Payment difficulties

Stay in control of your mortgage

If you're having trouble paying your mortgage, the information below explains how we will treat you fairly and what steps you should take to help yourself.

What we will do

• Contact you as soon as possible to discuss your problem.
• Treat you fairly, listening to your individual circumstances.
• Give you reasonable time to pay back the debt.
• Ensure everything possible is done to help you remain in your home.

How we can help you

• Arrange a new payment plan with you and periodically review this to reflect your current circumstances.
• Change the way you make your payments, or the date you make them on.
• In some cases allow you to pay your repayment mortgage back over a longer period.
• Change the type of mortgage you have, for example temporarily converting your account to an interest only basis could reduce your contractual payment.

If we can make one of these arrangements with you, we’ll explain how it would work and give you time to consider it. If we cannot offer you any of these options, we will of course tell you why. We might also agree to you remaining in the property to sell it yourself depending on your circumstances.

How you can help yourself

• Tell us as soon as possible if you’re having problems repaying your mortgage or think that you might experience problems shortly.
• Seek free, independent and impartial advice.
• Contact us quickly, if we try to contact you.
• Make sure you keep any other people paying the mortgage, and anyone guaranteeing the mortgage, up to date with what is happening.
• Keep to the payment plan we agree with you, or tell us if there is a change in your circumstances which may affect the arrangement.
• Check whether you can get any state benefits or tax credits which could help to increase your income.
• If you have an insurance policy such as payment protection, check whether it would help with your payments.
• If applicable, ask us for our agreement to put tenants in your property.
• Tell us if you move to a new address and provide us with an up to date telephone number to make it easier to contact you.