Money Matters. Help for what matters. Ulster Bank s no nonsense guide to: Managing Debt

Money Matters Hep for what matters Uster Bank s no nonsense guide to: Managing Debt

Money Matters contents Understanding debt Sections 1 3 1 How to manage debt Section 4 3 How to get in contro of debt Sections 5 6 4 How can we hep you? Sections 7 9 8 Consequences of arrears Section 10 11 12 Usefu contacts Sections 12 14 Get in touch Section 13 16 Meet with one of our staff members Section 14 16

1 Understanding debt 1. Know your options Anyone can get into difficuty managing their debt. Even sma changes in your circumstances can put huge pressure on your finances and these can quicky resut in missed oan repayments and mortgage arrears. However, there are soutions. With our hep, taking contro of your debt and getting back on track coud be easier than you think. It is why we have produced this guide so you can see just how many hepfu services are avaiabe to you if you are trying to stay on top of your finances. Whether your debt is with us, or another bank or mortgage provider, you find hepfu and practica soutions. So have a ook and see for yoursef the steps you can take shoud you find yoursef having difficuty managing debt. But remember the most important thing is to tak to us if you fee debt is becoming a probem so we can give you as much hep as possibe. If you are an Uster Bank customer and are strugging with your finances, pick up the phone or ca into your oca Uster Bank branch straightaway. Our staff wi be happy to hep you take the first steps to managing your debt and it coud ead to a new repayment schedue being organised. The number of your oca branch can be found on www.usterbank.com or in the phonebook. For Uster Bank mortgage arrears reated queries, pease ca us on 0345 301 6910. If you have a query in reation to Uster Bank persona debt, overdrafts or oans, pease ca 0345 6023112. How to cut through the jargon To know exacty where you stand financiay, it s important to have a cear understanding of the terminoogy invoved. We have isted the most common terms you wi come across when deaing with us or other banks, beow. Arrears This is where a repayment has not been paid in fu, on the agreed date as per your origina contract repayments. Mortgage ender This is the credit institution that you take out your mortgage with. Repayment mortgage A repayment mortgage is one where you pay off the oan amount (capita) and interest at the same time. Term This refers to the ength of your oan or mortgage. It s normay stated in months or years. Credit history This is the track record of your repayments on oans/mortgages/credit faciities you currenty have or had in the past. This is hed by credit reference agencies who use the information they get from enders to buid up each borrower s credit history. Moratorium A moratorium is a temporary arrangement between the customer and the bank to defer repayments and suspend coections activity for an agreed period of time. A moratorium may sometimes be referred to as a repayment break and may be considered by the bank for a variety of reasons. For exampe, it coud work as part of a soution to hep customers experiencing financia difficuties to get back on their feet. Uster Bank Limited References to Uster Bank and Uster Bank Group in this booket reate to Uster Bank Ltd.

