Customer Support

How to avoid incurring charges

Charges may be applied to your account when we are asked to pay an item from your account by Direct Debit, Standing Order, Debit Card or Cheque and when there are insufficient cleared funds in your account to cover the amount of the item. The following tips are provided to help you avoid incurring these types of charges:

1. Pay in sufficient funds - Ensure that you have paid sufficient cleared funds into your account to cover any direct debit and standing order payments. Make sure you have the funds in your account no later than 3.30pm on the day the payments are due to be made.
2. More than one account? - If you keep funds in more than one account, transfer these all into the account from which you make your regular payments.
3. Check your statement - Check your statements regularly. Make a note of the dates when your Direct Debit, Standing Order and Internal Transfer payments are due.
4. Check your cheques - Keep a record of any cheques you have written and when they’ve been paid, Keep a record of any cheques you have written and when they’ve been paid, so you know the amount of available funds in your account.
5. Record your debit card use - Keep a record of any debit card payments made and take these into consideration when checking the available funds in your account. Debit card transactions are not always reflected immediately in the available account balance.
6. Change your funding - Change how your account is funded. For example, changing the method or source of funding and the timing of these.
7. Change your payment dates - Change Direct Debit, standing order payments and internal transfers so they occur at a better time. For example after you have been paid, or change to an alternative payment method.

Dealing with debt

Practical steps you can take to help resolve your debt problems:

1. Be honest with yourself - Acknowledge the problem. Don’t ignore post from people to whom you owe money.
2. Contact us - If you think you might be getting into financial difficulties. Let us know and ask how we can help.
3. Draw up a budget - Make a list of all your debts and prepare a statement of your financial position. Detailing your income and expenditure and how much you owe.
4. Maximise your income - Decide on your priority financial commitments and maximise your income by cutting down on non-essential spending and claiming any benefits or tax relief for which you may be eligible.
5. Make us an offer - Check your budget to see what you can afford. If we accept your offer, make sure you stick to it.
6. Review your circumstances - Assess your ongoing financial position regularly. Keep us posted of any changes.
7. Contact a specialist - There are expert money advisers who can give you help. Support and advice is available to help you deal with your circumstances.
8. Contact all creditors - So that they are aware of the situation. So that they are aware of the situation.

For more help and advice, download our Dealing with Debt guide for customers.

Difficulties repaying your mortgage

Contact us as soon as possible and we will discuss the situation with you, give you reasonable time to pay back the debt and only start proceedings to repossess your home if we cannot solve the problem with you. We might be able to arrange a payment plan with you, change the way you make your payments and/or allow you to pay back the mortgage over a longer period of time.

1. Seek debt advice - You should seek debt advice if you feel you need help with managing your finances or claiming state benefits. If you have an insurance policy, check whether it would help with your payments and keep us updated if your circumstances change (if you can’t keep to the payment plan or if you move to a new address). In some cases you may be able to get help with your mortgage payments from the Benefits Agency. You are however strongly recommended to take out Mortgage Payment Protection, to cover your mortgage payments against sickness, accident and unemployment.
2. If we cannot agree a solution - If we cannot agree on a solution to repay your mortgage, we may send an agent to see you to discuss your financial circumstances and we may go to court to start proceedings to repossess your home. We will keep trying to solve the problem with you; possession is the last resort. You may be thinking about handing your keys over to us. If you do this, you will still owe us any outstanding debt, and we would advise you to discuss this option with us before taking such action.
3. If we repossess your home - We will try to sell it as soon as possible for the best price we can reasonably get. We will use the money raised to pay your mortgage and any other loans or charges, if there is any money left over, it will be paid to you. If there is not enough money from the sale to pay the whole mortgage, you will still owe us the amount that is left (a shortfall debt).
4. Other issues to consider - Some companies may offer you new loans or even invite you to sell your property to them and then lease it back as a way of resolving your short term financial difficulty. Please be careful, as such actions may not be in your long term best interests. We would advise you to seek independent advice before entering into any arrangement of this type. If you are in financial difficulty you can also get help and advice from debt counselling organisations. With your consent we will liaise, wherever possible, with debt counselling organisations.

For more help and advice, download our Mortgage Arrears leaflet.