Consumers
Factsheet
What Should I do if I am Having Difficulty Paying My Mortgage
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Contact: Neil Johnson Date: 9 May 2007 |
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If you find you have difficulty paying your mortgage you should contact your building society as soon as possible.
You will find a sympathetic voice at the end of the line or in the branch. Building society staff are trained to assist customers experiencing financial difficulties in an individual way, and recognise that it can be a very difficult conversation to begin. They also understand that most repayment problems are not your fault, but are usually caused by circumstances out of your control such as interest rate rises, bereavement, relationship breakdown or losing your job.
What Happens When I Contact the Society?
Different societies have different processes for dealing with arrears and repayment problems. However, usually you will jointly develop a repayment plan with your society.
Development of the repayment plan will usually involve you listing your income and expenditure, to allow you and the society to see where savings can be made. This could see other loans being rescheduled and will help you to regain control of your overall finances as well as helping mortgage payments.
Arrears will then be regularly discussed with you to see how the repayment plan is going and to see if any changes are required.
It is vital you are upfront with your society about your true financial commitments and the situation that you are in. Doing so means that that a solution can be developed that suits both you and the society.
Further Help and Advice
Although the building society will try to provide you with any further help that you need, organisations such as Shelter (Tel 020-7505 4699 www.shelter.org.uk) are also able to provide independent advice. Advice can also be obtained from your local Citizen’s Advice Bureaux (www.citizensadvice.org.uk ) and from the National Debtline (Tel 0808 808 4000 www.nationaldebtline.co.uk ). A full list of building societies can be found at http://www.bsa.org.uk/aboutus/buildsocmember.htm
Societies are more than happy to work with professional organisations to ensure that the borrower receives good advice and that a suitable repayment plan is put in place.
All it Takes is a Phone Call
If these steps are followed, and you ensure that all of the requirements contained in the repayment plan are adhered to, you should be able to stay in your home.
All it takes is a phone call…..
Five Steps to Dealing with Payment Difficulties
1 – Contact your building society as soon as possible to tell them your problems
2 – Be totally honest with them about your situation
3 - Work out a repayment plan with your building society
4 – Keep a close eye on your finances to make sure you are able to keep up with the agreed plan
5 – If you are having any difficulties keeping to the plan, contact your society again and see if it can be reviewed
If you follow these steps, you will be able to clear the mortgage arrears and gain peace of mind.
