Reach Out! New public awareness campaign launched by lenders

From this week the banking and finance industry’s Reach Out campaign will be seen across out-of-home advertising, radio, print and digital, with television advertising to be launched in September.

The campaign is supported by lenders and follows the announcement of the Mortgage Charter where government, lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority agreed to far-reaching new support measures for customers.

UK Finance has launched the Reach Out campaign to raise awareness of the support available to mortgage customers. The campaign’s key message is to encourage people to reach out to their lender early on if they are worried about making their payments.

All lenders have teams of experts ready to help anyone struggling with their mortgage payments. There are a range of options available for help, which will be tailored to each person’s circumstances.

In the year prior to January 2023, lenders helped over 200,000 borrowers who couldn’t meet their full mortgage payments and more than two million who needed financial difficulty assistance.

David Postings, chief executive of UK Finance, says: “We have launched this .

--campaign with our members to make sure that anyone struggling with their mortgage payments knows that help is available. Lenders are ready to provide support even if a customer’s payments are up to date – if you’re struggling with your mortgage, or think that you will struggle, Reach Out to find out the options available for help.” 

Tailored support provided by mortgage lenders to customers struggling with their mortgage payments could include extending a mortgage term to reduce payments; a temporary switch to interest-only payments; a temporary reduction in payment (including zero payment if appropriate); and/or a part interest-part repayment plan.

In addition, 44 mortgage lenders representing 90 per cent of the mortgage market have signed up to the government’s new Mortgage Charter committing them to additional support for borrowers.

This includes giving customers approaching the end of a fixed-rate mortgage the chance to lock in a deal and request a better like-for-like deal if rates change up to six months ahead, and a guarantee of no possession within 12 months of your first missed payment.