Mortgage payment difficulties

You can call us on 0345 702 3083. Our dedicated Mortgage Support Team are available 9am - 6pm, Monday to Thursday, and from 9am - 5pm on Friday.

Calls to 0345 numbers cost the same as a call to a standard ‘01’ or ‘02’ landline number, even when calling from a mobile. Calls from landlines and mobiles are included in any bundled minutes or free call packages. The actual cost you are charged will depend on your landline or mobile provider. Please contact them to get information about the cost of the call. We may monitor and record telephone calls for training and security purposes.

You can email us at mortgage.support@newcastle.co.uk 

Pop into your local branch to speak with us, we'll be able to answer your questions and assist you.

Write to us by sending any post to: Newcastle Building Society, 1 Cobalt Park Way, Wallsend, NE28 9EJ

Please remember that just talking to us about difficulties in paying your mortgage will not impact your credit file.

The first thing you should do is contact us by one of the methods above, to talk about your situation. We will discuss your current financial position with you and depending on your individual situation, we will be able look at what types of support we could offer you.

We will consider your needs, characteristics and objectives as well as any important steps we may need to put in place for you, so we can understand individual circumstances and ensure customers who have or may have payment difficulties, or who face a sale shortfall, receive appropriate information and support.   

This may include us asking you to complete your current incomings and outgoings information on our budget planner, where you can send us this information securely.

This is the quickest way to make sure that we have the most up-to-date and correct information about your financial position. Once we have that, we can look at the best solution for you. 

It might also be useful to look at the Budget Smart tool. This tool will help you see if you are receiving all the income you’re entitled to as well as provide you with useful tips on budgeting.

We will treat all customers fairly, taking individual situations into account. 

Once we understand your situation, which may include your completed current incomings and outgoings information, we will be able look at what types of support we could offer you.

We may be able to help you by:

• Reducing your payments for a period of time to allow time for your circumstances to improve. 
• Arranging a plan to repay any money owed at an affordable monthly amount. This will be tailored to your individual circumstances and based on how much you can afford. 
• Extending your term to give you a longer amount of time to pay it back. 
• Changing the type of mortgage from repayment to interest only or part repayment and part interest only  
• Reviewing your interest rate 
• Reviewing the amount of interest we will charge to your account  
• Reviewing how much you have outstanding to pay  
• Giving you time to sell your property. 
• Access to free, independent debt advice via our partner PayPlan. 
• Changing your payment method or date you pay  

Our Mortgage Health Check page will help you spot any areas you may need to review and ways you can improve your mortgage agreement, which may make your payments easier to manage.

Please note: Your credit file will not be affected by simply talking to us, although it may be impacted depending on the most appropriate option for your circumstances. We will discuss this with you before taking any further action to allow you to make an informed decision.

We will then talk to you about the different options you have. We can give you time to think about your options, giving you time to ask any questions and explain how they will work. If we cannot offer any of the options, we will let you know why. 

We’ll agree the next steps of your plan with you, then continue working with you as we move forward. The support we offer is ongoing and will always be tailored to your circumstances. We will also put any support agreed in writing after speaking to you about it. 

MoneyHelper is a government supported service that offers free support for people with money worries. This includes neutral advice, and suggestions to further, trusted support if you need it. 

PayPlan offers free, confidential and expert debt advice to help people take back control of their finances. They will also work with your creditors on your behalf. PayPlan’s Budget Smart tool can also help you grow your income and lower your bills.

National Debtline is a charity that provide free debt advice to people across the UK.

Building Societies Association provides advice on what to do if you can’t pay your mortgage or if you think you might struggle in the coming months.

Turn2Us offer a private online calculator which you can use to check if you are entitled to any benefits.

If you have not missed any payments yet but are worried about making future mortgage payments, here are just some of the options that you can think about. Please note that these are subject to your personal situation and we’d be more than happy to talk with you about them if you’d like to contact us.

