Mortgages come first, owners warned

by Aaron Strutt

Sep 02 2011

Northern Rock is calling thousands of homeowners to tell them to forget renewing their Sky TV subscriptions or buying a new BlackBerry and instead focus on paying their mortgage.

An article in the Yorkshire Post highlighted that more than 30,000 Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock customers will receive phone calls over the next few months from UK Asset Management Resolution (UKAR) warning them about the possibility of them losing their homes.

UKAR manages around £80bn of mortgage debts and is identifying customers who they feel could get into financial difficulties when interest rates rise.

Chief Executive Richard Banks, told the Yorkshire Post: “Some people won't cope when interest rates rise, but for others there are remedies.

“They need to think about what is their most important debt. It's not the credit card or renewing the Sky subscription, or going out for the latest mobile technology, it's their mortgage. They have been protected by low interest rates, but the consensus is that rates will rise next year.”

UKAR says that around 10% of their customers are having payment difficulties. They are running the pilot scheme and calling to see how things are going financially.

September 2, 2011