Can my girlfriend put a hold on loan repayments?

Strikeman

Good Morning

My girlfriend currently has circa £3k left on a loan she has been paying off for 8 odd years (15k in total I think). The loan is going to be fully paid off next October sometime however she is currently suffering with a long term illness (ME/CFS) and is no longer able to work.

If she quits her job due to her illness, she is obviously no longer going to have money coming in to pay the remaining loan repayments. Can she put a hold on the loan repayment until she is ready to come back to work again in circa 3 - 6 months time? She has never missed a payment and has paid in full each and every month without any trouble at all, will the bank (Barclays) look kindly on her and allow her a grace period or does this not really happen?

Thanks for any advice you can provide

Mark

donnap83

Did she take out insurance with the loan?

Strikeman

Thats a very good question and no, I believe she hasnt which doesnt leave her in a very good position I suppose

Apples2

Sometimes they will give you a 2 month payment break but it isn't tremendously common.

Even if they do, the interest still gets added so after the holiday you will owe even more than you did prior to taking the break.

Most lenders will not even speak to you until you fall into default with all it's wonderful consequences.

Go the PPI route if you have it.

sp1987

Has she spoken to work to see if they can let her go part time/less aggravating work? You don't say what it is she does.

One of my friends has ME and she manages to work full time due to employer support. She used to really struggle but this job is fine for her (she works as a manager but is able to sit a lot and take breaks as and when). She is very productive when she is feeling ok so probably more than makes up for the times when she can't do too much.

I realise you asked for loan advice but if she can get the support she needs from her job the above problem may not be an issue.

Be aware employees with disabilities do have rights and they may be able to assist her. If it doesn't work, she won't have lost anything.

Strikeman

Thats a really good point to make and one that I'll speak to her about. She is a Project Manager for a company that manages marketing activities for brands (she PM's Coke Zone!) and so there are times when she is under pressure. The company she works for so far hasnt been that understanding in terms of making adjustments to her work as I dont believe they think its a real condition or how badly it affects her. She tries her hardest to soldier through which often means she takes time off to recover but she is finding it more and more difficult to bounce back each time.

What rights does she have against the employer as her CFS is literally disabling her to work and function in a normal way

jamesperrett

I don't want to sound too discouraging, but going in with the idea that she will be ready to work in 3-6 months isn't necessarily a good idea. People with ME/CFS encounter a wide range of symptoms and treatments that work with one person won't necessarily work with another. In fact, some treatements may make the condition worse. In my opinion, it is best to take things as they come and welcome any improvement but don't assume that an improvement one day will continue in the following days.

I would echo sp1987's advice to talk to her employer to see if she can work part time or in a different post. If they don't, then she could either think about changing their attitude to ME (which may be difficult with an American company) or resigning and taking a less stressful job.

James

GAH

Are you able to pay the monthly payments for her?

sp1987

Strikeman wrote: »

She tries her hardest to soldier through which often means she takes time off to recover but she is finding it more and more difficult to bounce back each time.

What rights does she have against the employer as her CFS is literally disabling her to work and function in a normal way

Maybe her soldiering on (which is a very admirable thing) makes the employer think she can cope without adjustments. Like many conditions that do not show somebody as having a disability, they may just be ignorant to it. No excuse I know but she should not feel put off from trying to get the help she needs. Even a decent employer sometimes won't want to cause offence by singling someone out directly to ask if they want adjustments made. I know one office which sent a form around to everyone asking if they needed adjustments made owing to any disability as they had one employee who appeared to have a disability which was causing them to struggle but did not want to offend them by singling them out to ask. As far as I know not only that person but a couple of 'hidden' disability sufferers ticked their form so that probably helped them no end. I dare say with everyone assisted productivity probably upped because these people did not have to spend their days worrying about how and when to quit.

There is an employment board on here and maybe asking about disability adjustments at work there may shed some light. I know there are a lot of people on MSE who are either disabled and working with these sorts of adjustments, work in HR or work/have worked on the legal side of things.

It will really depend on what she needs, too. I mean there is no point getting her a more comfortable chair and letting her sit down more (which is what my friend needs) if her problematic symptoms are poor concentration which may need regular breaks or similar. My friend's concentration is fine if she gets to sit down, for instance. She needs to think about what exactly makes her job more difficult so that in any event she can try and find the best way to alleviate her symptoms. I guess with ME/CFS that is more difficult in some respects than somebody who needs mobility aids like a wheelchair, where the needs (e.g. for building access and maybe a lower desk) may be more easily spotted.