Mortgage payment difficulties

Please remember that just talking to us about difficulties in paying your mortgage will not impact your credit file.

The first thing you should do is call us to talk about your situation. We will discuss your current financial position with you and depending on your individual circumstances, we will be able look at what types of support we could offer you.

This may include us asking you to complete your current incomings and outgoings information on our online budget tool, where you can send us this information securely.

This is the quickest way to make sure that we have the most up-to-date and correct information about your financial position. Once we have that, we can look at the best solution for you. 

It might also be useful to look at the Pay Plan budget tool. This tool will help you see if you are receiving all the income you’re entitled to as well as provide you with useful tips on budgeting.

We will treat all customers fairly, taking individual circumstances into consideration. 

Once we understand your circumstances, which may include your completed current incomings and outgoings information, we will be able look at what types of support we could offer you.

We may be able to help you by:

• Arranging a new payment plan, taking your individual circumstances into consideration.
• Changing the way you make payments or the date on which you make them.
• Access to free, independent debt advice via our partner PayPlan.

We will talk you through options you may wish to consider. We will explain how they will work, give you time to ask any questions and consider your options. If we cannot provide any options for you, we will tell you why. 

Our Mortgage Health Check page will help you identify any areas you may need to review and ways you can improve your mortgage agreement, which may make your payments easier to manage.

Please note: Your credit file will not be affected by simply talking to us, although it may be impacted depending on the most appropriate option for your circumstances. We will discuss this with you before taking any further action to allow you to make an informed decision.

We will then discuss options that you may wish to consider and explain how they will work and give you time to consider them. If we cannot offer any of the options, we will let you know why.

If we cannot agree a solution to your mortgage payment difficulties, we may appoint a field agent to discuss your financial circumstances and the cost of the visit will be charged to your mortgage account (you will not be expected to pay this up front).

Repossession will always be a last resort and only undertaken when all other support options have been exhausted.

Under the mortgage charter we will not repossess homes within 12 months from the date of a first missed payment.

The Society will only resort to repossessing a property where all other reasonable attempts to come to a satisfactory arrangement have failed. 

MoneyHelper is a government supported service that offers free support for people with money worries. Which includes impartial guidance, and recommendations to further, trusted support if you need it.

PayPlan offers free, confidential and expert debt advice to help people take back control of their finances. They will also work with your creditors on your behalf. PayPlan’s Budget Smart tool can also help you increase your income and reduce your bills.

National Debtline is a charity that are dedicated to providing free debt advice to people across the UK.

Building Societies Association providing advice on what to do if you can’t pay your mortgage or if you think you might struggle in the coming months.

Turn2Us offer a confidential online calculator which you can use to check if you are entitled to any benefits.

If you have not missed any payments yet but are worried about making future mortgage payments, here are just some of the options that can be considered. Please note that these are subject to your personal circumstances. 

• Arranging a payment plan, taking your individual circumstances into consideration
• Arranging a new short-term solution as you face a period of uncertainty
• Changing the way you make payments or the date on which you make them
• Changing the term of the mortgage
• A transfer to an alternative product if eligible (subject to any early repayment charges)
• Access to free, independent debt advice via PayPlan

Calling us to discuss your situation will not impact your credit file. Your credit file will only be impacted if you miss a full monthly mortgage payment, or if you enter into a formal payment arrangement with us.

If you’re going through a difficult and stressful time, please contact us as soon as possible. 

We’ll talk through some options that could make your payments more manageable, or give you some room to breathe.

If we cannot agree a solution to your mortgage payment difficulties, we may appoint a field agent to discuss your financial circumstances and the cost of the visit will be charged to your mortgage account (you will not be expected to pay this up front).

We may go to court to start proceedings to repossess your home. 

Repossession is always a last resort. The Society will only resort to repossessing a property where all other reasonable attempts to come to a satisfactory arrangement have failed. We therefore encourage you to contact us if you remain unable to make your mortgage payments.

If, as a last resort we do seek possession, we strongly recommend that you attend the court and take independent debt advice. We will keep trying to resolve the problem with you. Starting court proceedings does not necessarily mean that we will repossess your home.

If we do repossess your home:

• We will sell it for the best possible price.
• We will give you a reasonable time to take your possessions from the property.
• We will use the money raised from the sale to repay your mortgage and any other loans or charges.
• If there is any money left, we will pay it to you.
• If there is insufficient money to repay the mortgage, you will still owe us the amount that is left. 
• We will tell you the amount as soon as possible.
• We will take into account your income and outgoings when we arrange a payment plan to repay the debt.
• If the debt is not repaid, it can also affect your future ability to obtain credit.
• If you bought your home with other borrowers, each of you is responsible for all the money borrowed. This is even if you normally pay only part of the mortgage.
• We will contact you within six years of selling your property (five in Scotland) to arrange for you to pay back what you still owe.

Some companies may offer you new loans or invite you to sell your property to them and then lease it back as a way of resolving short-term mortgage payment problems. You might also be tempted to remortgage with a different provider or borrow more against your home. Please be careful, as such actions may not be in your long-term interests. We would advise you to seek independent advice before entering into any arrangement of this type.

You may be thinking about handing your keys to us, which is called voluntary repossession. If you do this, you will still owe us any outstanding debt, and we would advise you to discuss this option with us before taking any such action.

If you took out your mortgage after 31 December 1994, we have to tell a Credit Reference Agency about some arrears (this means you’ve missed mortgage payments and have payments overdue). If you have arrears of one monthly payment or more at the close of business on the last day of any month, we’ll have to pass the number of missed payments on. This could make it more difficult for you to get credit in the future. It is therefore essential that contact is made at the earliest opportunity.

Firstly, it’s important to know that just talking to us won’t affect your credit file and we would urge you to speak to us as soon as possible if you are facing payment difficulties, or think you might do in the future.

We are here to support you. When speaking to you about your options, we will always try to ensure the impact on your credit file is minimal and we will tailor the options available to your personal circumstances.

Typically, if you do make an arrangement with us, this will show on your credit file. However, this is a better outcome than your credit file showing missed payments with no arrangement in place. It’s best to speak to us as soon as possible so we can support you. 

If you miss a payment and haven’t contacted us, we will try to contact you by phone, email and letter in the first instance. We will then allow you some time to bring your account up to date.

If you think you are going to miss a future payment, it’s important to contact us as soon as possible and we can put a plan in place if necessary, such as a payment break or payment deferral.

If you miss one or several payments without contacting us, or we can’t get in contact with you, this could have an impact on your credit file and you may incur additional charges.

Please note that missing payments will remain on your mortgage balance and the total amount of interest you pay will be higher whilst the payments are outstanding.