Keeping up with your mortgage payments should always be your top financial priority. Eviction from your home because of payment problems (ie. repossession) means you could become homeless. This is not necessarily an automatic process, but the longer the delay you incur because of inaction, the more difficult it becomes to control your arrears and avoid long-term debts.

If your customer has already been threatened with repossession, introduce them to DSN and we will walk through the options available to them. Some simple advice that you may wish to discuss with your customer is listed below:

Act quickly

Falling behind on your mortgage payments means you need to take action straightaway. It could be the problem can be solved more easily if you act quickly. We would definitely advise against waiting until the debt becomes unmanageable. Missed payments usually incur penalty fees. There is less chance that you will lose your home the sooner you deal with the situation... and there will be more options open to you.

Negotiate with your lender

You may have difficulty in paying your mortgage, for example because you have lost your job. If that’s the case, it's important to talk to your lender as soon as possible. The situation may not be as hopeless as you think. If you haven’t yet decided what to do about the problem, then explain this to your lender and tell them that you are going to get specialist advice.

Lenders will invariably expect you to come up with your own plans for paying off your mortgage, rather than offering advice as to what you should do. You must be able to demonstrate that you will be able to pay off any arrears you have and keep up with future payments until your mortgage is completely paid off. Even if you haven’t decided what the best option is quite yet, it’s still important to let your lender know that you are taking steps to deal with the situation.

Whether you write to your lender or make an appointment to discuss your situation in person, you will need to:

• Provide a detailed statement of your income, spending and debts.
• clarify what you will do to increase your income or reduce your spending.
• define what changes you think need to be made to your mortgage and how the new arrangements will affect the future payments.

Your lender will always consider your proposal before deciding whether to accept or reject it. It may be you have to negotiate further. Don't forget if you switch to a different mortgage provider you may have to pay a redemption penalty. It may be an option to add any fees or redemption penalties to your mortgage and pay them off over the rest of your mortgage term.