Fair treatment for Mortgage Arrears

So you have fallen into arrears with your mortgage payments. Bear in mind that this is not a hanging offence. It is not even a criminal offence. In fact there are certain standards that you can expect your mortgage provider to adhere to as you try to cope with the inevitable stress of the situation. Continue reading

Mortgage Arrears

Falling into arrears with your mortgage payments is stressful. The stress arises from the fear of losing one’s home. The most common root cause of mortgage arrears is inability to pay caused by a reduction in income arising from loss of employment or reduced working hours or reduced pay rates. It can also be caused or aggravated by increases in mortgage interest rates and living costs. In a minority of cases, lifestyle may be a significant factor with addictions such as drink, drugs or gambling resulting in missed or late payments and ultimately mortgage arrears. Continue reading

Improving your credit rating

Who Keeps Credit Scores?

In the UK there are three main Credit Reference Agencies which get their information from lenders with the permission of the borrowers who, when they sign up to a loan agreement, consent to this type of information being disclosed. Of course, if consent is withheld, the lender may not pass on details of the borrower’s agreement. Continue reading

Dealing with Bad Credit

You begin to get a bad credit rating when you fail to repay borrowings in accordance with the agreed terms and conditions. If you don’t make your repayments on full and on time, the price you pay is deterioration of your credit worthiness or to put it another way you acquire a reputation for ‘bad credit’. Continue reading

Dealing with Personal Debt via Debt Consolidation

With so many people today having personal money worries it is remarkable how reluctant some people can be in seeking a solution to their financial problems. The important thing is to begin somewhere and getting professional advices ranks highly in the list of things to do. It is often helpful to rate our financial situation on a scale of one to ten with a rating of one being in a state of comfort and affluence and a rating of ten being in a state of hopeless personal insolvency. Continue reading

Coping with the Worry of Personal Debt

Serious personal debt is a huge worry for many people. When the level of debt becomes unsustainable, the worry can lead to stress and to the effects of more serious health and relationship problems. The journey from being debt free, having money in the bank, being in rewarding employment, earning a good income, enjoying a decent standard of living and living a happy life with spouse and children to being unable to pay bills or to service debts can be a cruel one. Continue reading

Banks and Treating Customers Fairly

The UK’s big five banks recently reported huge half year profits to the City and are projecting profits over £40 billion for the full year. I don’t want to sound like Gordon Gecko but “profits are good” and these profits could be construed as good news of a buoyant economy. Sadly however this is against a backdrop of falling house prices, rising interest rates, high levels of household debt, house repossessions up 30% on last year and inevitably an increase in the number of individuals seeking help with debt problems. Continue reading