2 2. What can you do about probem debt? Being in financia difficuty can eave you in a constant state of worry making it easy to panic and ignore the situation. The onger you are strugging, the more debt mounts, so it is better to act swifty. If you find yoursef faing behind with oan or mortgage repayments, tak to us or your ender as soon as possibe. By making us aware of your financia situation, we can expore a your options and ook at working out a soution with you. Here are some additiona steps you shoud take if you find yoursef in financia difficuty: work out a persona budget and stick to it. make sure you re caiming a benefits and tax credits you re entited to. Contact your oca Socia Security Agency or oca Citizens Advice Bureau for advice on what your individua entitements are. tacke your priority debts first, for exampe your mortgage and secured oans. see if you can work out a repayment timetabe that suits everyone. get free independent money advice from agencies such as the Citizens Advice Bureau by visiting www.citizensadvice.co.uk and their advice guide at www.adviceguide.org.uk Finay, here are some things you shoud never do if you find yoursef in difficuty: never ignore missed repayments, they won t go away. don t ignore correspondence from your financia institution. 3. How do you get into financia difficuty? A number of factors can ead to arrears. Here are some exampes of circumstances that can effect your abiity to pay your bis. Job oss These days, many peope are osing their jobs or are having their hours reduced. If you ve ost your job, or if your partner has ost theirs, it wi have an immediate and extreme effect on your finances. If you have savings, you may be abe to put these towards meeting your repayments whie you ook for a new job. If you don t, it can be stressfu trying to make ends meet. Reduction in working hours A reduction in working hours, sometimes to two or three day week, is aso becoming commonpace. In some situations, it is possibe to suppement your income with Socia Security payments. To find out more, contact your oca Socia Security Agency office. Reduction in saary Many companies have been forced to cut empoyees saaries in an effort to reduce their operating costs. This can have an immediate effect on your monthy budgeting efforts. By using the Budget Pan, which you find further on in this booket, to anayse your outgoings against your reduced income, you can start identifying areas where you can cut back on non-essentia spending. Redundancy If you ve been made redundant and have received a ump sum, you shoud work out how to make the best use of the money unti you re working again. don t avoid cas from your financia institution, as taking to your bank is the first step to heping you get the situation under contro. Reationship breakdown When one partner eaves, the other can be eft to face paying a mortgage or oan(s) on their own. In this situation, it s very easy to end up in arrears.

3 However, it s important to remember that both partners, because they took on the mortgage together, are jointy iabe, so they must both pay back the oan, regardess of who ives in the property. In the event of death When in financia difficuty, peope sometimes stop paying their ife assurance poicy. This is not a good idea as, if you die and don t have ife assurance, your debts can be passed on to your reatives. Therefore, it s best to keep up-to-date on your ife cover payments. If you are in severe financia difficuty, there are ess expensive poicies avaiabe which offer ess cover but woud sti pay off the majority of your capita. Before changing your ife assurance poicy, seek independent advice. How to manage debt 4. What are the danger signs of debt Beow is a ist of financia warning signs. If some of the foowing statements sound famiiar, you coud soon find yoursef facing a debt probem: you pay for your weeky groceries by credit card or cheque you borrow from friends or famiy without knowing when you be abe to pay them back Remember, it s vita to be accurate with your ife assurance appication and to be carefu not to eave out any materia facts. For exampe, if you put down that you are a non smoker, when your medica records show that you are a smoker, it coud resut in a future caim being rejected. Iness If you or a member of your famiy becomes i, the cost of treatment can be very expensive and have a major impact on your ife and your finances. It s why having adequate heath insurance is so important. Some ife assurance poicies incude critica iness cover which may pay a benefit to you in the event of you or your spouse/dependants contracting a serious iness. Check the terms of your poicy to see what you are entited to. Other ways debt can pie up Debt can mount for a number of different reasons. You may simpy be having probems managing your finances and keeping enough money in your accounts to meet your payments; you may have taken on more debt than you re abe for or the extra expense that comes with having a new baby coud be putting a strain on your abiity to meet your expenses. Whatever your reason for being unabe to pay your debts, it s important not to ignore the situation or pretend it s not happening. As you see in the next section, there are many things you can do to effectivey manage debt. you borrow money to pay off other debts you re not sure how much you owe you ony pay the minimum amount due on your credit card(s) every month you re paying ate payment fees on credit or store cards you reguary pay referra fees due to being overdrawn you have used up a of your savings your monthy income is not sufficient to cover your monthy outgoings i.e. credit card, overdraft, utiity bis

