Covid-19 and Santander - can't get through

Sambashoes

Hi. I'm on day 3 of trying to get through to Santander regarding a mortgage holiday. I'm getting angry as other people I've spoken to have got through to their lenders easily via phone or submitted their request online. Is anyone else having trouble? I know they're flooded with enquiries but they've had 3 days to sort out other communication channels.

Thrugelmir

What's happened in 3 days to affect your circumstances. Or does your enquiry relate to an existing issue? 

FtbDreaming

 Surely you've been working as normal up to now? I would save applying for the mortgage holiday until you’re actually going to need it.

If you're still getting paid normally this month then pay your mortgage as usual.  See how things pan out work as long as possible then apply for the holiday. If you use the 3 months before you need them then you end up actually needing them in the future you'll be snookered

Neutrinno

Has your income drastically changed within the last few days?

ACG

3 days!

What do you think happens? This is unprecedented. The call volumes for people in that department will have probably quadrupled overnight and I would not be surprised if a large percentage of those are people who just want a payment holiday for the sake of it.

They will need to train up new staff to cope with the extra demand, possibly even new processes in place as these holidays are coming with no arrears being reported with some lenders so even the existing staff will probably have changes to their normal procedures. 

Try and be a little more forgiving to the people on the phone as they are doing what they can with something that has spring up on them - kind of like something has sprung up on you. 

cookie666

My wife works in a call centre doing mortgages and the call volume is beyond what they can cope with, bear in mind that their numbers are down as people are self-isolating and the government is making changes daily.

amnblog

You could perhaps send them a Tweet about your concerns, and see if they have any other methods of taking your request
https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/customer-support/money-worries

The_squirrell

And remember while you are getting a little annoyed, that this was as much as a surprise to lenders as it was to you. Most only knew about it after it was announced.

Imagine you run a company with 100 staff. Your workload quadruples overnight with no warning and your level of staffing reduces by 30% at the same time, again with no warning. If you have an answer to this, then I suggest you stop worrying about any job you may be in at the moment and start your own business!

cookie666

Most providers now provide an online form for you to complete so you are not in the queue anymore, bear in mind this will then be printed off and sorted manually afterwards so give them time too!

tonyhender

I though I saw live chat on Santander website ?

amnblog

Santander now have an online form for Mortgage Payment Holiday request.
https://mortgagesignup.santander.co.uk/onlinecredential/mortgage-holiday