Keeping up with mortgage payments.

Hello 

Thank you for reaching out to us.  I’m sorry to hear about your husband’s cancer diagnosis.  Hopefully this information may help. 

To start with, you mention that your husband has some form of insurance, but you’ve not said what kind of cover he has.  I would urge you to check if you have any life cover or health related insurance policies, and check to see if these cover critical illness? If you have such cover, you may be able to make a claim. We’d be happy to discuss this with you further if you wish – our number is 0808 808 0000, Option 1, then Option 2, then Option 1. The team is available Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm. 

A mortgage lender will usually look at your income and expenditure to determine how much you can afford to pay each month. 

Mortgage payment holidays are sometimes an option but, whether this would be agreed by your lender, will often depend on the terms and conditions of your mortgage deal. Sometimes a lender will agree to payment breaks outside of the terms and conditions of the mortgage but from what you’ve said you’ve already asked about this option, and they’ve declined. 

If you have a repayment mortgage, you could also explore a temporary period of paying interest only. If your lender agrees to this or a payment break, be aware that once the period of grace has finished, your monthly payments are likely to increase. This is because the amount you’ve not paid during the payment break or period of paying interest only will usually be added to your loan amount and spread over the remaining term. Your lender will be able to confirm what the revised payment would be and how they will want the arrears to be paid back. 

It sounds like your lender have agreed to a reduced payment period for a while, if this is the case, please just make sure you’re aware of how this may affect your credit rating. Also, as mentioned above, just check how they’ll deal with any arrears after the reduced payment period is over as your repayments may go up.  

You may also wish to check with your lender to see if they have any other mortgage products which are more affordable for you. Any deals they may have can involve payment of a fee, so check this first. Also, be sure to ask if anything you agree will affect your credit rating in any way. 

 Mortgage lenders often have a vulnerable customer team that you could ask to speak to. It’s worth discussing your situation with them, i.e. that the household income is reduced because of your husband’s cancer, and they may be more willing to offer additional flexibility based on these circumstances. If your mortgage is with any of the following lenders – Lloyds Bank, Halifax Bank, Bank of Scotland, Nationwide or Virgin Money – do speak to us on the phone as we can either transfer your call directly to their specialist team or give you the number to ring. 

Please call us if you’d like to discuss this in more detail, or you could speak to us on webchat if you prefer, by clicking ‘Chat to Us’ at the bottom right of the screen. 

As part of our Money and Work Team, we have a dedicated group of Welfare Rights Advisers. They can check if you’re entitled to any state benefits and can help to access other financial support, such as one-off grants. You can contact them on freephone 0808 808 0000 and they’re available weekdays 8am – 8pm and weekends 9am – 5pm. If you’d prefer you can also contact them via webchat here by selecting “Chat to us” and then the “Welfare Benefits & Grants” option. 

Kind regards.