4 How to get in contro of debt 5. What can you do to contro your debt? If you find yoursef in financia difficuty for whatever reason, these tips coud be of hep: Watch what you spend and work on ways to make your money go further by panning a budget. My Budget Pan Monthy Income: Now Future Your income after tax Your Partner s income after tax Chid Maintenance Famiy Income Support Benefits (e.g. Chid/unempoyment/one parents) Renta Income Ensure you re getting a of your benefit entitements. Contact your oca Socia Security Agency and et them know where you stand. If you have an income protection insurance poicy, check to see if you can make a caim. This may provide a reguar income for the duration of your iness, injury, disabiity or unti you return to work or retire. You may aso be abe to caim on other protection poicies. For exampe, mortgage repayment protection insurance coud be appicabe in the case of redundancy. Savings Income/Share Dividends Other Income Tota income Monthy Outgoings: Now Future Mortgage or rent Utiity bis (rates, gas, eectricity) Panning a budget Panning and sticking to a budget can be tough but it reay can make a difference as you work towards cearing your arrears. If you know how much money is coming in and going out, you know exacty how much you need to meet your bis. It s essentia to keep your figures as accurate as possibe, so make sure you take a your outgoings into account. Use the tempate budget pan beow to hep work out your income and outgoings. Put a figures in monthy amounts. Here s a handy itte tip to hep you work out the monthy amounts: For weeky payments, mutipy by 52 and divide by 12 For quartery payments, mutipy by 4 and divide by 12 For yeary payments, divide by 12. Loan and credit card repayments Food or househod shopping Chidcare Insurance (Life, home, medica, etc.) Medicines and medica expenses Home maintenance and househod goods Other expenditure (mobie phone, broadband, sateite TV) *Emergency Fund Tota outgoings * Emergency Fund shoud aow for irreguar bis, such as home heating, quartery direct debits, car breakdown and so on.

5 Summary Now Future Tota income Less tota bis What s eft for saving or spending Non-essentia spending Now Future Reguar Savings Lunch, coffee or papers Trave, expenses and petro Cothes Sociaising or hobbies Chidren pocket money or trips Ad hoc spending (birthdays, hoidays and so on) Emergency Fund** Tota non-essentia spending **Emergency Fund shoud aow for any additiona persona incidentas. Notes/Cacuations Maximise your income Once you ve worked out a budget, you can ook at different ways of increasing your househod income as foows: Caim a Tax Credits you re entited to, for exampe: chid tax credit working tax credit incapacity benefit Caim a the state benefits or aowances you re entited to, for exampe: jobseeker s aowance chid benefit carers aowance Caim tax reieve on any expenses you re entited to, for exampe: support for mortgage interest (SMI) You find a comprehensive guide to what you re entited to at www.dsdni.gov.uk and www.nidirect.gov.uk. How to reduce your spending To reduce the amount you spend, start by taking an objective ook at your outgoings to see what you can do without. Most of what you spend can be put into one of the foowing categories:

6 Priority Responsibiities For exampe: Mortgage Rent Essentia utiity bis (Gas, Eectricity etc.) Insurance and Protection Standard everyday spending costs (as outined beow) Occasiona Costs For exampe: Everyday Spending Costs For exampe: Food Cothing Petro Chidren and associated expenses Secondary Responsibiities For exampe: Persona Loan Overdraft Credit Cards Store cards Discretionary Spending For exampe: Car Maintenance Gof subscriptions Birthdays Gym subscriptions Christmas Hoidays and gifts Once you ve fied out your budget sheet, highight any areas that aren t essentia to see where you can cut back on your spending. Other ways to reduce your spending: Here are some additiona tips to hep you cut down on your monthy spend. Keep a spend diary There are some things you have to pay: your mortgage, oan repayments, rent and bis. By cutting down on non-essentia items ike nights out, magazines and takeouts, you can save significanty. Keep a spend diary and you probaby find you buy a ot of things you just don t need. Shop around The best way to get more from your money is to shop around. Compare the best costs for your phone and internet connection at www.uswitch.com. Aso, make a point of shopping around for your everyday groceries and see how much you can save. Bank onine Banking onine* is a great way of getting on top of your spending. For exampe, with Uster Bank s onine banking service Anytime Banking, your baances and statements are updated in rea time. It means you can keep an accurate check on your baance and your outgoings. You can aso pay your bis anytime you wish, which wi hep you to budget more effectivey. *Terms and conditions appy. To sign up for Internet Banking you need to have an Uster Bank Persona accountor Credit Card hed in Northern Ireand and be aged 16 or over. Save your energy Making sma changes can mean big savings on your energy bis. For instance, if you ower your thermostat by 1 C, you coud save up to 10% on your heating bi. Aso, by switching off anything you re not using: ights, computers, TVs and so on and you soon see a difference in your bis. For more handy tips on saving money and energy, visit www.energysavingtrust.org.uk TV subscriptions Dedicated movie and sports channes can reay add up, so if you ony watch movies now and then, it may be cheaper to rent a DVD instead. Trave smarter Instead of driving to work, you might find it s cheaper to use pubic transport. Visit www.transink.co.uk If you ive near work, consider cycing or waking. It s a heathy option and it costs nothing, so your finances wi be heathier too! Downsize If you have to drive, ook at trading in your car for a mode with cheaper tax, insurance and running costs. Making sma changes ike these in the short term can hep you get back in the driving seat.

