Northern Rock Mortgage Holiday

felicity952

Right the basics:
We have a mortgage with NR which we are making the full regular payments every month. We also have an un-secured loan with them which we have an agreement to pay back a lower monthly repayment as after having my 2nd child I went self-employed and when the mortgage re-payments increased by £200 per month we were stuggling financially. I rang up last month to see if we would be entitled to a mortgage payment holiday and was told yes we were as we had made 9 consectutive payments. However, this morning (after requesting in writing a holiday for December) I received a letter saying NO! I got straight on the phone to them and they said because we had an agreement in place on the un-secured loan we had not been making full payments. I said that I did not want a payment holiday on the un-secured loan just the mortgage. I have checked my mortgage offer and it mentions payment holidays on the mortgage. As far as I was concerned the un-secured loan is seperate to the mortgage so why are they classing it as one? I was relying on this money to cover extra outgoings in December. I know a payment holiday is not the best option but at present it's the only way to produce some extra income - we have a not so good credit rating so cannot apply for a loan or temporary increase to overdraft. I cannot find anything on NR website, all payment holiday stuff just refers to mortgage. Please can anyone clarify?

Thrugelmir

You are already struggling to meet the repayments on the money you owe to NR. So you shouldn't be surprised that your request has been declined. Particularly as you appear to already have an overdraft as well. Something NR would have noted when checking your credit status.

felicity952

We have previously taken mortgage payment holidays just not when we have been making under payments on the un-secured loan. I don't want a run down on my financial problems just whether the un-secured loan and mortgage should be treated as seperate loans.

Thrugelmir

felicity952 wrote: »

just whether the un-secured loan and mortgage should be treated as seperate loans.

There's no grounds for either appeal or complaint if that's why you are asking. Whether a payment holiday is allowed or not is at the discretion of the lender.

_Andy_

Not sure what advice you want - you've already had a definitive answer from your mortgage lender.

beecher2

I'd go over to the other forums on these boards for helping on cutting back on what you spend. Focus on that, rather on how to increase your debt. There are other forums which will help you increase income - you describe increasing your debt as upping your income, but it isn't.

SouthCoast

Having problems with your mortgage payments?

http://mortgagehelp.direct.gov.uk/default.aspx

felicity952

Have increased income as much as we can I am working 50 hours a week and with a young family can't really do anymore.
We have done a budget planner via National debt Helpline so know what our financial position is. Since going s/e my income is less than what it was when we COULD afford to pay all our bills.
We cannot do a DMP as husband works in financial industry and this would jeopardise his job (we KNOW THIS FOR DEFINATE).
My last reply stated what advice I want.
Forget about the payment holiday ALL I want to know is should my mortgage be treated as seperate to an unsecured loan?
I am not stupid I have worked in this industry for 10 years but NR seem to be treating them as ONE as I personally don't think this is right - I JUST wanted to know what other people think.
I would appreciate some help NOT JUDGEMENT.

It seems that everyone seems to judge people who are struggling and not actually provide any helpful advice. We are doing our best to get out of the position we are in and would not have put ourselves here purposefully.

beecher2

I'd say they're within their rights to be looking at your financial situation as a whole when they make their decision. I thought I was providing helpful advice in saying you should go to the other forums for help in budgeting. You're clearly living above your means, and adding to your debt to deal with that is rarely successful. I don't see how that is being judgmental - just realistic.

_Andy_

There really is no need to be so defensive. None of the replies have said you're 'stupid' or been judgemental.
How charming.

_Andy_

Just to re-iterate, you've already had a definitive answer from NR - they decide their criteria for payment holidays and they have given you a decision on this, albeit not one that you feel is helpful.