Many people face financial worries at some point in their lives.
If you’ve missed a payment, or feel you may miss a payment, please take a look at the ‘Having problems making payments or with charges?’ section below. If you need to talk to us after this, we promise to be open and honest, taking your individual circumstances into account to find a way forward that works for you.
If your mortgage payment holiday is coming to an end, take a look at ‘If your mortgage payment holiday is ending’.
If your credit card or personal loan payment holiday is coming to an end, take a look at the relevant sections below.
If your temporary overdraft support is coming to an end, and you need further support take a look at the ‘Having problems making payments or with charges?’ section below.
And if you’re looking for some general advice on looking after your money, take a look at the ‘Stay on top of your money’ section.
If you’re having problems with your payments it’s vital that you talk to us as soon as possible. There are a number of ways we may be able to help you. You’ll find some information on the types of support we could offer below.
Before you call us, it’s really important you complete a budget planner. It’s a great starting point when you speak to us which means you won’t be on the telephone any longer than you need to be. Further details about budget planning, and how to access a budget planner, can be found in the ‘Budget planning’ section of this page.
If you’ve lost your job or are recently retired, please go to the Department of Work and Pensions website to check if you’re eligible for support for mortgage interest.
If you’re using your overdraft and you’re struggling to repay it, it’s really important that you talk to us about it.
If you’re unsure what your overdraft might cost please visit our cost calculator
If you’re looking for guidance but don’t know where to start. You could also take a look at the Money Navigator tool provided by the Money Advice Service.
If you’re having difficulties please phone us as soon as possible, it will help to avoid late payment charges.
The idea of looking at your budget may feel daunting and it may even be something you’ve never done before, but it’s your first step towards getting back on track if you’re worried about your finances. Plus, when you speak to us, we’ll already know what you earn and how much you spend, which helps us to offer more personal support. It may also help you to quickly identify ways to save money, and start to reduce your debt straight away.
- See where your money is going
- Organise your spending
- Reach your financial goals
- Manage financial difficulties
MyFinances is easy to use:
- If you don’t already have one, you can get a reference number from us by typing in ‘uniquereference’ into the ‘Chat with us’ banner on the right
- Complete the budget form below
MyFinances budget planner
- Share the form with us (in the planner) when you're finished and call us on 0800 085 1479
Budgeting could be for you if
You’re trying to see where your money is going
You’re trying to reduce the amount you spend each month
You’re saving towards a goal
Your income is reduced because of coronavirus or other unexpected circumstances
Chat with us
The quickest and easiest way to get in touch is by clicking on ‘Chat with us’ in our Mobile Banking app, or when you’re logged on to Online Banking.
Being logged on to Online Banking or the app when you click to chat means we’ll know it’s you and will be able to discuss things in more detail.
Once you’ve clicked on ‘Chat with us’, type in ‘Money Worries’ and tell us a bit about your situation.
We’ll use the information you give us to decide the best way to help:
- We may connect you to our helpful team.
- We’ll let you know about charities and debt advice organisations who can help you.
- We’ll take a look at your account to see what we can do to help you.
- We’ll never share your information.
Call us
If you’d prefer to speak to someone on the phone, see the ‘having problems making payments or with charges’ section for the number you need to call.
If you’ve taken a payment holiday on your mortgage and it's coming to an end, we'll contact you as we need to know how we can help you next. This depends on your current circumstances, particularly if you were in arrears on your mortgage. Please let us know about your situation even if you’re able to restart your monthly payments. You'll need the unique reference number found on the communication we send to you.
Being ‘in arrears’ means you’ve missed any mortgage payment or had a payment arrangement in place when you started your payment holiday.
Once you’ve received your unique reference from us, take a look at the situations below to find out what your next steps are.
I wasn't in arrears when I started my mortgage payment holiday
and I want to restart my payments
I wasn't in arrears when I started my mortgage payment holiday
but I can't restart my payments yet
I was in arrears when I started my mortgage payment holiday
We may ask you (when you click on the options above) to fill in a budget planner. If you’d like to revisit it at any point, follow this link to MyFinances When you’ve completed your budget planner, please call us on 0800 085 1226 for Santander mortgages or 0800 731 7553 for Alliance & Leicester mortgages.
If you’d rather speak to us, or need help from us, please call us on 0800 783 9738.
If you’ve taken a payment holiday on your credit card, we'll contact you as we need to know how we can help you. We’d like to know about your situation even if you’re able to restart your monthly payments. You can do this by clicking on the “I’m coming to the end of my credit card payment holiday” box below. You’ll need to do it for each credit card you’ve taken a payment holiday on.
Based on your individual circumstances, we may give you the option to extend your payment holiday for up to another 3 months. Please think carefully before choosing to extend your payment holiday. Interest will continue to be added to your balance meaning the amount you owe will increase. The table below shows some examples of how much your balance will increase for a 6 month payment holiday. (Where a 3 month payment holiday was taken initially and then extended by another 3 months).
| Example 1 | Example 2 | Example 3 | Example 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current card balance | £1,000 | £1,000 | £4,000 | £4,000 |
| Interest rate (APR) | 18.9% | 29.9% | 18.9% | 29.9% |
| Current minimum payment | £24.57 | £32.04 | £98.26 | £128.16 |
| Minimum payment during 6 month holiday | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Minimum payment after 6 month holiday | £26.79 | £36.52 | £107.17 | £146.06 |
| Card balance after holiday (with no further spend made) | £1,090 | £1,139 | £4,362 | £4,558 |
| Estimated additional interest per year | £18 | £36 | £72 | £145 |
These are illustrative examples only.
