To help people during the coronavirus outbreak, banks in the
UK have offered almost 1.5m payment
holidays to consumers struggling to repay their credit cards and personal
loans.
The banking lobby group UK
Finance released some figures which show that 877,800 credit card accounts
had been given a payment freeze by 21st of May. Moreover, repayments
on 608,000 personal loans had been put on pause by that date. This decision has
been prompted by the millions of job losses and wage cuts that workers across
the country are experiencing. The threat of financial hardship for UK
households is increasing at an alarming rate. According to estimates from the
Office for National Statistics, almost one in five people went through a
reduction in income during the first full month of lockdown in April and the
number of people claiming for benefits has soared by nearly 70% to reach 2.1
million.
As such, to make things a little easier, following
guidelines by the Financial Conduct Authority, payment freezes are being
applied, for up to three months, to credit cards and loans. Mortgage
repayment holidays can also be requested till the end of October.
Currently, 1.8m cases have already been approved. Nonetheless, despite these
numbers, a relative comparison shows that only a few people could enjoy these
benefits so far.
Requests for mortgage repayment holidays can also be made
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