Payment Advice

You do not have to struggle alone - there are many organisations and tools available to help you.   Speak to us about any overdue payments on a mortgage you have with us.

Contact a debt advice/counselling organisation to talk about this and your other debts. If you want the debt counselling organisation to speak to us, we will be happy to deal with them, but we will need your written authority to speak with them.

Many debt advice/counselling organisations will offer tools to help you manage your debts yourself - for example, income and expenditure forms and budget calculators. To save you searching for them, we provide links to some of them.

If you have borrowed from a "loan shark", you can get help from the government taskforce - their phone line is staffed 24 hours a day 7 days a week, 0300 555 2222, or text "LOAN" (space) "SHARK" (space) + your message to 60003, or  or visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/stoploansharks.

If you are concerned about the amount of time or money you spend gambling, GamCare can help with one to one, free, confidential advice, support and counselling. Contact their HelpLine on 0845 6000 133, or use their website www.gamcare.org.uk. They have an on-line forum, chatroom, and net line.

Tools

Many organisations provide tools to help you understand your financial situation. The most useful are records of your income and expenditure. Here we offer links to the most commonly used ones :-

The Financial Services Authority is the government regulator overseeing the Nationwide Group and other building societies, banks, and insurance companies. It provides a range of tools :-

  • Debt Test - self testing of your financial situation to help you to find out how likely you are to have problems with your borrowing over the next year or so.
  • Financial Health Check - to help you sort out your financial priorities and offering tips
  • Budget Calculator - to help you get a clearer picture of your finances

The Money Advice Trust (MAT), and the trade bodies representing the banks and building societies have jointly agreed a Common Financial Statement (CFS). When Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB) and some debt counselling agencies use the CFS, lenders that subscribe to the Banking Code will accept it as the basis of negotiations to draw up a debt management plan.

Credit Action's 'A self-help guide to dealing with personal debt'

Self help

If you do not want to talk to someone, but prefer to sort things out yourself, there are a number of tools to help you. The most useful are records of your income and expenditure. Here we offer links to the most commonly used ones :-

Government & Financial Services Authority (FSA) :-

Trade Associations :-

Independent money advice/counselling organisations :-

Information sheets

You can download copies of various leaflets. We also give you links to other useful information sheets.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is the government regulator for banks, building societies, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. The FSA produces a series of brochures called 'Money Made Clear'.

Credit Action is a national charity committed to helping people manage their money better. It produces a range of factsheets, including Credit Action's 'A self-help guide to dealing with personal debt'.

The Insolvency Services is a government agency. It publishes a range of leaflets under the heading 'Dealing with debt'.

NHAS, (National Homeless Advice Service) is an expert consultancy of Shelter and CAB funded by the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) providing specialist support to voluntary advice agencies. It produces a booklet for those having difficulty meeting their mortgage payments "Are you worried about your mortgage? Get advice nowDownload".

Specialist Help

If you are in business and need help with that, you may need specialist assistance. Business Debtline offers free independent advice for the self-employed and small businesses - phone 0800 197 6026, or go to www.birminghamsettlement.org.uk.

If you want the debt adviser to speak to us, we will be happy to deal with them, but we will need your written authority to speak with them.

If you need legal assistance, the Community Legal Services can help. To find details of agencies in your area, go to www.clsdirect.org.uk.

Your local Trading Standard Department can help you with problems. Look in your telephone directory under the name of your local council. It may be shown as Consumer Protection Department. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in partnership with Local Authority Trading Standards Services funds a telephone and online service of information and advice on consumer issues at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk, telephone 08454 04 05 06.

For information about tax credits, go to www.direct.gov.uk.

If you have queries about you state pension or state second pension, go to the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP)

Other help available

Cheshire Building Society lends on properties based within England, Wales, Mainland Scotland and the Isle of Wight.