- The minimum payment is made up of 1% of the balance plus any interest charged.
- The examples show how a 6 month payment holiday could impact the minimum payment due. If you spend on your card during this time, the balance will increase and so will the interest charged.
- The amount of additional interest charged to you during the payment holiday and the minimum payment due at the end of it will depend on: your balance, your interest rate, and the amount you spend on your card.
- Estimated additional interest per year means the extra interest you’ll be charged as a result of taking the payment holiday. It will be charged in the 12 months following the start of the payment holiday. It assumes you’ll only be making the minimum payment each month once the payment holiday ends, and that there is no further spend on the card.
Let’s get started
I’m coming to the end of my credit card payment holiday
We may ask you (when you click on the options above) to fill in a budget planner. If you’d like to revisit it at any point, follow this link to MyFinances. When you’ve completed your budget planner, please call us on 0800 389 6655.
If you are a Business Banking credit card customer and would like to discuss the options available to you, please call us on 0800 218 2345.
If you’d rather speak to us, or need help from us, please call us on 0800 9 123 123.
If you’ve taken a payment holiday on your personal loan, we'll contact you as we need to know how we can help you. We’d like to know about your situation even if you’re able to restart your monthly payments. You can do this by clicking on the “I’m coming to the end of my personal loan payment holiday” box below. You’ll need to do it for each loan you’ve taken a payment holiday on.
Based on your individual circumstances, we may give you the option to extend your payment holiday for up to another 3 months. Please think carefully before choosing to extend your payment holiday. Interest will continue to be charged monthly at your contracted APR for the period of your requested payment holiday and will be added to your account. Your contracted APR can be found in your loan agreement. The below table shows how a payment holiday of 6 months might change the cost of a loan based on a range of APRs and the impact this may have on the loan term. A payment holiday of 6 months is when a 3 month payment holiday was taken initially, then extended by another 3 months.
| Example 1 | Example 2 | Example 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current loan amount | £5,000 | £5,000 | £10,000 |
| Loan APR | 3.0% | 7.2% | 24.9% |
| Monthly payment | £142 | £151 | £318 |
| Minimum payments left | 36 | 36 | 48 |
| Estimated additional interest for a 6 month payment holiday | £74 | £174 | £611 |
| Estimated additional total interest to be paid over the remaining period of the loan | £81 | £216 | £1,572 |
| Extra monthly payments needed (to cover payment holiday and total interest charged) | 7 | 8 | 11 |
- These are illustrative examples only, based on a sample of APRs.
- Examples show a 6 month term extension to cover the payment holiday, plus up to 5 additional payments to repay the interest.
- They assume that monthly payments continue as normal after a repayment holiday.
Let’s get started
I’m coming to the end of my personal loan payment holiday
We may ask you (when you click on the options above) to fill in a budget planner. If you’d like to revisit it at any point, follow this link to MyFinances When you’ve completed your budget planner, please call us on 0800 678 3322.
If you’d rather speak to us, or need help from us, please call us on 0800 876 6386.
If you asked for temporary overdraft support and it’s coming to an end, we’ll contact you with details of how we can help you further.
If you’d like to see other ways we may be able to help you please take a look at the ‘Having problems making payments or with charges?’ section above.
We’ve got loads of helpful information for you in our ‘Help with managing my money’ section.
- Plan your budget.
- Take some time to list how much you owe and who you owe it to.
- Get in touch with the people you owe money to – hiding from money worries makes them worse, never better.
- If you do have enough money to make your payments but sometimes find they're not being paid on the most suitable date or in the best way, it’s often simple to change payment dates to when you’ve just had money in.
- Check price comparison sites to see if you could save money on regular payments such as energy, broadband and insurance bills.
- In case you're entitled to benefits you're not claiming, take a look at the Department of Work and Pensions website
- If you think gambling is having an impact on you, we're here to help. Visit our gambling help page to learn more
We’ve partnered with some independent organisations who can give you free help and advice.
If you’re worried about money, you may benefit from getting some independent debt advice.
We’ve partnered with free debt advice providers, PayPlan, who will go through your finances with you to help save you money on your everyday essentials, check you’re claiming everything you’re entitled to, and reduce the amount you’re paying towards your debts each month.
They have a specialist team to assist self-employed customers who will help you continue trading through difficult times, and a dedicated vulnerable client team who offer additional help and support for anyone dealing with an illness, mental health concerns or addiction.
Visit Payplan to get help online or over the phone by calling 0800 280 2816 (Monday to Friday 8am–8pm, Saturday 9am–3pm)
StepChange is the UK’s leading debt advice charity. They help over 630,000 people each year deal with their money worries and take back control of their lives. Their service is free, impartial and they never judge. Every client receives expert personalised advice to help them deal with their debts.
Whether you need debt advice, a way to get back on track after the financial effects of coronavirus, or support with budgeting or managing persistent debt, StepChange can help. They’ll look at your individual circumstances, and recommend a course of action.
Visit StepChange or call them on 0800 138 1111 (Monday to Friday 8am-8pm, Sat 8am-4pm) to take the first step towards taking back control of your finances.