Help? Facing redundancy - unsure about mortgage!

dooverylittle

Hello everyone! I could really do with a bit of advice!
My partner has our home mortgaged (with northern rock) in his name. We took it out 2 and half year ago. He is now facing redundancy and its looking like he might go. We thought our mortgage payments would be covered if he got made redundant.
We were sure we took payment protection when we got the mortgage but can't find any details of it anywhere! Would it say in our statement if we took it out? How much will northern rock help us with our mortgage while he looks for work?
We have other debts which we have been working hard to pay off, but sadly my wage wont cover everything!
Any advice would be greatly aprreciated!

Old_Git

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/7601147.stm

jlfrs

Hello Dooverylittle,

I went through redundancy in September so I know what you're going through. I called the CAB who were very helpful and I would recommend you do the same. Basically, the FSA insists that lenders do all they can to help people facing financial hardship and this is in their legislation. Secondly, I believe the government recently ruled that people would have a minimum of 6 months for payment holidays, etc.
Both of these factors sohuld mean that whether the Rock want to help or not,(and I think they are less lenient than most), they are governed by "the rules" so if threatening repossession, it's the absolute last option and not the first.
If your partner cannot afford to pay the mortgage, perhaps he and/or you could look at doing one of the following options:
1/If you're have a repayment, ask if you can go to interest only - it won't pay the loan but it will keep the mortgage and be cheaper.
2/You can ask for a payment holiday and most lenders do this for customers with some history. It will mean you go into arrears and pay interest on top of the interest you're already paying so that's an expensive option.
3/If you've only a few years left on the mortgage, ask if you can extend the term which could reduce the monthly payments.
4/You can do as I did and enter into an agreement with HSBC where for 4 months I would pay less than my repayment amount but a little more than the interest only figure. I am in arrears but it's far better than a payment holiday if your partner can afford it.

Lastly,if your partner is made redundant, he will be entitled to benefits if he has paid his NI stamps correctly. Even if he comes out of it with a wad of redundancy cash,(as I did), he can still get Jobseekers allowance which at £61.50 per week is most welcome. If he has savings below £8k I think he will be entitled to income support and other benefits too so this number could go up. If this is an option there is no time to waste as the revenue only pay upon application - so if your partner puts a claim in after wiating a couple of months it won't be backdated,(as I found out to my cost!).

Hope these help,
Jon