Santander inflexibility

Brakedust

In the middle of a divorce and house is being sold (we have accepted a no-chain offer, have a memorandum of Sale and the buyer has carried out the searches). Our mortgage product ended with Santander this month and has gone onto standard rate, first payment next month. I called to see if there was any way they would give us a stay of execution until the house is sold (estimate 6 weeks) before advising the credit agencies (the soon to be ex and I can not afford the standard rate). I explained the situation and they offered an Arrangement to Pay - which affects your credit rating for 6 years. Was escalated to the complaints department, no change. Quoted 'Regulatory requirements' So I am being put into credit hell for 6 years for the sake of about 6 weeks. Is there any course of action I can take to appeal this? Seems very unfair after never missing a payment and having an exemplary credit history. Any advice greatly received.  

housebuyer143

They are abiding by the terms of conditions. They're able to help you out, but it does come at the cost of a black mark on your credit file. Not a lot you can do.

You say it's only 6 weeks but hopefully not but sales do full through. What do you do if that happens?

Do they have an early repayment charge free tracker you can go on If so, will they let you change onto that for 6 weeks?

Brakedust

Thanks housebuyer. I asked about changing onto the charge free tracker but they were adamant that by the time it was in place, the default would have occurred (payment due on 1st March) - they couldn't confirm that I was eligible either. I haven't considered what might happen if the sale falls through - I'll deal with that if it happens. 

housebuyer143

Brakedust said:

Thanks housebuyer. I asked about changing onto the charge free tracker but they were adamant that by the time it was in place, the default would have occurred (payment due on 1st March) - they couldn't confirm that I was eligible either. I haven't considered what might happen if the sale falls through - I'll deal with that if it happens. 

That's a shame. A product switch should not require any underwriting and just signing a form. I imagine it might take a week or so to set up which won't help you right now ☹️ 
I hope you can sort it and the sale does go through okay 

RelievedSheff

One missed repayment isn't going to cause you that much grief going forward on an otherwise clean credit history.

Is there any way that you can make the repayment a bit later than normal, which would show as a late payment rather than a missed payment?

On a separate note it would be very unlikely that a house sale can complete in 6 weeks in the current market. Chain free sales are taking 6 months or more!

dunstonh

Seems very unfair after never missing a payment and having an exemplary credit history.

Perhaps you are misunderstanding the support they can give.  Any help they give you by approving a payment holiday or reduction is arrears.  It just becomes approved arrears.   As such, it appears on your credit record as a missed or late payment.

Your credit record is there to highlight exactly this sort of thing.  So, whilst it is a pain for you, it is doing exactly what it intended and expected.

Fixed rate deals can't be extended due to the nature of how they are funded.

mi-key

If it's for a short time is there any way you can borrow the money from friends or family, then pay them back once the sale goes through? Or if you have a good credit rating, get a credit card to pay it, then pay it off after the sale? 

ACG

I forget the terminology but they do have a requirement to provide a true and accurate reflection of your payment history. They cant just alter the rules because you are struggling otherwise they would have to alter them for everyone. 

Why not pay what you can afford? If you have currently been paying £500, pay that. If you then do the same the following month it might "only" show as a "1" on your credit report. 

A 1 is not a default, that means you either paid late or you missed 1 payment. It wont prevent you from getting a mortgage for 6 years. It might prevent you getting normal rates for 12 months or so until it ages a little.

However, to be completely honest with you, I would bang it on a credit card or beg steal and borrow from friends for the payment. Another thought, could you alter your payment to the end of March? That means your payment will be higher as you will have your normal payment plus 30 days interest, but presumably by then you will have sold up anyway? 

ABFG

Not sure if this helps and not an expert but -  I was aware of a friend who was having trouble with their mortgage (albeit a different provider). They were told by the provider it only goes on the credit record once it is a whole month's worth of payment behind. So if monthly payment was £500, and they were £499 behind, no credit record problem. So, they decided that they paid what they could afford for a few months and made sure they were never more than a month behind. They were able to get out of the issue before it hit credit report.
So I would say check with Santander and see if this is how they do it, might buy you a few months.

MattMattMattUK

Brakedust said:

In the middle of a divorce and house is being sold (we have accepted a no-chain offer, have a memorandum of Sale and the buyer has carried out the searches). Our mortgage product ended with Santander this month and has gone onto standard rate, first payment next month. I called to see if there was any way they would give us a stay of execution until the house is sold (estimate 6 weeks) before advising the credit agencies (the soon to be ex and I can not afford the standard rate). I explained the situation and they offered an Arrangement to Pay - which affects your credit rating for 6 years. Was escalated to the complaints department, no change. Quoted 'Regulatory requirements' So I am being put into credit hell for 6 years for the sake of about 6 weeks. Is there any course of action I can take to appeal this? Seems very unfair after never missing a payment and having an exemplary credit history. Any advice greatly received.  

How much has it increased by? As you are only looking at one month's increase to pay can you not find a way to sell some items, transfer some expenditure to a credit card etc. to free up the cash for one months additional payment?