What happens if we can't agree on a solution?

• We may send a debt counsellor to see you and discuss your financial circumstances. The cost of the visits may be charged to your mortgage account.
• We may go to court to start proceedings to repossess your home. If proceedings take place, we strongly recommend that you attend court and that you seek independent debt advice.
• Starting court proceedings does not necessarily mean that we will repossess your home. We will keep trying to solve the problem with you. Repossession is very much a last resort.
• If we do have to repossess your home, we will suggest that you get in touch with your local authority to see if they can find you somewhere else to live.

What happens if we repossess your home?

• We will sell it for the best price we can reasonably get. We will try and sell it as quickly as possible.
• We will give you reasonable time to take your possessions from your home.
• We will use the money raised from selling your home to pay your mortgage and any other loans or charges.
• If there is any money left over, we will pay it to you.

What happens if selling your home does not raise enough money to pay off your mortgage?

• If there is still not enough money from the sale to repay the whole of your mortgage, you will still owe us the amount that is left (this is known as a shortfall debt). We will tell you how much this is as soon as possible.
• If you bought your home with other borrowers, each of you is responsible for all the money borrowed. This is true even if you normally only pay part of the mortgage.
• We will contact you to arrange for you to pay back what you still owe. We have 6 years to do this (5 years in Scotland) but we're likely to be in touch earlier.
• We will take account of your income and outgoings when we arrange a payment plan for this shortfall debt with you. But if we cannot arrange a suitable plan, we may go to court to get our money back. You may have to pay additional court costs
• If a shortfall debt is not paid, it could affect whether you are able to get credit in the future.

What happens if you hand your keys over to us?

You may be thinking about handing your keys back to us. If you do this, you will still be responsible for paying the mortgage until the property is sold. If your house sells for less than you owe, your mortgage won't be fully repaid and you will still owe us the amount that is left. Please discuss this option with us before taking such action.