should i tell my morgage company i have lost my job?

[loltolhurst]

Im thinking they do a 3 month payment holiday - will they give that me if i am umemployed at the mo? If i tell them will they try and help or stop any offers immediately like payment hols etc? legally do I have to tell them? ( its ing )

thanks

[cazzer]

When I lost mine they said "Meh, miss a couple of payments, we won't do anything at all for 3 months"
Sorted now though.

[Lurking Lawyer]

If they offer a payment holiday as of right (as my own lender, Nationwide does, assuming you've been a borrower for a certain period and have a good payment history), there's no need to tell them why you want it.

However, in the current climate, I'd expect your lender to be understanding if you're upfront with them as to the reason why. It's really not in their interest to have the hassle of having to repossess and sell it on, so most (non-sub-prime) lenders are generally willing to cut an awful lot of slack as long as the borrower plays fair with them, keeps them informed and is obviously trying to pay what they can reasonably afford.

[Lurking Lawyer]

cazzer said:

When I lost mine they said "Meh, miss a couple of payments, we won't do anything at all for 3 months"
Sorted now though.

In practice, they probably won't do anything for three months (or more) - but there's generally a question in any finance application as to whether you have ever missed a repayment. It can adversely affect your credit rating if you have.

All the more reason to square it with the lender and get a holiday rather than just stay schtum and not pay them.

[Carreauchompeur]

loltolhurst said:

Im thinking they do a 3 month payment holiday - will they give that me if i am umemployed at the mo? If i tell them will they try and help or stop any offers immediately like payment hols etc? legally do I have to tell them? ( its ing )

thanks

IMHO, take the 3-month payment holiday if you can, without reference to losing your job. If you haven't found anything in a month-2 and are starting to struggle, have a word with them then- May be possible to go interest-only for a while?

[FourWheelDrift]

loltolhurst said:

Im thinking they do a 3 month payment holiday - will they give that me if i am umemployed at the mo? If i tell them will they try and help or stop any offers immediately like payment hols etc? legally do I have to tell them? ( its ing )

thanks

As long as you haven't missed a payment they will have no problem with you asking for a payment break, you are allowed one whether you are in work or out of work.

[merc_man]

I've no idea whether you "have" to. All I know is that I would as it's surely better to be up front and I'm sure they've got plenty of people to deal with in your situation so may be able to offer some very helpful advice.

I'd also consider contacting one of the debt counselling charities that are around to see what advice they'll be able to offer.

[Welshbeef]

Few things here - how many months repayment mortgage do you have saved up?

Secondly Im assuming you have a partner who pays towards the mortgage - how many months can you pay the repayment mortgage with her salary & your savings?

Do you have to tell them? Legally no, is there any benefit? Maybe maybe not see my above points.

Lastly - good luck on the job hunt.

[andy-xr]

I'd tell them, infact I'd play it the other way and ask them for advice

[cazzer]

Lurking Lawyer said:

cazzer said:

When I lost mine they said "Meh, miss a couple of payments, we won't do anything at all for 3 months"
Sorted now though.

In practice, they probably won't do anything for three months (or more) - but there's generally a question in any finance application as to whether you have ever missed a repayment. It can adversely affect your credit rating if you have.

All the more reason to square it with the lender and get a holiday rather than just stay schtum and not pay them.

Your missing the point....I did tell them and thats what their advice was.
As it turned out I didn't miss one, was just 10 days late with it. But still, "Miss a couple" was the advice from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

[Broccers]

Do you not have payment protection ?

[TWSTEEL]

merc_man said:

I've no idea whether you "have" to. All I know is that I would as it's surely better to be up front and I'm sure they've got plenty of people to deal with in your situation so may be able to offer some very helpful advice.

I'd also consider contacting one of the debt counselling charities that are around to see what advice they'll be able to offer.

+1

Plus any credit cards you might have and your main utility suppliers, especially if you've never been defaulting before. They'd all prefer to sort out a deal rather than end up chasing you.
Good luck on the job front.

[shirt]

andy-xr said:

I'd tell them, infact I'd play it the other way and ask them for advice

me too. my mum used to work in banking and always told me to do this if i was in trouble.

in 3 months you might not have found work ]though i hope you have] and then have to ring up and lie.

as for payment holidays, i'm with n.rock and have taken 2 in the past 18mths, neither of which i was asked a reason for.

[Welshbeef]

Broccers said:

Do you not have payment protection ?

+1 they really did the hard sell on me with this one - I refused it, if you have it then make the call thats what you have been paying for.

[fatvik]

andy-xr said:

I'd tell them, infact I'd play it the other way and ask them for advice

+1

I'm sure I read something about a new govt initiative that the lenders had to be more sympathetic and something else about they cant do much for 3 months.. so tell them, explain what savings you have (might help?) and try for interest only for a bit.

Good luck with the mortgage and job-hunting

-FV

[loltolhurst]

Thanks for the advice chaps.

I have rang them and they will do a up to 3 months payment hol and I can have this twice in the lifetime of the morgage a year apart. so could take 3 months now and three months next jan although that would then be it forever. They will also put it to interest only for 6 months only.

I'm thinking 3 months now then 6 months interest only if things are still bad - they say they dont advise using the payment holiday all up but then will i ever be in a worse situation than now?!

its just me paying it.

[TWSTEEL]

loltolhurst said:

Thanks for the advice chaps.

I have rang them and they will do a up to 3 months payment hol and I can have this twice in the lifetime of the morgage a year apart. so could take 3 months now and three months next jan although that would then be it forever. They will also put it to interest only for 6 months only.

I'm thinking 3 months now then 6 months interest only if things are still bad - they say they dont advise using the payment holiday all up but then will i ever be in a worse situation than now?!

its just me paying it.

Good on you for making the call. A lot of people bury their head in the sand and hope it'll go away - it won't. I bet you feel a lot happier now.

[Welshbeef]

loltolhurst said:

Thanks for the advice chaps.

I have rang them and they will do a up to 3 months payment hol and I can have this twice in the lifetime of the morgage a year apart. so could take 3 months now and three months next jan although that would then be it forever. They will also put it to interest only for 6 months only.

I'm thinking 3 months now then 6 months interest only if things are still bad - they say they dont advise using the payment holiday all up but then will i ever be in a worse situation than now?!

its just me paying it.

Ok good so you know the playing field now so can make an informed decision. Who knows what the future will bring.

You do need to calculate the number of months repayment payments you can make with your savings incl living costs.

[Chris_w666]

Based on what the bank have said to you, my personal choice would be to go interest only first (assuming that it is affordable to do that) and then if things turn bad take the holiday, this way you're saving the payment holidays for a really rainy day.

I suppose how bad your situation is depends on your circumstances and skills, some people are very adaptable and find job hunting easy, others are only able to cope in one area of work. (I put myself in the latter category)

[loltolhurst]

Chris_w666 said:

Based on what the bank have said to you, my personal choice would be to go interest only first (assuming that it is affordable to do that) and then if things turn bad take the holiday, this way you're saving the payment holidays for a really rainy day.

I suppose how bad your situation is depends on your circumstances and skills, some people are very adaptable and find job hunting easy, others are only able to cope in one area of work. (I put myself in the latter category)

I was thinking this makes sense but the only issue is that the second 3 month payment holiday can only take place 1 year after the last - so if I took it now then i could get another next jan but if i took the interest only now then I would have to wait another 6 months to get the second payment hol ( assuming the worst )