· Debt Awareness Week 22 – 28 March 2021
· Nearly 500,000 in rent and mortgage arrears
· Mortgage payment holidays deferral ends on 31 March 2021
For the first time since the pandemic hit, normal service will start to resume as financial payment holidays wind down and nearly nine million Britons who have taken on debt during the pandemic will need to start tackling their debt repayments.
Hot on the heels of Debt Awareness Week (March 22-28), March 31st will be the last day that homeowners can ask for a mortgage payment deferral. The UK’s community bank, Metro Bank is advising any homeowner concerned about being able to return to normal payments to talk to their mortgage provider as soon as possible.
Recent published data estimates close to half a million people are in rent or mortgage arrears because of coronavirus and 130,000 UK households are still taking advantage of mortgage payment holidays, which is of concern as 16 million people expect their income to fall in the next six months.
Andy Piggott, Director of Lending Products, Metro Bank, said: “We recognise that homeowners have faced extraordinary circumstances impacting their finances and we are here to help.
“We want to talk to our customers who are struggling and encourage them to contact us as soon as possible. Anyone worried about how they are going to start paying their bills again should be proactive in seeking support. Good lenders will want to work with their customers to help find a manageable solution.”
Metro Bank has put together these top tips to tackle any financial worries:
TALK TO YOUR LENDER
Good lenders want to help. If you can’t resume your payments, they can look at a range of options including:
· Short term options, such as accepting reduced payments for an agreed period of time.
· Long term options, such as extending your mortgage period to reduce payments.
· Good lenders will explain the impact of what the tailored support means for you and your mortgage, including what will be reported on your credit file and whether you will be considered to be in arrears during any agreed arrangement.
FREE DEBT ADVICE
These organisations offer free help about budgeting and can give advice on how to talk to your lender about your repayments:
1. The Money Advice Service – moneyadviceservice.org.uk
2. Citizen’s Advice Bureau – citizensadvice.org.uk
3. StepChange – stepchange.org
4. National Debt Line – nationaldebitline.org
5. Shelter – shelter.org.uk
6. Granton Information Centre – www.gic.org.uk
SUPPORT FOR MORTGAGE INTEREST
If you are on state benefits – income support, pension credit, job seeker’s allowance, universal credit or employment or support allowance – you may be able to get government help for interest payments on your mortgage – visit gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest for more information.
For more information please visit
– https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/mortgages/i-want-some-information-about/mortgage-payment-support/
CASE STUDY: PIOTR
Providing welfare advice at the right time and in the right place can both provide health benefits for patients and reduce demand on the NHS.
Funded by NHS Lothian through the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, Granton Information Centre runs an advice service in GP surgeries and medical centres.
Piotr (35) found Granton Information Centre’s GP service a lifeline when he and his family faced eviction:
“Life was going along quite happily. We didn’t have much money but my children were well fed and clothed and we were okay. That all changed in the space of a few weeks and I struggled to cope,” Piotr explained.
“First, my wife had to give up her work earlier than we had planned. She was expecting our third child but she became ill so she had to stop working. She had high blood pressure and we did not want to put her life, or the baby’s life, in danger.
“We had been saving what we could because we knew my wife would be going on maternity leave, so it just meant being even more careful about what we spent.
“Then, two things happened in the space of a few days. First, my car broke down and it needed a really expensive repair. At the time I was doing three different jobs to try to make ends meet. I needed the car for delivering parcels during the day and also to get me to my other jobs. What made things worse was that if I didn’t work I didn’t get paid.
“Then, the same weekend, I injured myself playing football with my son! It was crazy – I fell awkwardly and landed on my wrist! I had planned to cycle to one of my other jobs to keep some money coming in, but I sprained my wrist and ankle and so now I couldn’t even do that!
With no income and debts quickly spiralling, Piotr ignored letters from his landlord.
“I put it off”, he explained. “Although my English is okay, the letters were difficult to understand. I did not want to worry my wife so I kept it to myself. I hoped that, once I was working again, I could sort it and things would be okay. That was wrong – things would just have got worse and worse.”
Piotr accompanied his wife to an appointment to see her practice nurse, who suggested it would worthwhile speaking to a Granton Information Centre adviser.
The adviser was in the medical centre at the time – and Piotr explained his problem.
“At last I felt able to share my problem with someone. She was very patient”, Piotr said. “We were so lucky to have met her that day. She explained that we were facing eviction: unless immediate action was taken we would have found ourselves homeless.
“It was very serious, but our adviser was so good. She made sure that we were able to stay in our home. She also worked with us to find out what benefits we were entitled to. I had thought I could not claim benefits because I was working – but I was wrong. ”
While Piotr and his family are not debt-free, their debts are being managed and the family are now receiving the benefits they are entitled to.
Piotr concluded: “It was a relief to talk over our problem with someone who understands the system. I had been keeping it all to myself and it made me ill. We were so close to losing our home.
“Now, we can plan our future. And I am more careful when I play football!”
