Northern Rock - Jobless

[deejayuk]

Hi people,

 

In a mess, really need some advice.

Ive just lost my job and in a job with 45k Annually, we were struggling on but obviously worse now due to losing my job and at 54 I dont think it will be possible so quickly to find another job which will pay as much.

 

problem -

I have 5 years left on my mortgage with Northern Rock,

we are in fixed rate agreement 5.89% which runs out 2010.

 

Our payments monthly are £715.00 which is astronomical and has really been hard since the recession.

 

The house is approx since the recession and housing fall - 190 - 210k

 

Could anyone advise on how to get back on track or help while I am not working, I cant bare to lose the house after 20 years or hard work.

 

Please help,

 

Would social help? would talking to them and maybe get a better rate? please help!

 

Dave

[WelshMam2009]

Sorry, I'm a little confused.

 

Are you saying that you are £45k in debt or are you worried about paying your mortgage??

 

At the end of the fixed term the rate should hopefully fall a little??

 

I couldn't get any help with my mortgage when I was receiving Incapacity Benefit. The thresholds are just unreasonably low and also, if you received any compensation for losing your job then that will also be taken into account...sorry!!

 

You could always write to your Lender asking them to freeze/lower the interest or possibly extend the term??

 

Just throwing ideas around although I'm sure you've already considered these possibilities.

Edited August 28, 2009 by WelshMam2009

[deejayuk]

Hi,

thank you for a quick and useful reply WelshMam2009.

 

I was talking that I was earning 45k and was still struggling then, but that is irrelevant. just tried to paint the picture.

 

so basically what were saying in most cases the lender will not negotiate and could possibly lose the house even though I have paid it for 20 years and only have 5 years left??

 

surely this is not the case??

 

anyone and any more advise would be fantastic.

 

[WelshMam2009]

so basically what were saying in most cases the lender will not negotiate and could possibly lose the house even though I have paid it for 20 years and only have 5 years left??

 

No, sorry, that is not what I meant!!

 

When I said I couldn't get any help I meant from the social.

 

I would definitely write to your lender and explain your hardship.

 

Ask for their assistance by reducing/freezing interest and/or extending the loan term. I note you are 54 but it is not uncommon for people to work until 70 these days...I'm unclear as to how banks view this though.

 

It also depends if on you're on interest only or interest and repayment. Extending the loan term will not help in respect of the former.

 

Do you have any unwanted personal posessions that you could sell to help raise some money? You also said "we were struggling." Do you have a partner who could work part time at all?? I had a high paying job and was surprised to learn (after my illness) how much working tax credit I received when I started back on a much reduced wage.

 

You may also be eligible for assistance with your council tax benefit and for a tax rebate.

 

By all means, if anyone else has any better ideas then jump aboard!!

 

Best of luck

[time35run]

Deejay,

 

I am also with NR and got into a mess when I seperated from ex husband. Long story.

 

I rang Northern Rock and explained exactly what the problem was and they are required by law to help people like you in temporary difficulty. You can switch to interest only which should reduce the mortgage significantly and they will even allow reduced payments (but don't forget if you do this the interest on the mortgage builds up).

 

Also, you need to go and apply for benefits as you may find you are entitiled to help with housing which should pay up to 200k of the interst part of your mortgage.

 

The other thing is that if you have paid your mortgage on time etc up until now you could take a 6 month payment holiday.

 

Just some ideas and hope they help.....

[deejayuk]

Many thanks for your replies. Appreciate your help.

 

I will be ringing Northern Rock later today to inform them of what has happened and to see what they say.

We have 61K on interest only and 23K on repayment - which are all due to finish in 5 years or so, with a current fixed rate of 4.79% = £715 per month (plus endowments).

 

Then I will have to inform my 2 visa cards (RBS and Tesco) and will have to look at claiming back all the interest my bank (RBS) has charged me over the years, hopefully with the help and guidance of the forums here.

 

Trying hard not to bury my head.........Worries me to death thinking of only getting £60.00 per week, which would not cover the endowments let alone anything else!!

 

Many thanks again,

 

Regards,

Dave

[deejayuk]

Hi all,

 

They were quite reasonable.

 

They offered to change all the mortgages to "Interest" only for fee of £75.00 (can be added to the mortgage) reducing payments from £715.00 down to £411.00 per month.

 

Anyone have any comments on this?

regards,

Dave

[time35run]

SOunds reasonable, you also need to apply for income support to see if you are entitiled to help with mortgage interest payments. If you really do still come unstuck then you can neogatiate with northern rock again to reduce you rpayments further (I believe they can take something like a third of the interest only payment). Also consider a payment holiday of up to 6 months.

[deejayuk]

Thanks time35run for your comments.

 

My wife currently earns around £550.00 per month and when I sign on - I will possibly get £60.00 per week - so I have yet to investigate all the other things that I can claim for.

 

I also have loads of other things to organise and sort - Council Tax, Gas & Electric, Endowments, Then 2 x visa's and other bits.....!!

 

By the way, would it be best to carry on paying the endowments?

 

Thanks,

Dave

[time35run]

Hi,

 

When you go to the job centre, they should tell you what you may be entitled to. I would suggest you do lots of googling to get up to date on the info and have a look at the benefit calculators too. I think your mortgage has to be your priority debt so the visa's will just have to wait - you might want to look at the CCA forums on here to see if you can put those into dispute......

 

I don't know about the endowments as I have very little experience of them but I am sure someone else will be along that can comment....

 

Best of luck to you. It's such a worrying time.

[jansus]

What was your plan to repay the interest only portion? Just the endowments? if so yes you should keep paying as sometimes the final bonus is only payable if you pay to the end of the contract. Are your endowment statements showing green/amber/red in respect of predicted payouts?

 

 

this is a useful site for benefits

 

www.entitledto.co.uk

[jansus]

The Law Society - Mortgage possession claims

[deejayuk]

Thanks again for the replies and links.

 

My endowments are all showing RED!

 

thanks,

Dave

[LFC 1970]

Iam a mortgage arrears agent and N/Rock have a specialist team called CAT which stands for Customer assistance team set up to deal with people in hardship cases there number is 0845 603 4462 and n /rock are not charging borrowers for debt counselling which makes my job easier:D