Worried about your finances?

How can a budget planner help?

• It'll let you see where your money is going and prioritise your most important bills and debts. This helps you take control of your money.
• It'll help you understand how much money you need to pay your commitments as you go forward.
• You might even find you have money left over. This could help reduce the balance, and cost, of your priority bills and debts.
• Most importantly, it'll allow you to make a more informed decision about your next steps and who to contact for help and advice.

What information do I need?

• You'll need to have some information to hand. This includes your income, details of your household spend and any other debts you may have.
• The more up to date your information, the more accurate your results will be. So use your most recent bank statements and bills where you can.

Complete a budget planner

It's really important to understand what your priority and non-priority debts are. Priority debts have the most severe consequences if your payment is late or you miss a payment. So it's important to pay these first. Take a look at the table below for guidance on the different types.

Online budget planner

Try our online budget planner to get a more detailed understanding of your financial situation.

To make sure this is as accurate as possible it's very important the information you provide is up to date. That way, we can help you find a solution that works for you now and in the future.

This will take you to the Paylink website, who we've chosen to provide our budget planner. Paylink Solutions Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. To complete your budget planner, we'll need details about your income and outgoings.

Where can I go for help and advice?

If, once you've completed your budget planner, you find you're having trouble managing your debts or keeping up with payments, you can get free independent help and advice from several organisations.

Organisations that can help

Money Advice Service (opens in a new tab)

Providing free and impartial advice on everything from budgeting and saving, to work, benefits, housing and mortgages, Money Advice Service is open to everyone. It even has a handy online tool (opens in a new tab) to help you locate free advice agencies in your area where you can access onilne, face to face or telephone support.

Citizens Advice (opens in a new tab)

Free and helpful guidance on all kinds of things, including debt management, benefits, housing, employment and health.

Turn2Us (opens in a new tab)

A national debt charity, Turn2Us helps people in financial difficulty gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants and support services.

Step Change Debt Charity (opens in a new tab)

The UK's leading debt charity is on hand to provide expert debt advice and fee-free debt management to help you get back on your feet again.

National Debtline (opens in a new tab)

A free and confidential debt advice service for people in England, Wales and Scotland. National Debtline's team of expert debt advisers can help you take control of your debts.

Debt Advice Foundation (opens in a new tab)

A specialist debt charity offering free and confidential advice to anyone who's worried about paying back their loans, credit or debt.

Money Advice Scotland (opens in a new tab)

Scotland's dedicated money charity provides handy online budgeting tools and direct access to webchat for those needing help with debt.

Charity Choice (opens in a new tab)

The UK's largest charity directory provides detailed information on over 160,000 registered UK charities.

Payplan (opens in a new tab)

Free debt help and advice, with a range of different solutions, including free Debt Management Plans, IVAs and support for the self employed.

Business Debtline (opens in a new tab)

Specialist charity providing free help and assistance to the self employed and small businesses.

Illness making the situation worse?

If you're suffering from an illness, such as cancer, depression or anxiety, it's important to let us know. That way, we can provide the best support and advice for you. You can also get free independent help and advice from any of these organisations:

• Macmillan Cancer Support (opens in a new tab) provides specialist health care, information and financial support
• Marie Curie Cancer Care (opens in a new tab) look after and support those with terminal illnesses and their families
• Mind (opens in a new tab) offers information and advice to people with mental health problems
• RNIB (opens in a new tab) gives practical help and emotional support to blind and partially sighted people
• Samaritans (opens in a new tab) support and listen to people going through a difficult time and also provide practical information to those worried about someone else
• Sense (opens in a new tab) helps and supports people who are deafblind or have associated disabilities

During a time of illness, many people find it easier to ask someone else to deal with their finances. That could be a relative, friend or partner. Once you've given them authority, they can speak to organisations on your behalf.

The sooner you get in touch, the better.

If you're worried about meeting the cost of your mortgage – or you've fallen behind with payments – we're here to help.

What happens when you call?

First of all, we need to get the best possible understanding of your financial circumstances. To do this, we'll:

• Talk through your situation to find out why you're having difficulties
• Review your budget planner to look at income, outgoings and debts
• Explore practical solutions that you can afford

Any option we recommend – whether it's short or long term – will rely on your individual circumstances and being able to meet our acceptance terms. Also bear in mind that one or more of the following may be affected:

• The amount of interest you're charged during your mortgage term.
• Your ability to get credit or borrow money in the future.
• How much you owe in mortgage arrears.

Please bear in mind we're unable to provide advice about debts you may have with other companies. However, our Help and Advice section lists organisations who can help.

Rest assured, we'll always try and do everything we can for you. But it's really important you get in touch as soon as possible. If we don't hear from you, there are some things you need to be aware of:

• We might send a field agent to visit you. The cost of the visit may also be charged to your mortgage account. Please note, during COVID-19 conditions, we won't be using field agents for home visits.
• Whilst we may start court proceedings to repossess your home, this doesn't necessarily mean it will happen. We're committed to keeping you in your home, so repossession is a last resort.
• Should the property be repossessed, you'll still owe the total outstanding loan amount. If we sell the property and the sale proceeds aren't enough to pay the loan in full, you'll need to repay any outstanding amount.

Costs and charges

Currently, we won't charge any mortgage arrears fees until the end of 2021 at the earliest. After that time, if your mortgage is in arrears, we may charge for any reasonable administrative or legal costs. This is in line with our standard tariff of mortgage charges. We'll always let you know which charges have been added to your mortgage.

Other options

Be careful if another company offers you an additional loan. Some companies may even invite you to sell your property to them and then rent it back as a way of resolving your short-term financial difficulty. This might not be in your long-term best interests. We'd advise you to speak to us first or seek independent advice before going into this kind of arrangement.

You may be thinking about handing your keys over to us. If you do this, you'll still owe us any outstanding debt. So it's important you discuss this option with us before taking action.

We provide information to credit reference agencies on a monthly basis, which means any arrears or repossession may have a negative impact on your credit score. This could affect your ability to get credit or other services in the future, such as a mobile phone contract or a tenancy.