Mortgage arrears & government scheme

[tomterm8]

Does anyone have the details on the government scheme to defer interest repayments?

Unfortunatly, one of my cousins has just discovered that they have cancer. They only have two more weeks of full sickness pay, and a whopping mortgage of approximatly £1,500. Since the mortgage isn't covered by an income protection policy / sickness policy and the house is in negative equity, I was wondering if there is any way to delay the payments.

Other than that, I suspect the house will be repossessed and they will be forced into bankruptcy.

[Mochamoo]

Re: Mortgage arrears & government scheme

Sorry to hear about your cousin Tomterm x

To qualify, borrowers will:

• have suffered a loss of income from employment or self-employment of a scale which now makes full mortgage payments difficult, but which is not expected to be a permanent loss of income
• have been in dialogue with their lender, including over the use of existing forbearance policies, and have been making some level of regular payment
• have taken out a mortgage of up to £400,000
• have savings below £16,000 - which is the same as for the existing Support for Mortgage Interest scheme (SMI)
• apply for assistance as owner-occupier - the programme will not apply to people with second homes or buy-to-let properties
• not be in receipt of SMI or mortgage rescue assistance
• have been assessed as being able to pay a certain monthly amount on an ongoing basis
• have received financial advice from a party other than their lender to determine their eligibility for the scheme, including testing the long-term sustainability of their financial position, and their ability to resume full payments once their income increases
• have fallen into arrears for a number of months during which the lender has exercised forbearance

I have yet to find how to actually apply fo it...try call the council.


Has your cousin spoken to a macmillian person? They are trained to help you sort out all of your money problems and to adise what you are entitled to and to help you apply for what ever you need. They helped my Cousin and FIl no end I can not recommed Macmillan highly enough on this front.

There are loads of things your cousin can claim...so many people miss out on things like reclaiming parking expenses. Financial Help - Cancer Care Charity - Macmillan Cancer Support

Help with mortgage interest payments through means-tested benefits

From 5 January 2009 help with mortgage interest payments and certain housing costs, including service charges and ground rents, has been changed.
The main changes are:

• The waiting period for full help has been reduced to 13 weeks.
• The maximum loan which will be considered has been increased to £200,000.

If you claim Income Support, Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, your award can include help with housing costs.
If you claim Pension Credit, help with housing costs can be paid straight away from the start of your claim. If you claim Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, there will be a waiting period before you will receive any help with your mortgage interest payments.
For mortgages taken out after 2 October 1995 the waiting period will be 13 weeks. For mortgages taken out before that date you will receive 50% of your assessed housing costs after 8 weeks and 100% of your assessed housing costs after 13 weeks.
The maximum loan which will be considered for help with mortgage interest payments has been increased to £200,000.
It's a good idea to get advice on what help you are entitled to from an experienced benefits adviser.

[tomterm8]

Re: Mortgage arrears & government scheme

Thanks. They haven't spoken to Macmillian yet, because it is a very recent diagnosis. I advised him to speek to macmillan ASAP, and citizens advice... and not to get into contact with their mortgage company until they'd done so. I think he intends to call them tomorrow.