Confused about interest only

Hello it's my first time posting on here I hope someone can help clear up some confusion for me regarding my mortgage!

I've always left the financials up to my OH but recently realised I'm going to have to get involved...so, We've had an interest only mortgage for 13 years (I'm now 36) much to my disappointment as I've wanted it on repayment for years. When we bought our house we had a mortgage of £132,000...recently I received a mortgage statement and was horrified when it said we now owe £150,000... As I said, I've had no real involvement, have been busy bringing the kids up and assumed all was well.. Should I be worried about this increase? I know we had 2 months mortgage arrears a short while ago so am also worried that we if we do want to switch to repayment we now won't get the best deal either! 😫😫 any advice? Thanks xx

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  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546
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    Speak to your current lender and establish what options are open to you. As the months pass by repaying the capital owed on the mortgage will become a bigger and bigger challenge. Making a step in the right direction is a good start.

    If you have other financial issues. The Debt Free Wannabe forum will provide support and advice.
  • beecher2
    beecher2 Posts: 3,677
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    Find out from your lender how much you can overpay, and you can start to make serious inroads into the capital.

    Maybe now is the time to get fully involved in your finances as being in mortgage arrears isn't a good sign. As Thrugelmir says, you can go onto Debt Free, post a Statement of Affairs and get great help there on how to get in a position where you can overpay.
  • TrickyDicky101
    TrickyDicky101 Posts: 3,510
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    Cos2016 wrote: »
    Hello it's my first time posting on here I hope someone can help clear up some confusion for me regarding my mortgage!

    I've always left the financials up to my OH but recently realised I'm going to have to get involved...so, We've had an interest only mortgage for 13 years (I'm now 36) much to my disappointment as I've wanted it on repayment for years. When we bought our house we had a mortgage of £132,000...recently I received a mortgage statement and was horrified when it said we now owe £150,000... As I said, I've had no real involvement, have been busy bringing the kids up and assumed all was well.. Should I be worried about this increase? I know we had 2 months mortgage arrears a short while ago so am also worried that we if we do want to switch to repayment we now won't get the best deal either! 😫😫 any advice? Thanks xx

    Yes. An £18000 increase sounds a lot more than simply 2 recent months' of mortgage arrears. Has your partner been keeping things from you?
  • csgohan4
    csgohan4 Posts: 10,587
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    Ask partner to see bank statements for the past year, if he refuses then you have your answer
    "It is prudent when shopping for something important, not to limit yourself to Pound land/Estate Agents"

    G_M/ Bowlhead99 RIP
  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622
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    Cos2016 wrote: »
    Hello it's my first time posting on here I hope someone can help clear up some confusion for me regarding my mortgage!

    I've always left the financials up to my OH but recently realised I'm going to have to get involved...so, We've had an interest only mortgage for 13 years (I'm now 36) much to my disappointment as I've wanted it on repayment for years. When we bought our house we had a mortgage of £132,000...recently I received a mortgage statement and was horrified when it said we now owe £150,000... As I said, I've had no real involvement, have been busy bringing the kids up and assumed all was well.. Should I be worried about this increase? I know we had 2 months mortgage arrears a short while ago so am also worried that we if we do want to switch to repayment we now won't get the best deal either! 😫😫 any advice? Thanks xx

    I think you should be very worried about what your partner has been up to, unless the mortgage company has made an almighty screw up and I hope for your case the latter is the problem, though I fear it isn't.
  • phillw
    phillw Posts: 5,593
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    edited 25 July 2016 at 9:08AM
    Cos2016 wrote: »
    Should I be worried about this increase? I know we had 2 months mortgage arrears a short while ago so am also worried that we if we do want to switch to repayment we now won't get the best deal either! ���� any advice? Thanks xx

    You should be concerned, it's too early to tell if you should be worried.

    You need to find out where the increase has come from, first sign up for a free noddle credit report. If it's a joint mortgage then it should show up on your credit file and it will show the monthly balance for the last five years. You will also see if you are liable for any other loans, credit cards or overdrafts and the balances on those (if you have a current account in credit then some will not show and others will show as £0). If your mortgage provider offers online statements and you can gain access to that then that may also provide clues. You may also need to talk to them. It may just be that your monthly payments aren't equal to the amount you are being charged in interest every month. This was more common in my parents day, but it is possible if you negotiate to pay a lower amount. If this is the case then the balance will keep increasing. There may be something more sinister, but you should be careful how you approach that. If your OH is prepared to also sign up for noddle and show you his credit file then that is a good sign & would be my opening move in that regard. Your OH should definitely allow you online access to any joint accounts or accounts solely in your name, if they also allow you online access to any accounts held in solely their name then that is also a good sign.

    A repayment mortgage feels safer, but don't let that push you into making a decision that puts you in a financially weaker position. Think of a repayment mortgage as a combined interest only mortgage and regular savings account that has the same interest rate. It is purely a case of comparing interest rates. Then if that shows you should switch, then look at switching. If it doesn't, then you need to decide whether the cost of feeling safer is worth it to you.

    If you are in mortgage arrears because you don't have enough money, then you need to address how you will afford to cover the increased financial obligation (whether it's decreasing your mortgage or increasing your savings).

    Be prepared that your OH may have problems that they have been keeping from you and you may need to take equal responsibility.
  • Thanks everyone for your advice, I appreciate it, so I actually picked up the phone today and spoke to NRAM - we don't currently have mortgage arrears so that's good news lol but I discussed the £18,000 increase on the balance and they couldn't explain what it was about but have opened a 'case' on it and will have someone write to us within 8-10 working days once they have looked into it.. There has definitely not been any additional lending taking place on this account so I'm now really concerned as to why the balance has been steadily creeping up over the years and am really frustrated to only have pulled my head out of the clouds to have only just noticed it! Either way, I have no idea What it's all about, I wonder if anyone has experienced anything like this or had similar experiences? .I just hope they can shed some light on it for me!
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546
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    I suspect the answer is going to be very mundane when you see the mortgage account statements.
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