The FCA has confirmed its final guidance for supporting customers in financial difficulty. It details ways in which lenders can help customers either worried about or currently struggling with the cost of mortgage repayments. FCA has also revised its estimate for the number of customers expected to fall behind on their mortgages by June 2024 to 356,000 – down from 570,000 in September last year. Whilst still a concern, this suggests the picture may not be as severe as previously thought (or the same number of customers could be affected over a longer period of time).

A key message in the guidance was that customers should contact their lenders as soon as they start to worry about the cost of making repayments – even if actually missing a payment in the near future is unlikely. It reassures customers that having a conversation about options won’t harm their credit scores and that the sooner they engage with the lender, the more lenders can do to support them.