Lender Being Very Obstructive !!!!!

boltonwanderer_2

Hello Everyone,
I have been lurking for a while and this is my first post as i need some advice....

To cut a long story short, my wife and i separated some 4 years ago, she moved out and i stayed in the fmh and continued to pay the mortgage. After about 12 months we negotiated a settlement between ourselves and i remortgaged the property in my name only and she recieved her share of the equity, everything settled amicably...

So about 12 months ago the recession bites the engineering industry very hard indeed and our overtime is cancelled leaving me 100 pounds a week worse off. I had managed to save a small amount, perhaps 900 pounds..

I stick to a very tight budget and my income of £330 p/w exactly matches my expenditure of £330 p/w. There is no more fat to be trimmed off anywhere! Obviously in this scenario there is no room for manouvre in case of an "emergency", MOT repairs to my vehicle for example. Over the last year my savings have slowly been whittled away and i knew that things were going to come to a head around the christmas period.

Today i contacted my lender to discuss my options. I havent gone into any arrears yet and i still have an agreed 600 overdraft to go at to pay all the bills this month BUT all the advice is to contact your lender early if you think you may get into difficulties soon...

I had to go through the call centre to contact my branch who then called me back, so far so good. I then asked for an appointment to see the branch manager to discuss my situation. When i told the bank employee what it was concerning ie my mortgage, i was told that the manager wont see me about this and to contact a dedicated team who would send out a form " on which i can list my incomes and expenditures and it would help me budget better"

I said that, no, i would like to come in BEFORE i'm actually in trouble to possibly see about arranging a 3 month mortgage holiday. The boss at work is confident of a new contract within this time and the overtime will be reinstated, this would get me over a "hump" and get a month or two in front, and give me a bit of breathing space.

The operative then told me that because my mortgage is fixed until July there wasnt anything at all that they could do for me other than try to help me budget better! Oh, and then she suggested extending my overdraft to something more than 1000 pounds. I replied that seeing as how i had just declared that i was in difficulties then that would hardly be likely to be approved, would it?
"I suppose not" she says...

So I basically followed the rules by the book and asked my bank for help and advice BEFORE i defaulted, and was told Sorry, nowt we can do for you !!!

Ill be able to pay the bills this month by using my overdraft, but then from then onwards until the overtime comes back i'll be living in my overdraft and it may only take one unforseen emergency to tip me into default.

So what should i do now? I realise that its foolish to bank on ones overtime but i can just about cover the bills, its that theres nothing left at all........i think that the banks attitude was disgraceful and seeing that i have been a model customer for the last 13 years then that would count for something, apparently not...
I realise that my financial worries may seem trivial to some of you, but im fairly disconsolate tonight and i feel very let down and quite frankly stabbed in the back by my lender, like i'm running out of options.....

Sorry for the ramble, but if theres any constructive advice, please. i'd like to hear it.......

Thrugelmir

boltonwanderer wrote: »

So what should i do now? I realise that its foolish to bank on ones overtime but i can just about cover the bills, its that theres nothing left at all........i think that the banks attitude was disgraceful and seeing that i have been a model customer for the last 13 years then that would count for something, apparently not...
I realise that my financial worries may seem trivial to some of you, but im fairly disconsolate tonight and i feel very let down and quite frankly stabbed in the back by my lender, like i'm running out of options.....

Sorry for the ramble, but if theres any constructive advice, please. i'd like to hear it.......

Your lender has very limited options. So don't take it out on them . You yourself admit to being a very tight budget.

Is your mortgage repayment or interest only?

Are you in a position to downsize? Thereby reducing your outgoings.

boltonwanderer_2

Thanks for your reply Thrugelmir,
Yes, you are correct that i am on a limited budget, but i did expect the bank to at least try to meet me to discuss our options: what i received was a flat refusal which is what made me so angry.
The mortgage is a repayment mortgage, which was fixed for 3 years ending in July this year (the fixed period that is), the mortgage has another 17 years to run. I understand that switching to interest only wouldnt save me too much in any event as i'm paying down mostly interest at this point and not much capital...

The property is a tidy, well maintained 3 bed victorian mid terrace in a nice part of a small Lancashire mill town, valued at 95k, worth realistically 90k. There is approximately 10 grand equity in the property at the moment. If the bank wont work with me in getting over this hump then it may well be that i have to sell up and go down the rental route: to downsize to buy in this area would mean moving into an area pretty much akin to Beirut....

Thrugelmir

Stay calm. Your lender most certainly doesn't have a magic wand.

Interest only would at least give you some breathing space. Until you had confirmation that overtime was back on the agenda.

Have you thought of letting a room in the house?

notsodumbblonde

Hi

I think you are right to seek help early in order to avoid possible future problems. It is likely that the mortgage rate will rise this year You could try your local CAB- Citizens Advice Bureau for advice. Some are better than others depending on the experience of the advisors. As you'll soon be coming to the end of your fixed rate in the next few months, it might be worth ringing London and Country Mortgages for advice. I got a cracking deal with them a few years ago, when I had had enough of being treated badly by the Halifax, (despite being a loyal and ideal customer for over 16 years). Halifax told me I wasn't entitled to the best deal they were offering as " That was only available to new customers!"... What I particularly liked about L & C Mortgages is that despite the fact that I was still in a fixed rate when I rang them and they still took the time to look at my situation, (knowing full well that they would not get the business as at the time I had punitive fees if I had left early). They also weren't tied to just giving details of a few companies mortgage products. They looked at the whole market. I chose a tracker at the time Flexible Mortgage with Scottish Widdows which was .75% above base rate for the remainder of the term, with only £100 to leave, no penalties whatsoever for any additional repayments. I also saw financial advisor who said he couldn't better it. It's certainly worth a try, they may be able to help.

Good Luck

P.S. I am nothing to do with L& C Mortgages, but just know that I found them very helpful indeed in getting me a great deal.

Incyder

You need to consider one, if not two, lodgers.

blueberrypie

Even if the lender had agreed to a three-month payment holiday, it is just authorised arrears. There might be better options for you.

Taking in a lodger is a very good idea. You could also consider finding extra part-time work - I know it's not the ideal climate for this though.

Do you have anything you can sell to get you over the next few months?

You say you have 17 years left to run on the mortgage - consider extending the term to longer one. Extending it to 25 years would knock a bit off your monthly payments.

The bottom line is that you have to increase your income or decrease your outgoings.

opinions4u

When i told the bank employee what it was concerning ie my mortgage, i was told that the manager wont see me about this and to contact a dedicated team who would send out a form " on which i can list my incomes and expenditures and it would help me budget better"

I said that, no, i would like to come in

If I've read it right, you've said you want to talk to the branch manager.

The branch have told you to talk to a dedicated unit.

You've refused.

Has it crossed your mind that the difficulties you have encountered are not within the remit of the branch manager. He/she has no power to agree anything. There might even be a dedicated unit to do this?

They're not the ones being obstructive. Don't be scared to speak to the right people.

(Your problems aren't trivial at all. But don't expect to be able to deal with it in branch).