If you’re struggling to pay your mortgage, you must take action quickly to stop yourself from falling into debt.
If you get into debt and your lender thinks you’re not dealing with the problem, they will take action through the courts. This could lead to you losing your home.
There may be ways you can cut down your mortgage costs to stop you falling into debt.
If you’ve already fallen behind with your payments, there may be things you can do to stop from falling further behind and to clear the debt.
To find out more about how you can cut down your mortgage costs or clear what you owe on your payments, see more information on how to deal with your mortgage problems.
Once you’ve worked out how you want to deal with the problem, you will need to contact your lender as soon as possible and tell them what you’d like to do.
On this page, we tell you:
Coronavirus – if you can’t pay your mortgage
- who to contact
- what you should say
- what you should do if your lender doesn’t want to help.
Who to contact
The telephone number and address of your mortgage lender should be on your most recent mortgage statement or any other letter you’ve received from them. If your mortgage is with a high street bank or building society, you could also speak to the mortgage adviser in your local branch. Your mortgage lender may also have a website with information about how to contact them.What you should say
Once you’ve worked out who to contact, you need to write to your mortgage lender. You will need to work out how you’re going to deal with the problem first and then put the details in writing. Don’t expect your mortgage lender to suggest how you should deal with the problem as they might not be fully aware of your circumstances. You need to come up with a plan which suits you. For example, you might be struggling to pay your mortgage at the moment because you’ve lost your job, or are off work sick. But you expect things to get easier shortly because:- you’re going back to work
- you’re going to get benefits
- you’re getting a pay out from a Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance policy or a loan.
- give the background to the problem
- give the reasons why the mortgage payments debt has built up
- say that you previously had a good payment record, if this is true
- if appropriate, say how many years it will take to clear the debt, compared to the remaining term of the mortgage
- whether there is any equity in the property. If you have equity in your property, this means that it’s worth more than what you owe on your mortgage.