7 Compare your insurance By comparing quotes across providers, you may be abe to save substantiay on your insurance costs. Just make sure you have adequate cover for your circumstances before you switch. For exampe, you shoud have sufficient home and contents insurance to safeguard you against everyday accidents and more serious probems ike fire or theft. On the other hand, if your circumstances have changed, a review of your existing poicy may resut in your needing ess cover. You find cost comparisons onine at www.moneysupermarket.com. Aso, check to see if you can pay your insurance premiums in monthy instaments, rather than as a ump sum, as it coud make budgeting easier for you. 6. Tak to us Getting into difficuty with debt? Then get in touch. If you are strugging with your finances, pick up the phone or ca into your oca Uster Bank branch straight away. Our staff wi be happy to hep you take the first steps to managing your debt and it coud ead to a new repayment schedue being organised. The number of your oca branch can be found on www.usterbank.co.uk or in the phonebook. For Uster Bank mortgage arrears reated queries, pease ca us on 0345 301 6910. If you have a query in reation to Uster Bank persona debt, overdrafts or oans, pease ca 0345 602 3112. Our website www.usterbank.co.uk/managingdebt provides exampes of how we can hep. But that s not a we can do. Overeaf is a ist of other ways Uster Bank can hep you contro your debt.

8 How can we hep you? 7. How can we hep you? If you are having difficuty managing your debt or paying your mortgage, we are here to hep. Uster Bank has introduced a financia assessment, that is designed to evauate your financia situation and give you a heping hand when you need it most. Here is how it works. Speciay trained Uster Bank staff carry out a financia review. They wi take account of your current financia situation whie heping you to figure out a suitabe soution to managing your debt especiay if you are strugging to meet your mortgage repayments. This step-by-step process assesses your current financia situation by considering: a) your persona circumstances b) the eve of your debt c) the financia information you provide d) your current abiity to make repayments e) your previous payment history You may be asked to provide further documentation to support the information provided in the financia review. Our staff wi take you through the repayment options avaiabe and hep you to work out the best way to manage your debt and meet your mortgage repayments. Options incude: Extending your oan term* If you are strugging to meet your mortgage payments, it may be possibe to extend the term of your oan. This means you wi pay ess each month but you wi pay more interest over the course of the oan. Interest ony payment on a temporary basis* A temporary move to interest ony payments wi aow you to pay ony the interest and not the capita eement of your mortgage for a period of time. However, at the end of the temporary payment period, you wi sti owe the outstanding capita baance. Reduced payments on a temporary basis* It may be possibe to pay a reduced repayment amount on your mortgage for a specified period of time in order to ease the burden during your financia difficuties. However, your norma monthy repayment at the end of this arrangement wi be greater than it is now. Postponement of monthy repayments for a defined period of time* If you have a temporary shortfa in income, postponing a or part of your monthy mortgage repayment for a defined period of time may aso be an option. However, your norma monthy repayment at the end of this arrangement wi be greater than it is now. Changing the type of your mortgage* Moving to a different type of mortgage may be an option if it reduces your monthy mortgage repayments and associated assurance payments. However, your norma monthy payment at the end of this arrangement wi be greater than it is now. Uster Bank wi not require you to change from an existing tracker mortgage to another type of mortgage uness you wish to do so. For exampe if you are having difficuty paying your tracker mortgage and the best aternative repayment arrangement for you is a fixed interest period, you wi be abe to revert to the origina mortgage tracker rate at the end of the fixed interest period. WARNING: THIS NEW LOAN MAY TAKE LONGER TO PAY OFF THAN YOUR PREVIOUS LOANS. THIS MEANS YOU MAY PAY MORE THAN IF YOU PAID OVER A SHORTER TERM * A options outined in this section are subject to specific terms and conditions. Every customer s circumstances are different so our Uster Bank staff wi review your situation and then discuss soutions potentiay avaiabe to you.

