Your Questions Answered

*historic news* Many of our customers have contacted us to ask about how the recent events around Covid-19 will impact the mortgage market. With this in mind, we have prepared a Q&A on Covid-19 and your mortgage which covers the main areas that we think customers would find most helpful and reassuring. If you have any additional questions or would like to talk to us about any of your concerns, please do get in touch.

What is Your Mortgage Expert Ltd doing to ensure clients are serviced as usual?

We would like to reassure customers that, at Your Mortgage Expert, we have plans in place for all staff members to work from home. All our systems have been designed to be fully operational whether our advisers are in the office or working from elsewhere.

This means that, if you currently have a mortgage being handled by us, we will be able to fully support you and provide you with the level of service you have come to expect from us.

Can I still apply for a new mortgage or remortgage?

Banks and lenders are still taking applications for new mortgage loans. In fact, there remains a great deal of competition in the mortgage market as lenders fight for customers.

Having said that, now, more than ever, it is important that you consider whether you can afford your monthly repayments.

A mortgage is a loan secured against your home or property.  Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up the repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.

If you contact us to talk about a new mortgage, we will carefully review your finances to ensure you can afford the monthly payments moving forward.

Is now a sensible time to get a remortgage?

We would love to be able to tell our clients exactly what the future holds. However, no one has a crystal ball and we can’t predict what is going to happen in the financial climate.

What we always tell our clients, if you want certainty about your monthly outgoings, fix your mortgage now.

The Bank of England Base Rate is the lowest it’s been for years*. So now could be a prudent time to fix your mortgage rate.

Should I worry about whether I can afford to pay my monthly mortgage payments?

Broadly speaking, banks don’t want you to default on your mortgage payments. There are lots of measures in place from the FCA and other bodies to ensure customers are protected.

If you have a mortgage, most of the main banks and lenders have released details of how they will be supporting customers. Most are allowing customers who have been impacted by Coronavirus to take a break from paying all or part of their monthly payment for a period of up to three months.

You should remember that this a deferral of the payment and isn’t free money. This means it will increase the total amount you owe. If you are concerned about meeting all or part of the mortgage payment because of Covid-19, contact your bank as soon as you can to talk about options with them.

Should I be worried about the housing market?

At the moment, the Covid-19 situation hasn’t really impacted the housing market. In fact, the latest Price Index from Rightmove shows buoyant figures for March**. However, these probably don’t take into account the most recent impacts from the virus.

It is possible that people will pause putting their houses on the market until there is greater confidence around the financial situation. There will however be some people who still need to move for various reasons.

Will my mortgage application take longer than usual?

At the moment, mortgages are being processed at the usual speed. It is possible over time that some banks naturally have lower staff numbers. With this in mind, if you are planning to remortgage this year or take out a new mortgage, we would recommend you start the process slightly earlier than you otherwise might have.

As always, we will be in constant contact with all the lenders. This means we will be able to advise you on which banks have slower response times compared to others. We will do everything we can to help ensure your mortgage is completed within your timescales.

Would it be advisable to take out income protection or Accident, Sickness and Unemployment Cover (ASU) now?

At times like these, the value of protection becomes evident. It is often the case that people don’t know the value of an insurance until they really need it.

If you don’t already have insurance to protect you should you be unable to work, it may be that taking out insurance now might be too late for the current situation. But it’s worth thinking about insurance now while it is at the forefront of your mind so that it’s in place for the future.

It is also worth talking to your employer to understand what insurances you have in place as part of your Contract of Employment.  You should however bear in mind that if you move to a different employer these benefits could be lost.

How Can Your Mortgage Expert help?

If you are interested in having a no obligation chat about your mortgage or about any of the questions we have raised in this article about Covid-19 and your mortgage, why not get in touch? We don’t charge anything up front, so by speaking to us, you are under no obligation. We are based in Salisbury, Wiltshire, but we can help you no matter where you live in the UK.

Simply call us on 01722 322683 or complete a contact us form on our website and tell us when it would be best to get back in touch with you.

The information contained within this article was correct at the time of publication. It is intended for information only and does not constitute advice. Neither Your Mortgage Expert Ltd nor TenetLime Ltd cannot be held responsible for information that was correct at the time of publication but subsequently changes or goes out of date due to changes in legislation. For further information, contact Your Mortgage Expert on 01722 322683.

*Source: https://www.mortgageintroducer.com/boe-cuts-interest-base-rate-by-0-5

**Source: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-index/