Uncaring, unhelpful Building Society

Bebby12

have my Mortgage with Melton Building Society. Recently my Wife has been diagnosed with early Dementia, she has lost her job and now left the family home and stopped contributing to Mortgage. I have informed Melton of everything along the way and have recently had to reach out to them for help. They acknowledged my situation and said they would get back to me with a resolution quickly as they knew how worried I was about it. A week and a half later they said they couldn’t help and referred me to a Government backed scheme. I tried to contact them 6 times last week and got cut off every time. I left messages and nobody returned them. I feel scared, isolated and depressed. Lots of reviews criticising customer services and unanswered call’s. I will try as hard as I can to maintain mortgage on my own as long as I can, then who knows

ACG

In the nicest possible way, thats not really the answer. Ultimately that is not going to help how you are feeling and is only going to end up in one place. 

You need to deal with the situation. Any help Melton can offer will only be short term, you might be able to go to interest only on the mortgage charter for 12 months, but then your payments will be higher at the end of it. You might be able to switch to interest only permanently or part interest only/part repayment but obviously only they can confirm that. 

If long term you cant find a way to pay the mortgage yourself then you need to sell up. It is better to do it on your own terms as you are likely to get more for the house and not incur legal costs along the way. 

Im not absolving Melton here btw. You should not be feeling like you are and they should be helping you. But their help will only go so far. Make an official complaint, someone will deal with it then. 

elsien

Is the mortgage just in your name or joint names?

Emmia

Bebby12 said:

have my Mortgage with Melton Building Society. Recently my Wife has been diagnosed with early Dementia, she has lost her job and now left the family home and stopped contributing to Mortgage. I have informed Melton of everything along the way and have recently had to reach out to them for help. They acknowledged my situation and said they would get back to me with a resolution quickly as they knew how worried I was about it. A week and a half later they said they couldn’t help and referred me to a Government backed scheme. I tried to contact them 6 times last week and got cut off every time. I left messages and nobody returned them. I feel scared, isolated and depressed. Lots of reviews criticising customer services and unanswered call’s. I will try as hard as I can to maintain mortgage on my own as long as I can, then who knows

If your wife has left the family home, where is she living now? Is it a joint mortgage?

Bebby12

I don't know where she is living now, I believe it's with Family. Yes it's a joint Mortgage. Melton have tried to contact her with no joy.

QrizB

Did you take out a Critical Illness insurance policy when you took your mortgage? If you did, does that cover early Dementia?

Bebby12

You need to deal with the situation. Any help Melton can offer will only be short term, you might be able to go to interest only on the mortgage charter for 12 months, but then your payments will be higher at the end of it. You might be able to switch to interest only permanently or part interest only/part repayment but obviously only they can confirm that ...... To be honest I am trying to deal with the situation, that's why I presented it to Melton rather than burying my head and before I got into trouble. However Melton said they would only offer assistance "after" I got into difficulties, when I was in arrears. It's almost like a "Computer says no" situation. The 6 Months interest free - Government Charter was all they offered, no add on's or we will review after that. The only compassion shown was when they told me after the initial call that they would get back to me quickly as they could see I was worried about the situation. They contacted me a week and 2 days later.

Emmia

Bebby12 said:

I don't know where she is living now, I believe it's with Family. Yes it's a joint Mortgage. Melton have tried to contact her with no joy.

As it's a joint mortgage, they can pursue you, or her for the full amount. In addition if you want to sell you'll need her cooperation - so you're going to need to track her down.

user1977

Emmia said:

Bebby12 said:

I don't know where she is living now, I believe it's with Family. Yes it's a joint Mortgage. Melton have tried to contact her with no joy.

As it's a joint mortgage, they can pursue you, or her for the full amount. In addition if you want to sell you'll need her cooperation - so you're going to need to track her down.

And check whether anybody is/can be made an attorney before her dementia gets too bad for her to deal with this.

Brie

And if you can track her down you might find out if she is on any sort of benefits (assuming she/you weren't previously).  If she/you are you might apply for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) which might make things more affordable for you.

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI): Eligibility - GOV.UK

elsien

Obviously, you don’t need to share that on here, but how much she wants to cooperate will depend on the reasons why she left home in the first place.
Early onset dementia and in and of itself would not normally trigger someone upping sticks and leaving. 

If she is still able to do a power-of-attorney, and She may well be able to do that Despite her diagnosis, It is completely up to her whether she wants to do that and if she does, who she wants to act for her. Which may be another family member instead of you. 

If you are able to talk to her or somehow liaise through a third-party that is going to be much the easiest way to go, in terms of any longer term plans and any further contributions from her. 

Other than putting payments on hold for a bit it’s hard to see what else the mortgage company can do in the circumstances because any changes would require her involvement and both her willingness and ability to consent, or the correct legal mechanisms in place for someone to do that for her.