.
Speak to us
If you are concerned about keeping up with mortgage payments, please contact us as soon as you can.
You’re not alone; thousands of mortgage borrowers get help from their lender every year. Talking to us about this will not affect your credit score.
We will support you based on your needs and what you can afford to pay.
Read on to see what support we might be able to offer.
Mortgage Payment Difficulty Helpline
Please get in touch as soon as you can by speaking to our dedicated team on 01473 278510, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, or email [email protected].
Here for you
How we help mortgage borrowers with payment difficulties.
If you’re worrying about how to pay your mortgage, please speak to us so we can help. Often we’re able to agree a solution with our mortgage borrowers to help ease the burden, before it escalates into a bigger issue.
What we will do.
If you have not contacted us in advance and fail to make your mortgage payment in full and on time, we will contact you at an early stage to discuss your problem, in writing and by phone so we can agree how we can help you.
We will give you details of organisations who can give you debt advice (for example, Citizens Advice), and we will talk to them if you want us to.
We will always give you reasonable time to pay back any missing payments and would only start proceedings to repossess your home as a last resort, when all other reasonable options have been exhausted.
How we might be able to help you.
We’ve signed the Mortgage Charter – a set of standards agreed by the government, major lenders, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to support borrowers. We can have a discussion with you about your possible options under the Mortgage Charter and other options we can consider, depending on individual circumstances.
Steps you can take
- Contact us as soon as possible for friendly, non-judgmental help. You’ll speak to someone specially trained in supporting borrowers like you.
- If you’re coping now but think you might struggle soon, speak to us as soon as possible . This is especially important as any missed or late payments would be registered on your credit file.
- Seek free independent debt advice – see the links below.
- Get back to us quickly if we contact you. We’re here to help you.
- Keep your fellow borrowers or guarantors up to date with what is happening.
- Try to stick to any arrangement we agree with you and tell us if anything changes that might cause you challenges.
- Check if you are entitled to any benefits or tax credits which could increase your income.
- Check any insurance policies to see if it would help with your payments.
- Tell us if you change your contact details.
Things we may be able to offer you (subject to eligibility)
- Change the way you make payments, or the date you make them in the month.
- If you’re on a repayment mortgage you could extend your mortgage term . This would reduce your monthly payments but increase the overall cost of the mortgage.
- Another option if you’re on a repayment mortgage is we could allow you to pay just the interest. This would reduce your monthly payments but increase the overall cost of the mortgage.
- Switch you to a product with a lower rate if you’re paying our Standard Variable Rate (SVR).
- Change how we calculate the interest, so you pay simple interest instead of compound interest.
- Capitalise the arrears (adding the arrears to the total mortgage balance).
- Help you with a temporary agreement to reduce your monthly payment for an agreed period.
- Set up a monthly payment plan to clear the arrears over an agreed period.
If we can offer you an arrangement, we will explain how it would work. We will give you time to consider if it’s right for you.
Debt advice
Useful resources.
You may wish to seek free, impartial debt advice from one of the following resources:
Citizens Advice. For free independent advice in your area, find your local Citizens Advice.
National Debtline. Offers a free, confidential and independent phone service. Website also contains fact sheets and a self-help pack. Freephone: 0808 808 4000.
Step Change Debt Charity. Provides a free and independent service on the phone and online. Offers a structured programme on how to manage your money through a personalised ‘Debt Remedy’ booklet. Freephone: 0800 138 1111
The Building Societies Association and National Debtline have created a guide with practical advice on what to do if you can’t pay your mortgage.
FAQs
Frequently asked
questions.
If you’re worrying about how to pay your mortgage, please speak to us so we can help. Often we’re able to agree a solution with our mortgage borrowers to help ease the burden, before it escalates into a bigger issue.
We will always give you reasonable time to pay back any missing payments and would only start proceedings to repossess your home as a last resort, when all other reasonable options have been exhausted.
We may send a debt counsellor to see you to discuss your financial circumstances; the cost of the visit will be charged to your mortgage account.
We may go to court to start proceedings to repossess your home. If proceedings take place, we strongly recommend that you attend the court and that you seek independent debt and legal advice.
Starting court proceedings does not necessarily mean that we will repossess your home. We will keep trying to solve the problem with you. Possession is always a last resort. If, as a last resort, we repossess your home, we will give you information about getting in touch with your local authority to see if they can find you somewhere else to live.
If you are in arrears, we may charge you for reasonable administrative and legal costs. We will tell you if there are any charges or costs that you will have to pay in accordance with our Tariff of Charges.
Arrangements we make with you may affect your credit file, however, it’s better to make a plan with us than ignore any difficulties and start to miss making your monthly payments.
As well as speaking with us, you will also need to contact your housing association to discuss the situation with regards to paying your rent. Failure to pay your rent or service charges can result in forfeiture of lease.
We might agree to you remaining in the property to sell the property yourself, depending on your circumstances. Please get in touch so we can talk to you about this.
Repossession is always a last resort. If, as a last resort, we repossess your home, we will give you information about getting in touch with your local authority to see if they can find you somewhere else to live.
We will sell it for the best price we can reasonably get. We will try to sell it as soon as possible.
We will give you reasonable time to take your possessions from your home.
We will use the money raised from selling your home to pay your mortgage and any other secured loans. If there is any money left over, we will pay it to you.
If there is not enough money from the sale to pay the whole mortgage, you will still owe us the amount that is left (a shortfall debt). We will tell you what this is as soon as possible.
If you bought your home with other borrowers, each of you is responsible for all the money borrowed. This is true even if you normally only pay part of the mortgage.
We may contact you at any point within six years of selling your property to arrange for you to pay back what you still owe.
We will take into account your income and outgoings when we arrange a payment plan for this shortfall debt with you. But if we cannot arrange a suitable plan, we may go to You might have to pay additional court costs. If a shortfall debt is not paid, it could affect whether you are able to get credit in the future.
You may be thinking about handing your keys over to us. If you do this, you will still owe us any outstanding debt, and we would advise you to talk to us before taking such action.
Although we do all we can to ensure we provide a first-class service, sadly from time to time things do go wrong. We want to know when you’re not happy so we can improve the quality of our service and identify possible training needs, and of course we’ll do all we can to resolve your problem.
If you’d like to make a complaint, you can do this through our online form on our complaints page. Or complaints can be made at any of our branches or agencies, by emailing us at [email protected] or by calling us on 0330 123 0723.
Some companies may offer you new loans or even invite you to sell your property to them and then lease it back as a way of resolving your short term financial difficulty. Please be cautious, as such actions may not be in your long term interests. We would advise you to seek independent legal advice before entering into any arrangement of this type.
Can’t find what you need?
Enquiries
We’re here to help.
If you would like to proceed with one of the options available under the Mortgage Charter, please complete the form. Alternatively if you feel unsure what option or support is best for you, please get in touch so that we can discuss this further.
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Call 01473 278510
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