Money worries

Send us a message on your hub or call us on 0345 300 8000* as soon as you can if you’re worried about paying your mortgage. The sooner you get in touch, the easier it is for us to help.

What happens when I call?

We need to get a clear idea of your finances. We’ll talk about your money situation, how much you can afford and what organisations you can go to for support.

You can use our Income and Expenditure form to work out how much income you have coming into your household, and how much you pay out.

We might ask you to send the form to us after the call. We’ll use it to see what your options are. Depending on your circumstances, we could:

• Lower your monthly payments for a short time
• Reduce your interest rate
• Switch your payments to interest only for a while
• Extend the length of your mortgage to lower your monthly payment
• Add any missed payments to your mortgage balance.

Whichever we agree on, we’ll work with you to make sure your plan still meets your needs.

What else should I do?

• Tell anyone paying the mortgage for you about your situation
• Check if you have insurance that could help pay your mortgage
• Contact the Department for Work and Pensions to see if you can get any benefits or tax credits
• Visit our mental health page if you’re feeling down, stressed or overwhelmed, and need extra support.

Where can I get help with my finances?

If you want help to manage your mortgage, you can:

• Ask someone you trust to talk to us for you. You’ll need to apply for third party mandate
• Choose someone to help you make decisions, either together or on your behalf. To do this, you’ll need to set up a power of attorney

The following organisations can help with any financial worries you may have. They offer free and independent advice:

Debt help:

• StepChange Debt Charity, PayPlan and National Debtline help you to manage your debts and offer help and solutions
• MoneyHelper have easy to access money tools, information and advice.

Help with housing:

• Shelter offer help and support if you’re at risk of losing your home, living in poor conditions or are homeless.

Mental health support:

• Mind help people to understand and manage their mental health
• Mental Health UK support people facing mental health challenges. This includes those linked to money worries, alcohol use, loneliness, and isolation
• Samaritans has a 24/7 helpline for anyone feeling overwhelmed or is in or may end up in a crisis.

General advice:

• Citizens Advice Bureau offer advice on a wide range of issues, including benefits, housing, debt, work problems, and legal matters. They can help you understand your rights and what steps to take
• GOV.UK has up-to-date information on benefits, help with housing, financial support, and how to manage debt.

* Visit our accessibility support page to call using a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. To call using text Relay, dial 18001 then the number you want to call using a textphone or the Relay UK app. All calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. Lines are open 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday. We’re closed on Bank Holidays. 03 calls cost no more than calls to geographic numbers (01 or 02). Calls from landlines and mobiles are included in free call packages.

Changes to the Bank of England Base Rate

On 7^th August, the Bank of England decreased the Bank Base Rate (BBR) by 0.25%, so it’s now 4.00%. Your interest rate will go down by 0.25% if your mortgage is linked to this rate. This means the amount of interest you pay will also go down. This change starts from the 1^st September 2025. You’ll get a letter soon with your new payment amount.

We’re also decreasing our Standard Variable Rate (SVR) by 0.25%, so it’s now 7.19%. Your monthly interest will go down by 0.25% if your mortgage is linked to our SVR.

This change starts from 1^st September. We’ll send you a letter in August with your new payment amount.

These changes won’t affect your mortgage if it’s on a fixed rate.

You can log in to your hub to find details about your mortgage. This includes the type of mortgage you have, your interest rate, when your fixed period ends (if applicable) and your latest Annual Mortgage Statement.

• What happens if these rates change?
  The BBR and SVR are variable rates, which means they can go up or down at any time. Whether this means your mortgage payments will change depends on the type of mortgage you have:
   

  • Tracker mortgage: your rate follows the BBR. If it goes up or down, your payments will too.
  • Mortgage on our SVR: your rate follows our SVR. If it goes up or down, your payments will too. We may change it when the BBR changes. However, these rates aren’t directly linked. Like other lenders, we can change our SVR at any time.
  • Fixed rate mortgage: your rate stays the same until the end of your fixed period. After that, your mortgage will go on to a variable rate. This could change from month to month. If it goes up or down, so does your monthly payment. You can apply for a new fixed rate deal up to four months before your current one ends if you don’t want to go on to a variable rate.

