Financial Support and Advice

The Society is ready to help anyone who is concerned about their finances.

If you are having trouble with making your mortgage payments, please contact us so that we can discuss your circumstances and see how we can help. Regardless of your circumstances, if you feel you need help and support, our staff are on-hand to help. Please do not ignore the problem.

The Society has several options that may be available to help support you during periods of financial difficulty. The options available will depend on the nature of your circumstances, and we will need to assess your individual circumstances to help decide on the best option for you.

Examples of ways we can support Society customers can include:

•    Extending the Mortgage Term - if you have a capital repayment mortgage, the term of the mortgage can be extended which will typically reduce the cost of the monthly mortgage repayments. This may be a suitable option where your financial circumstances are unlikely to change in the short to medium term, and the repayments will reduce to a level that are affordable for you.

•    Deferring Your Payments - mortgage payments can be deferred either in full or in part for a period of time. This means that the level of payments can be reduced to nil or a set amount that is affordable to you. This may be a suitable option where you have experienced a reduction or loss of income because of redundancy, or as a result of being unwell and being unable to work. Mortgage payments can then resume when your income has returned to normal levels. Please note that the mortgage payments will then resume at a higher level to catch up on the deferred mortgage payments.

•    Temporary Change to Interest Only - if you have a capital repayment mortgage, it can be changed to interest only for a set period of time. This may be a suitable option where you have experienced a reduction or loss of income because of redundancy, or as a result of being unwell and being unable to work and can only afford to pay the monthly interest cost of the mortgage. The mortgage can then be returned to normal capital repayments once the period of difficulty has come to an end. Please note that the mortgage payments will then resume at a higher level to catch up on the missed capital repayments.

•    Change to Interest Only - if you have a capital repayment mortgage, it can be changed to interest only for the remainder of the mortgage term. This may be a suitable option, if you are unable to continue to meet the current mortgage repayments but can afford the mortgage on an interest-only basis. This option is only available if you have the means to repay the capital at the end of the mortgage term, and the Society will require evidence of this.

•    Arrangement to Repay any Missed Payments - Where there is an existing mortgage payment shortfall / arrears balance, and the period of financial difficulty has come to an end, the Society can agree to accept a higher monthly payment over a suitable period which will be used to reduce the payment shortfall. For example, you can pay £950 per month which covers the monthly payment of £850 and provides £100 per month to reduce the payment shortfall. The amount that you can overpay will depend on what is affordable for you.

•    Capitalisation of Arrears– The effect of capitalisation is that the mortgage is regarded as up-to-date and no longer in payment shortfall / arrears. This will typically be where the period of financial difficulty has come to an end, and you can afford to resume making the normal mortgage repayments and meet your other financial commitments but are unable to afford to increase the payment to reduce the payment shortfall / arrears balance. The Society may require evidence that mortgage payments are made for a defined period of time to show that you can afford the new capitalised payments.
Please note that using one or more of these options may result in you paying us more interest over the life of the mortgage.

Not every option will be suitable for you, and it is important that we arrive at the right option that is appropriate for your situation. The Society will need to undertake a review of the circumstances (including your financial circumstances) that have led to the financial difficulty. This will enable us to carefully consider and find the best solution for you. 

We understand that this can be daunting and the sooner you get in touch with us the better.

The Society’s friendly staff are available to discuss your individual circumstances and can be contacted in the following ways:

•    By telephone on 01792 739110.
•    By e-mail at: mortgage.admin@swansea-bs.co.uk.
•    In writing to Swansea Building Society, 11-12 Cradock Street, Swansea, SA1 3EW.
•    If you would prefer to meet face to face, then we will do our best to accommodate this by prior arrangement.