Pleas help a newbie! Missed mortgage payment to C&G

blt

Hi, I'd really appreciate help. I feel completely sick after talking to my mortgage provider just now. I wrote them a letter explaining my dire financial situation at the moment and that I had missed my January payment (I've paid every other one by direct debit). In my letter I asked if I could pay a small contribution towards the missed payment whilst carrying on with my regular payment until the summer when, due to some extra work coming my way, I would be able to clear the arrears. No-one bothered to reply so I just rang them up today. I spoke to the most obnoxious person ever who said that there was nothing I clould do except wait for it to go to collections where they 'might help me'. Oh my god. She said that they would contact me in a month and in the mean time a new dd mandate would be sent to me for my Feb payment onwards. I'm so frightened. This is my first house and I live on my own. I'm in such a mess. Please help. I'm absolutely terrified.

poppy52

Are you paying off things like credit card debts or loans? If so, it is better to fall behind with them than with priority debts like mortgage or council tax. If this is the case, miss those payments for a bit (and phone or write to ask for an arrangment to pay token amounts for a bit) and use that money to pay mortgage.

jobbingmusician

What are you terrified of? Losing your house/flat? THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

You have done all the right things, by letting them know there is a problem. Mortgage providers are under a lot of fire when they foreclose on people, and they don't do it unless they have to - you would have had to miss a lot of payments and ignore correspondence from them for them to consider foreclosing.

Relax, hun, and wait for the letter from them. You've just had an encounter with one snotty ghastly woman - she's probably their nightmare employee, if you but knew it. Yes, collections might well help you and will probably have some constructive suggestions when they get round to writing to you. If it's your Jan payment you missed, it sounds like early days yet - you could ring and ask to be sent a copy of their customer charter - if they have one it will indicate how many days they aim to take to answer a letter

Stop worrying and keep us updated! Hugs ((((()))))

blt

Thanks for that. I basically got totally behind with everything over the last couple of months. I think I got so upset because I thought I was doing the right thing - wrting a letter explaining my situation and offering a suggested repayment scheme. What I didn't expect was to just have to wait until the situation got worse!

jobbingmusician

Sounds like you did EXACTLY the right thing. And it sounds like you have already thought about the helpful advice offered by Poppy, which I forgot to mention.

Let us know what they say when they finally get round to answering.

By the way, keep a note of today's phone conversation, and any others you have with them. It just occurred to me they might say they hadn't had your letter - could you repeat the letter (maybe in a week's time if you still haven't heard anything) and hand deliver it to your BS/Bank, or send by recorded delivery with a note saying you are worried as they haven't replied? If you have a log of your phone calls as well, it can only strengthen your case

The situation isn't 'getting worse' if you can prove you are doing everything possible to communicate with them and make what payments you can. OK, you're accumulating interest, but that would happen anyway as you can't afford the repayments at present.

If I were you I would also pop into the oldstyle board on this forum and get some hints on saving money over the next month - every penny saved is another penny off the mortgage, PLUS the interest this would have cost you!

blt

Thank you soooo much - I feel heaps better already

jen_jen_2

this obnoxious person probably has no friends and gets paid c**p wage ignore her - and my tip for future obnoxiouses is put the phone down as quick as you can after you realise its going nowhere and phone back likelihood is you will get someone else who is normal on the redial just say if you feel you need to "oops phone went dead, cat stepped on the phone.."

C&G will not refuse a payment off you so if you have money this month to pay towards the missed payment send it off/pay it with a letter saying this is towards the missed month, there is no way they will not cash cheque or accept payment so immediately you have reduced the arrears and will feel better for doing so and it also shows the collections that you have made a payment and they should be more willing to accept offer.

keep an eye on any "charges" they make and try to argue that if agreement reached sooner ie not mrs obnoxious then they could have been avoided.

also for future reference always pay mortgage, utilities, council tax, before any credit cards or unsecured loans because these are priorities.

and if your feeling brave now post your incomings and outgoings and debts and you may get some tips on how to catch up those missed payments faster.

*Sparkle*_3

Who did you actually speak to? what department?
Ask to speak to the arrears department.
I have been unable to pay a certain times of the month i just ring and say i cant make the payment this week but i can make it the next and they say yep thats fine, and its sorted. (I'm with abbey though)
Sometimes i even say i'll pay £X amount this week and £X amount on the 28th and they are fine with that too.
I dont see why they were so off with you.
My advice would be to get hold of someone in the arrears department and dont wait around.

BobProperty

Slightly confused about the OP. Surely the DD is still in place? It's been missed once. Will the mortgage company try again for it or have they already done so and the bank has cancelled the DD? That's all a bit fast for mortgage co's and banks. I'd check they haven't or won't re-try the DD anyday now.
If you can't pay this month and meet next month's payment then it will hardly cause any trouble at the mortgage co - honest. Someone will get round to asking where the January payment is eventually (really). The one thing not to do is miss the next payment. That usually is when the alarm bells go off and they (the mortgage co) start getting worried. I'm assuming you are with a high street lender / building society and not some obscure high rate lender. Please don't worry too much about it ( I have just avoided going 3 months in arrears today, so long as you meet next month's payment it really won't be a problem)

GettingThere_2

Hi blt :hello:

DON'T WORRY!!!! No mortgage company will repossess your house if you miss one payment. Think how much they make from us over the life of the loan! :eek:
If they're sending you a new DD mandate, you can continue paying your mortgage as you were before.

Whoever you spoke to needs a *slap* - it's hard enough talking to companies we borrow from without them making us feel worse about ourselves. I would suggest if you're still worried about it, call the collections department, as they're more used to talking to people who have missed a payment. Besides, you'd be amazed at the number of people who are very behind on their mortgage... They should be able to offer a suggestion as to how to make up that payment, and they tend to be more supportive if we call them rather than them chasing us.

I'd agree with others who say your mortgage is a priority - other debts can wait if you're finding things hard, but it's better to keep on top of mortgage payments.

Good luck - and if you speak to someone nice at C&G, thank them for their support and tell them that they were far more helpful than the first person you spoke to! (might help the next person in a long line).

Hugs