9 Capitaising your arrears* If you are experiencing a short-term cash fow probem, it may be possibe to add the arrears baance to the capita vaue of your mortgage. The arrears baance is then paid over the remaining mortgage term. Shoud you wish to take independent ega and/or financia advice on the aternative repayment proposa, you find a ist of usefu contacts on page 14. On the next page you find an exampe of how our financia assessment coud assist a famiy to manage their debt and meet their mortgage repayments. WARNING: THIS NEW LOAN MAY TAKE LONGER TO PAY OFF THAN YOUR PREVIOUS LOANS. THIS MEANS YOU MAY PAY MORE THAN IF YOU PAID OVER A SHORTER TERM YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE. * A options outined in this section are subject to specific terms and conditions. Every customer s circumstances are different so our Uster Bank staff wi review your situation and then discuss soutions potentiay avaiabe to you. How can we hep? Our trained advisors wi expain any proposed aternative repayment arrangement and provide you with written detais. This arrangement wi then be reviewed by Uster Bank within six months. As part of this review, we wi contact you to discuss whether there has been any change in your individua circumstances. That way we can determine whether the aternative arrangement is sti appropriate for you. Their monthy budget is as foows: Income: Saary 2,700 Chid Benefit 332 Tota Income: 3,032 Expenditure: Mortgage 1,500 Car oan 250 Car tax, insurance and running costs 300 Home phone 70 Eectric and Fue 150 Food and Cothes 600 Mobie phones 50 Home and Life Insurance 150 Heath Insurance 200 Credit Card 100 Tota Outgoings: 3,370 This resuts in a monthy shortfa of 338

10 Foowing a financia assessment in their oca branch, Uster Bank agreed to temporariy reduce the monthy mortgage payment to 1,107.50 for six months. This resuted in a monthy excess of 54.50 for the customer. It s important to remember that the reduced repayment is ess than the amount required to cover the monthy mortgage payment. Therefore, the mortgage baance and the interest due wi continue to increase unti such time as this shortfa is fuy repaid. Cost of Credit The foowing exampe, estimates the impact an arrangement may have on the tota cost of credit on your mortgage. This iustration is based on a mortgage of 275,000 over a 30 year term. The overa cost for comparison is 4.00% APR. The tota cost of credit** for this mortgage is 197,641.14. This exampe shows a mortgage that was drawn down two years prior to an arrangement being put in pace. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE. Arrangement Term Monthy payment prior to the dea *Monthy repayment during the period of the dea Monthy payment when the dea ends As a resut of this temporary arrangement, the tota cost of credit may increase by Interest ony 12 months 1.312.89 883.72 1,341.70 3,696.61 Payment reduced by 340 6 months 1,312.89 972.89 1,323.18 1,344.65 Moratorium 6 months 1,312.89 0.00 1,352.62 5,192.25 Term extention 5 years 1,312.89 1,206.81 1,206.81 36,872.90 * Fexibe payment options may appear cheaper in the short term but coud be more expensive over the ife of the mortgage and are subject to approva. ** The tota cost of credit is the tota amount repayabe ess the amount of the origina mortgage vaue. For iustration purposes it is cacuated using a variabe interest rate and is therefore subject to change. Rates and repayments are correct as of the 16th March 2011.

