Coronavirus – mortgage payment holiday

How is Barclays supporting mortgage customers during the coronavirus situation? 

We’re offering a number of ways to support customers who have been financially affected by the coronavirus. Payment holidays for residential and buy-to-let mortgages is one of a number of options that may be available to support you.

What is a repayment holiday?

A repayment holiday allows you to take a break from making your contractual monthly mortgage payment for up to three months.

Am I eligible for a mortgage payment holiday?

To save you time, please read the following carefully before filling in our request form – you’ll find a link to it at the end of this page.

Payment holidays are available whether you have a mortgage for your home or for a buy-to-let property. There’s no need to call us, providing you meet these criteria.

You could be eligible if your income has been affected by the ongoing coronavirus situation – directly or indirectly.

We’ll consider all applications, but if you’re behind on your payments we might need to talk to you to make sure a payment holiday is right for you. Just submit the application and we’ll contact you after reviewing it.

My payment holiday is due to come to an end shortly and I’ve seen in the media I can extend it, what do I need to do next?

We're working closely with the government and our regulator on this. There's no need to call us yet, as soon as we know more we’ll let you know.

When will my payments stop and begin again?

We’ll do our best to start your repayment holiday as soon as possible. If you submitted your application at least nine working days before your next payment date, and we approve it, we’ll stop taking your payments from your next payment date. Otherwise, you’ll have to make your next payment. We’ll confirm everything in the text message when we get back to you. If you pay by Direct Debit, we’ll stop collecting your payments when the payment holiday begins.

There’s no need to cancel your Direct Debit, as we won’t collect payments while your payment holiday is in place. We’ll automatically start taking payments again after your agreed payment holiday ends. We’ll send you a text message to let you know when your payments are due to start again. If you’ve already cancelled your Direct Debit, we’ll get in touch before the end of your payment holiday to help you set up a new one.

If you pay by a different method, you’ll need to stop the payments and make sure they begin again when the payment holiday ends. If your payment is due within nine working days, and this will cause you financial difficulty, please contact us. You can find out how to contact us below.

My payment holiday won’t start until next month, but I urgently need to stop this month’s payment – what should I do?

If you’re having a problem getting through to us by phone and you urgently need to stop your next payment, you should cancel your Direct Debit by contacting the bank your mortgage payment comes from. If it’s a Barclays account, you can cancel the Direct Debit in Online Banking and the Barclays app. We’ll make sure your credit record is not affected if you don’t pay your next due payment because of the coronavirus situation. Please make sure you set up a new Direct Debit to start in time for when your payment holiday ends, to help ensure you don’t miss any payments. We’ll contact you towards the end of your payment holiday to help you set up a new Direct Debit.

Can I choose to begin a payment holiday from a specific date?

No, if we agree to a payment holiday, we’ll start it as soon as we can after you fill in the form. If you want your payment holiday to begin at a later time, please come back and fill in the form at that time.

What happens if I’m approved for a payment holiday?

If you pay by Direct Debit, we’ll stop collecting your payments when the payment holiday begins, and contact you to remind you when we’ll start collecting payments again. There’s no need to cancel your Direct Debit, as we won’t collect payments while your payment holiday is in place. If you’ve already cancelled your Direct Debit, we’ll get in touch before the end of your payment holiday to help you set up a new one.

If you pay by another method, you’ll need to stop the payments and make sure they begin again when your payment holiday ends.

Just remember – we’ll continue to charge interest on your mortgage balance during the payment holiday. Please read ‘How will this affect my mortgage payment at the end of the holiday period’, below.

Will a repayment holiday affect my credit file?

No – arranging a repayment holiday won’t harm your credit file. It’s really important, though, to contact us as soon as possible if you need a repayment holiday, especially if you’re worried that you might not be able to make your next mortgage payment.

Will I be charged interest on my mortgage while the repayment holiday is in place?

Yes, we’ll continue charging interest on your mortgage, and we’ll apply it to your mortgage balance monthly. You will not, however, have to make any payments during the holiday period.

How will this affect my mortgage payment at the end of the holiday period?

We’ll be in touch before your payment holiday ends to tell you what your new monthly payment amount will be and the date when payments will begin again. The amount might be higher than before the repayment holiday started. If you’re worried about paying the new amount, our support team will be able to talk through some options, such as extending your mortgage term to ensure your payment is affordable.

Will I have to prove I’m suffering financial difficulty as a result of coronavirus?

We won’t ask you to provide evidence, but we’ll need to work through your individual circumstances to find the most appropriate way to support you.

Are there are any other options available to me other than a repayment holiday?

Yes, we can discuss a number of other options with you. Our support team will help you find the best solution for your individual circumstances.

I can still afford to pay some of my monthly payment – can I change to interest-only payments temporarily, instead of applying for a payment holiday?

Yes, we might be able to change your mortgage to interest-only payments for up to 12 months. You would then pay a reduced amount to just cover the interest charged each month, rather than your usual full contractual monthly payment, which includes capital.

To see if a temporary change to interest-only is the right thing for you, we’ll need to speak to you over the phone for around 40 minutes about your current circumstances, and complete an income and expenditure assessment. Please have details of your income and outgoings ready to avoid having to call back.

You’ll still need to repay the full balance of your mortgage within the remaining term once any agreement you make with us has finished. To discuss the right option for you, call us on 0333 202 7492. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and on Saturday, 9am to 1pm.

Can I also switch to a different rate during a payment holiday?

Yes – you can submit an application to switch during a payment holiday. If you’ve already applied for a rate switch that hasn’t taken effect yet, that’s OK too. Rate switches won’t affect the terms of your payment holiday.