• Arranging a payment plan, taking your individual situation into account
• Arranging a new short-term solution as you face a period of uncertainty
• Changing the way you make payments or the date on which you make them
• Changing the term of the mortgage
• A transfer to a different product if you meet the terms and conditions (subject to any early repayment charges)
• Access to free, independent debt advice via PayPlan

Firstly, it’s important to know that just talking to us won’t affect your credit file. Speak to us as soon as possible if you are facing payment difficulties or think you might do in the future. 

We are here to support you. When speaking to you about your options, we will always explain what we will update to the credit reference agencies and we will tailor the options available to your personal situation. 

Normally, if you do enter into an arrangement with us, this will show on your credit file. However, this is better than your credit file showing missed payments with no plan in place. It’s best to speak to us as soon as possible so we can support you.  

If you took out your mortgage after 31 December 1994, we have to tell a Credit Reference Agency about some arrears. If you have arrears of one monthly payment or more at the close of business on the last day of any month, we’ll have to pass the number of missed payments on. If you have made an arrangement with us we’ll also tell them about this. This could make it more difficult for you to get credit in the future. 

If you miss a payment and haven’t contacted us, we will try to contact you by phone, email and letter in the first instance. We will then allow you some time to bring your account up to date.

If you think you are going to miss a future payment, it’s important to contact us as soon as possible and we can put a plan in place if needed, such as a payment break or payment delay.

If you miss one or more payments without contacting us, or we can’t get in contact with you, this could have an impact on your credit file.

Please note that missing payments will remain on your mortgage balance and the total amount of interest you pay will be higher whilst the payments are outstanding.

If you took out your mortgage after 31 December 1994, we have to tell a Credit Reference Agency about some arrears. If you have arrears of one monthly payment or more at the close of business on the last day of any month, we’ll have to pass the number of missed payments on. If you have made an arrangement with us we’ll also tell them about this. This could make it more difficult for you to get credit in the future. 

If we cannot agree a solution to your mortgage payment difficulties, we may appoint a field agent to discuss your financial situation and the cost of the visit will be charged to your mortgage account (you will not need to pay this up front).

We may go to court to start the process to repossess your home. 

Repossession is always a last resort. The Society will only resort to repossessing a property where all other attempts to come to a reasonable arrangement have failed. We therefore advise you to contact us if you remain unable to make your mortgage payments.

If, as a last resort we do seek possession, we strongly recommend that you attend the court and take independent debt advice. We will keep trying to resolve the problem with you. Starting court proceedings does not always mean that we will repossess your home.

If we do repossess your home:

• We will sell it for the best possible price.
• We will give you a reasonable time to take your possessions from the property.
• We will use the money raised from the sale to repay your mortgage and any other loans or charges.
• If there is any money left, we will pay it to you.
• If there is not enough money to repay the mortgage, you will still owe us the amount that is left. 
• We will tell you the amount as soon as possible.
• We will take into account your income and outgoings when we arrange a payment plan to repay the debt.
• If the debt is not repaid, it can also affect your future ability to obtain credit.
• If you bought your home with other borrowers, each of you is responsible for all the money borrowed. This is even if you normally pay only part of the mortgage.
• We will contact you within six years of selling your property (five in Scotland) to arrange for you to pay back what you still owe.

Some companies may offer you new loans or invite you to sell your property to them and then lease it back as a way of resolving short-term mortgage payment problems. You might also be tempted to remortgage with a different provider or borrow more against your home. Please be careful, as such actions may not be in your long-term interests. We would advise you to seek independent advice before entering into any arrangement of this type.

You may be thinking about handing your keys to us, which is called voluntary repossession. 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 any such action.

If you took out your mortgage after 31 December 1994, we have to tell a Credit Reference Agency about some arrears. If you have arrears of one monthly payment or more at the close of business on the last day of any month, we’ll have to pass the number of missed payments on. If you have made an arrangement with us we’ll also tell them about this. This could make it more difficult for you to get credit in the future.