11 8. What wi we do for you? Shoud your account go into arrears, we wi contact you to estabish why you have missed your repayment. Depending on your circumstances, one of our trained advisors wi meet with you to carry out a financia review. The advisor wi take account of your current financia situation whie working with you to provide a suitabe soution to manage your debt. If you are appying for state support to hep with your mortgage, we wi endeavour to provide you with the required information within 10 working days of receipt of your request. The physica return of keys has no ega significance the amount you owe on the mortgage wi sti be outstanding. Even if you hand back the house keys, the bank may sti have to gain a possession order and the process wi be simiar to that outined for repossession. Returning your keys does not make this process any faster. As with a repossessed properties, if the bank ses the property and the sae amount is ess than the mortgage amount owed, you wi sti be iabe for the remaining debt. As outined in Section 10 your credit rating wi sti be affected even if you have given your house keys to the bank. Once we have received your written consent, if you require, we can iaise with a third party nominated by you. Simiary, if we appoint a third party to dea with your case we wi advise you in writing. What if you are not happy with the mortgage resoution proposed? Vountary Sae Vountary Sae is where you decide to se your home to pay off your debt. You shoud be aware that if your sae price is for ess than the amount outstanding on your mortgage, you wi sti be iabe for the remaining debt. If you are having difficuty paying your mortgage or find yoursef in arrears, Uster Bank wi do a it can to find a soution to hep you. If you are unhappy with the proposed payment arrangement, or if we fee we are unabe to provide you with an aternative soution due to your circumstances, there are a number of other options you have a right to consider. Vountary Surrender Vountary Surrender is where you hand over the keys of your property to your mortgage provider. It is important to remember that, even if you do hand over the keys, it doesn t mean you are no onger obiged to repay the debt owed to the bank. There are a number of impications:

12 Other hep avaiabe Consequences of arrears 9. What other hep is avaiabe? Do check to ensure you are caiming any entitements you might be eigibe for with your mortgage, such support for mortgage interest (SMI) or mortgage interest run on. Support for Mortgage Interest If you are a homeowner and receive certain income-reated benefits, you may quaify for hep towards your mortgage payments. To quaify, you must be in receipt of the foowing: income support income-based jobseeker s aowance income-reated empoyment and support aowance pension credit Mortgage Interest Run On If you are returning to work fu time, working more hours or earning more money and your benefits are stopping, you may quaify for a further 4 weeks support towards your housing costs. To quaify you must meet the foowing criteria: you have been caiming benefits for a continuous 26 week period you expect the work to ast for a minimum of 5 weeks you have been entited to hep with your housing costs before your work started Visit www.nidirect.gov.uk for further information on both of these. 10. What happens if you don t pay? Here are some of the possibe consequences of not repaying your debts. Your Credit Rating Your credit rating is affected when payments due are missed and this record remains on the Credit Reference Agency for six years. If you end up with a bad credit rating, it may affect your future chances of getting a oan or even a contract mobie phone. Lega Fees If the bank begins ega proceedings you may be iabe for ega costs, the amount of which wi depend on the circumstances. You may aso be iabe for any ega costs where you retain your own ega advisors. Pubic Record If a judgement is issued, your arrears are then a matter of pubic record and may be pubished in regiona press. Bankruptcy If you re unabe to pay your debts, you can decare yoursef bankrupt. This is where your assets are transferred to the Officia Receiver or a trustee and sod. The resuts of this sae are then spit between your creditors. It s worth remembering that bankruptcy is a court order. If you re made bankrupt in Northern Ireand it can be discharged by the Officia Receiver within 12 months. There are other disadvantages of bankruptcy to consider: You can t be a director of a company without permission of the court. Refusa of credit faciities. You won t be aowed to inherit. Any inheritance must be used to pay your creditors. A court coud order part of your saary or pension to be deducted to pay your creditors.

