Barclays Mortgage - Payment Break?

[BlueKarou]

Just wondered if anyone had a mortgage with Barclays, and whether they know if short payment breaks are available. Or any other bank, I guess, but knowing the precedence for Barclays would be interesting.

I'm newly pregnant and long term single (very intended pregnancy using donor sperm) and am just looking into maternity pay. My work will give me 90% pay for the first 18 weeks (4 months) but I'd like to take 6 months ML. Ideally I would like to defer my mortgage payments for those two months, rather than living frugally for the next year.

I'll give them a call once I'm actually sorting out dates etc, but thought I'd test the waters early and ask if anyone had any success stories of petitioning for a 2 or 3 month mortgage payment break?

[FancyPuffin]

I'm with Halifax and had upto 6 months in mortgage beaks I could take.

When I needed to use it I just phoned them, it took about 5 mins and I had a 2 month break. They do check the reason for the break (they have a handy list on their website of what's allowed )

They do add on the payments to the overall mortgage so the payments went up a couple of pounds but it was all very easy and handy at the time.

Congratulations on your pregnancy

[BlueKarou]

An update, for anyone else with Barclays. Apparently they don't do payment holidays anymore. I had a chat with their payments team and they were pretty unhelpful.

Even changing to interest only for three months would be fairly rubbish as it wouldn't save me that much for that time, and as soon as I moved back to repayment I'd have to pay an increased amount to catch up with the amount I'd skipped out on.

I get it; that I shouldn't expect special treatment just because I'm pregnant, but it's so frustrating to be told there's nothing to be done to help me, when I've been a perfect customer, with no late/missed payments. I have tried to be sensible about this; waiting until my student loan and car finance have been paid off; sticking in a job I don't love because it pays well; moving to an area with good schools and near enough to my family so I have support, and to find that at a time when I'm going to want to devote all my thoughts and energy towards a young baby, I'm now going to have to be living extra frugally in order to pay the mortgage when I know just months later I'll be back at work full time, separated from my child for 8+ hours each day but earning enough to keep the bank happy.

Sorry - just ranting as it seems so unfair. Shall get back to my budgeting now to figure out how to make it work. I've got, theoretically, a year to save until I get to the end of my occupational maternity pay and start my statutory, so there's definitely the possibility of saving up, so long as I don't go crazy on maternity clothes, or stuff for the baby.