Mortgage meltdown: Bank chaos as families rush to freeze payments

Mortgage meltdown: Bank chaos as families rush to freeze payments
NewsColony

Banks are struggling to cope with a flood of calls from frantic families desperate to freeze their mortgage payments.

Anxious borrowers are being forced to wait hours to speak to someone, with one angry homeowner complaining of a ten-hour delay when trying to get through to Santander.

Many lenders are now asking borrowers to submit applications online to free up their helplines, or to only call if they are vulnerable or facing immediate difficulty.

Businessman Tim White (pictured with his wife Rachel and daughters Sophia and Saskia) spent nine hours on the phone to NatWest to ask for a payment holiday

The calls were triggered by Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that homeowners in financial difficulty as a result of the coronavirus pandemic will be offered a three-month mortgage break, or ‘payment holiday’.

I called NatWest at 9am… and was on hold till they shut at 6pm

Businessman Tim White spent nine hours on the phone to NatWest to ask for a payment holiday.

He joined the queue at 9am and was cut off by the bank at 6pm when the call centre closed for the day.

Mr White, 52, said: ‘I had to have the phone attached to me all day on speaker phone. It was hard getting anything done and I couldn’t make or receive any calls from anyone else.’

He then went into his local branch but they couldn’t help and told him to try the phone number again.

When Mr White contacted the bank via Twitter, he was told to use an email address.

Father-of-two Mr White, from West Yorkshire, owns a media consultancy and agency. Part of his business is supplying sports commentators for events, but with most sport cancelled, his income has started to dry up.

Mr White’s next mortgage payment is due on April 1.

‘If we get the holiday it gives us peace of mind,’ he said.

Borrowers who decide to take a break will still be charged interest on their mortgage over the three-month period, but the holiday should give them breathing space to get their finances in order.

Martyn James, of complaints website Resolver, said: ‘While the extraordinary impact of the coronavirus is unprecedented, big businesses are supposed to have crisis plans in place for worst-case scenarios like this.

‘The mortgage payment holiday is a vital lifeline for millions and should not be complicated to implement – so it’s a real concern that some lenders are failing their customers by not having a plan in place.’

The City watchdog yesterday issued new official guidance spelling out what banks and building societies must do to help their customers.

Christopher Woolard, interim chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, said: ‘We want to help firms support consumers during these unprecedented times.

‘In particular, we are making it clear that no responsible lender should be considering repossession as an appropriate measure at this time.’

The regulator added that banks must not charge customers any additional fees for taking a payment holiday and said the break should not damage people’s credit scores.

A Santander spokesman said: ‘Only customers who know they’re going to miss their next monthly payment due should call at this time.’

The bank is also asking customers to use social media or its online chat service to get in touch.

Many high street banks have created special payment holiday request forms which are available on their websites.

Santander, Halifax and Lloyds Bank, NatWest and Nationwide borrowers can all ask for a payment break online without needing to telephone their bank.

Families who have mortgages with Barclays and HSBC still need to speak to an adviser on the phone to ask for the three-month freeze.

Nationwide said it was aiming to respond to borrowers who have filled out the online form within five to seven working days.

Halifax said it will respond to borrowers who apply online within two to three working days by text message to let them know if their application has been accepted.

HSBC does not yet have an automatic payment holiday process in place but said if customers called the bank and left their details it will respond when a system was up and running.

HSBC said: ‘Coronavirus is having an ever-growing impact on our colleagues and it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain service levels through our contact centres and branches.’

Source : Mail Online | NewsColony: World News

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