13 A record of your bankruptcy woud be hed and can be obtained by contacting the Officia Receiver at Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and woud be avaiabe upon request. Your bankruptcy woud be a matter of pubic record, with new bankruptcy notices being pubished weeky in the press. You won t be abe to hod certain positions as an eected representative. Repossession If your house is repossessed, you sti be iabe for the fu amount of the debt, incuding any shortfa if the sae of the house doesn t cear the mortgage. If your mortgage is for an investment property, you coud face a charge on your famiy home meaning it coud ony be sod with the ender s permission. Otherwise, a judgement might be made which eaves you responsibe for the debt. Fees We do not appy fees and charges in reation to mortgage arrears. However, where fees are appicabe, such as ega fees, we wi advise you in writing. Individua Vountary Arrangements (IVA) As an aternative to bankruptcy you may wish to consider Individua Vountary Arrangements (IVAs). This is a egay binding agreement to cear a percentage of your debts over a set period of time, usuay five years. After this period, any remaining debt is written off. It can be done through either monthy instaments, ump sum payments or a combination of both. IVAs can ony be undertaken by a quaified Insovency Practitioner. This wi mean that you wi appear on the Individua Vountary Arrangements (IVAs) Register, which is maintained by the Northern Ireand Court Service and avaiabe for pubic access. 11. What woud repossession actuay mean? Repossession is where you ose your property when you can t pay your mortgage. For Uster Bank, this is a ast resort as we wi aways try to work with you to find an aternative repayment soution. However, repossession can happen if you don t engage with us, if we are unabe to agree an aternative payment proposa, or if you don t compy with the terms of an aternative payment proposa. With repossession, your home is usuay sod via an estate agent and the saes proceeds are used to pay your debt. Repossessions take severa months to compete and wi end with you osing your home. What is the repossession process? Whether your mortgage is with us or another ending institution, the procedure is generay as foows: 1. Court choice Cases for the repossession of houses wi be taken in the High Court. 2. Letter before action Before any action is taken, you receive a etter of demand from your bank advising you of your outstanding debt and that ega action wi be taken if it is not paid within a certain time. 3. Issue of Proceedings Once judgement is obtained in the form of a possession order a notice of intent must be issued. If the master is satisfied that you have been in reguar contact throughout the process then this wi be sent to you by post from the Enforcement of Judgements Office, otherwise you wi be served personay. However, if for some reason they are unabe to serve personay, an order for substituted service wi be served.

14 4. Enter appearance If proceedings are served upon you, you wi need to appear in court at the time and day schedued in the Issue of Proceedings. If you don t, the hearing wi go ahead regardess. 5. Enter a defence Once you enter an appearance you then fie a defence. You may wish to get your own ega representation at this stage (if not before). 6. Court date/hearing If you are unsuccessfu at the hearing in your defence of the action, an order for possession may be granted. Aternativey, the judge may enforce a payment agreement between you and your ender. Usefu Contacts 12. Usefu Contacts It can be hard to know where to turn when you re in financia difficuty but we want you to be aware of a the options. So here s a ist of agencies that can offer you hep and guidance in reation to controing your debt. Remember to make the most of the assistance avaiabe as eary as possibe. Uster Bank Branches As mentioned earier, the first step in managing debt is to tak to us. If you find yoursef faing behind in payments to an Uster Bank oan, contact your oca Uster Bank branch as soon as possibe. You can find your oca contact numbers in the phone book or by visiting www.usterbank.co.uk Coections and Recoveries If you are having difficuty meeting your repayments or are aready in arrears, you can get in touch to discuss your situation. By taking to our quaified team, we can work out a soution together that wi hep you to resove your debt as we as ook at ways to manage your money. Phone: 0345 301 6910 for mortgage assistance or 0345 602 3112 for persona oan / overdraft assistance; or visit our website www.usterbank.co.uk/managingdebt Citizens Advice Bureau Heps peope resove their ega, money and other probems by providing free information and advice, and by infuencing poicy makers. www.citizensadvice.org.uk and www.adviceguide.org.uk