How do I ask for a payment holiday if I have more than one mortgage, or a mortgage with more than one part?

If you have more than one property, you need to fill in a payment holiday form for each mortgaged property.

If we approve a payment holiday on a property where there’s more than one mortgage account, we’ll automatically apply the payment holiday to all accounts for that property. For example, if you’ve borrowed more money on your original mortgage for something like home improvements, that part of your mortgage could have a different account number.

I’ve borrowed money through my Mortgage Current Account (MCA) – will a repayment holiday automatically stop payments to that account?

As long as your MCA balance is within its credit limit, there’s no need to make a payment to it every month. If you’ve set up optional repayments to this account, we won’t automatically cancel them when if we agree to a payment holiday on your mortgage. You can pause any optional payments by cancelling the Direct Debits or standing orders you’ve set up, and restart them when you’re ready. Just remember that we’ll continue to charge interest on any money borrowed through your MCA.

I’m a landlord – am I eligible for a payment holiday if my tenants have been financially affected by the coronavirus situation?

Yes – we offer payment holidays in this scenario on the understanding that you pass this relief on to tenants who are struggling to pay their rent. If you’re applying because your tenants have been affected by coronavirus, please select ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Has your household income been affected by the coronavirus situation’ on our online form.

How do I stop making overpayments on my mortgage?

How you can stop overpayments depends on whether you’re making changes to your regular mortgage repayments, and how you make the overpayments.

If you’ve requested a payment holiday or to change to interest-only repayments, and have a Direct Debit overpayment arrangement, we will treat your request for a payment holiday as an instruction to cancel the Direct Debit overpayment arrangement when that payment holiday or interest-only period starts. If you’d like your Direct Debit to carry on after this period ends, you’ll have to set it up again – we can’t do this automatically. You can do this by logging in to Online Banking and selecting ‘Regular overpayments’, or by giving us a call when you are ready to start making overpayments again.

If you aren’t requesting a payment holiday or interest-only period but want to stop any Direct Debit overpayments, please call us.

If you have a standing order that makes an additional payment to your mortgage account, you can simply cancel it with the bank the money comes from. If it’s an account with us, you can do this in Online Banking or the Barclays app.

Where do I find my mortgage account number to use in the online form?

Your account number will either be six or ten digits long, and there are a number of places you can find it, including

• In your original mortgage offer letter
• Any mortgage payment notice from us
• Your annual mortgage statement
• In Online Banking or the Barclays app, if you use these services

If you are using Online Banking, the 10-digit account number will be made up of the last two digits of your sort code and your 8-digit account number.

How do I apply if I have a joint mortgage?

We’ll accept a request from anyone named on the mortgage. We’ll only send confirmation to the person who’s requested the payment holiday.

How could this affect my mortgage payments?

We’ll continue to charge interest as normal during the payment holiday. We’ll add this interest to the amount you owe, which increases the balance we charge interest on. Taking a payment holiday won’t affect your mortgage’s terms and conditions.

When the payment holiday ends, we’ll increase your monthly payment amount. This means you can make up the payments you deferred over the rest of your mortgage term. It also means you’ll pay interest on the deferred payments over the remainder of the mortgage term.

Here’s an example of how a payment holiday could affect your repayments after the holiday ends.

*These amounts are only a guide and are based on the assumption that your interest rate and mortgage term will remain the same after the payment holiday and are not due to change under your existing terms and conditions. We’ll send you revised payment details before the end of your payment holiday. All payments in these examples are based on a repayment mortgage of £123,864, payable over 238 months. The representative examples, below, have more details.

Representative example – no payment holiday

A repayment mortgage of £123,864 payable over 238 months, with a fixed rate of 2.35% for five years and then our variable tracker rate of 3.49% above the Bank of England base rate for the remaining term, would need 60 monthly payments of £651.61 and 178 monthly payments of £709.81.

The total amount payable would be £165,522.78, made up of the loan amount plus interest and £0 product fee.

The overall cost for comparison is 3.1% APRC representative.

Representative example – three-month payment holiday

A repayment mortgage of £123,864 payable over 238 months, with a fixed rate of 2.35% for five years and then our variable tracker rate of 3.49% above the Bank of England base rate for the remaining term, would need 57 monthly payments of £662.02 and 178 monthly payments of £721.15.

The total amount payable would be £166,099.51, made up of the loan amount plus interest and £0 product fee.

The overall cost for comparison is 3.1% APRC representative.

How do I apply for a mortgage payment holiday?

The quickest way is to fill in our online form – but please make sure you’ve read the answers above before deciding to do this. As we’re dealing with lots of requests for payments holidays right now, it can take up to nine working days to process them. We’ll send you a text message once we’ve processed your request. Thanks for bearing with us, and please don’t call us after submitting your online form.

How can I contact Barclays if my question isn’t covered here?

We have fewer colleagues than usual answering the phones right now because of the coronavirus situation. This is having a big impact on our call waiting times – we’re truly sorry about this. If you have an immediate financial problem that isn’t covered above, and which can’t wait, call us on the relevant number.

Payment holiday requests if you’re up to date with mortgage payments

For your home – 0333 202 7492

For buy-to-let – 0333 202 7416

Payment holiday requests if you’ve missed any mortgage payments – 0333 202 7407

Questions about closed or matured mortgage accounts – 0333 202 7416

Lines are open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, and on Saturday between 9am and 1pm. Lines are closed on Sunday.

To maintain a quality service, we may monitor or record phone calls. Call charges.