15 Money Advice Service Provide cear money advice, information and interactive money panners to hep you. Teephone: 0300 500 5000 (Mon to Fri 8am to 8pm & Sat 9am to 1pm) www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk Debt Action NI Offer a free, confidentia, independent and non-judgementa debt advice service. www.debtaction-ni.net Court Service The Northern Ireand Courts Service can give you detaied information on the courts system and can answer any questions you have. www.courtsni.gov.uk Northern Ireand Lega Services Commission This organisation aims to provide fair and equa access to justice in Northern Ireand in its provision of pubicy funded ega services. www.nisc.org.uk Christians against poverty Is a nationa debt counseing charity offering a unique in-dept service. www.capuk.org The Law Society (Officia Soicitor Organisation) If you ve read through this guide and you think you need to find a soicitor, you find a ink to a directory of soicitors on the Law Society s homepage at www.awsociety.org.uk Socia Security Agency Assesses and pays socia security benefits and gives advice and information about these benefits. www.dsdni.gov.uk Paypan Provide free debt advice and free debt soutions for anyone experiencing financia difficuties, whatever your circumstance or situation. Teephone: 0800 280 2816 (Mon Fri 9am to 8pm) www.paypan.com Credit Action Offers a range of resources, toos and training to hep peope manage their money we. www.creditaction.org.uk StepChange Debt Charity Offers free confidentia advice and support to peope worried about debt. Teephone: 0800 138 111 (Mon to Fri 8am to 8pm & Sat 9am to 3pm) www.stepchange.org

16 Get in touch 13. Get in contro of your debt. Get in touch today We hope you have found this guide hepfu. Remember, you shoudn t have to face debt aone. Together we try and find a way of making things more manageabe. So if debt is becoming a probem, why wait? To tak to one of our staff members about your finances, don t hesitate to pick up the phone or ca into your oca Uster Bank branch today and get the right peope behind you. If its your Uster Bank mortgage that you are concerned about paying or if you are aready in arrears, contact us on 0345 301 6910 and one of our trained advisors wi arrange to meet you to see if we can hep resove your debt. For hep with your oan debt contact us on 0345 602 3112. Aternativey visit our website www.usterbank.co.uk/managingdebt Checkist for your appointment with us Pease have the foowing information with you: 1. Teephone Number(s): Mobie/Home/Work: 2. Mortgage Account Number(s) 3. Other Uster Bank oan account numbers 4. Last 3 months current account statements 5. Last 2 paysips, if your saary is not paid to your current account 6. Letter from your accountant confirming your income if you are sef empoyed and your saary is not paid to your current account 14. Meet with one of our staff members When you make an appointment to speak with one of our staff members. Pease read the checkist overeaf and gather a the reevant information in advance of your meeting. This wi ensure you provide a fu picture of your situation to our staff member and hep us to identify some soutions that are potentiay avaiabe to you. Based on your financia situation we may need to review some of the foowing items, so it is a good idea to bring them with you: Credit Card statements Persona oan statements If you have recenty had a reduction in income Letter of Confirmation from your empoyer If you have recenty become unempoyed P45 and confirmation of any severance payments from your former empoyer

17 During the meeting we wi aso hep you to compete a Budget Panner to get an overa idea of your finances. It woud therefore be usefu if you coud bring detais of your reguar expenditure, exampes beow. Eectricity/Fue Food/Cothing Home Insurance/Life Assurance/Heath Insurance Car tax and insurance Other oan payments Teephone/Broadband Cub subscriptions Chidcare Other occasiona costs Credit Card Detais Provider/Limit/Usage/Monthy payments

To find out more: Ca into your oca branch mortgage debt 0345 301 6910 oan debt 0345 602 3112 www.usterbank.co.uk/managingdebt Uster Bank Limited. Registered in Northern Ireand. Registration Number R733. Registered office: 11-16 Donega Square East, Befast BT1 5UB. Authorised by the Prudentia Reguation Authority and reguated by the Financia Conduct Authority and the Prudentia Reguation Authority, and entered on the Financia Services Register (Registration Number 122315). Cas may be recorded. ULST735 NI December 2014