  Click the button below to see our current rates. Our rates online are the same as over the phone. These can change or be removed at any time.
  
  View our rates
  

• Will I be told if my mortgage payments change?
  Yes – we’ll send you a letter before your mortgage payments change.
  
• Do I need to do anything when my payment changes?
  • Direct Debit: You don’t need to do anything. We’ll update the amount automatically.
  • Standing Order: Contact your bank to change the payment amount. Use your mortgage account number as the reference.
  • Debit/Credit Card: Once you know how much your new payment is and the date it starts, update the amount you pay each month. Use your mortgage account number as the reference.

  We recommend setting up a Direct Debit, as it’s the easiest way to pay your mortgage. Visit our payments page to set one up.
  

• What if I can’t afford an increase in my payments?
  We’re here to help. Visit our:
   

  • Mortgage Charter page if you have a residential mortgage and your payments are up to date
  • Help with my mortgage payments if you have a residential mortgage that’s in arrears or a Buy to Let mortgage
  • Help and support hub for more advice.
• I’ve had help under the Mortgage Charter. Will these rate changes affect my payments?
  Your payments may still go up or down if you’re on a variable rate and you’ve had:
   

  • A temporary switch to interest-only payments
  • An extension to your mortgage term

  Your payments won’t change if you have a fixed rate mortgage.
  

Once we have your completed form, we’ll be in touch to discuss how we can help you. We’ll use the details on the form to make sure you can afford your payments.

We may be able to use a form you’ve completed for another lender if your details haven’t changed. Please write your Bank of Ireland mortgage account number on the other lender’s form if you send this to us.

If you complete your form online, we can review your completed form sooner:

Complete online
You can also print it yourself or ask us to post you a copy:

Print at home

Request a posted form

• Will I need to pay extra fees if I miss a monthly payment?
  There may be some charges if you fall behind on your mortgage payments. We’ll always let you know what these are. You can check our Tariff of Mortgage Charges for more details.

  Call us on 0800 169 9722* if you’ve already missed a mortgage payment, or you’re worried you may miss one in the future. The sooner you talk to us, the more we can do to help you avoid paying extra fees.

• What will happen if we can’t come to an agreement about my mortgage payments?
  We might ask a Field Agent, who acts on our behalf, to visit you if we can’t find a solution together. Their role is to help restart the conversation about your mortgage arrears. They’ll talk you through your options. There is a cost for this visit, which will be added to your mortgage. In some cases, we may have to start the process of taking back your property – this is called repossession.
  
• What should I do if you start legal action?
  The mortgage is secured on your property. This means if payments aren’t made, you could lose your property. Starting legal action doesn’t mean we’ll take your property right away. We’ll always try to work things out with you first.

  We recommend you attend the court and get independent debt advice if we do start legal action.

• What happens if my property is repossessed?
  We’ll help you contact your local council for housing support if we do have to repossess your home.

  We’ll sell the property as soon as we can to get the best price. You’ll have time to collect your belongings. The money from the sale will be used to pay off your mortgage and any other loans secured on the property. Any money left over will be returned to you.

• What if the sale doesn’t cover everything I owe?
  You’ll need to pay the difference if the sale doesn’t raise enough to pay off your mortgage. We’ll let you know how much that is. Everyone named on the mortgage is responsible for the full amount, even if you usually only pay part of it.

  We’ll ask about your income and how much you pay out so we can set up a payment plan. You might also need to pay court costs. It could affect your credit score in the future if you don’t stick to the plan.

• How can I complain if I feel I have been treated unfairly?
  Please get in touch with us. We want to make things right and your feedback helps us improve our service.
  

* Visit our accessibility support page to call using a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. To call using text Relay, dial 18001 then the number you want to call using a textphone or the Relay UK app. All calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. Lines are open 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday. We’re closed on Bank Holidays. 03 calls cost no more than calls to geographic numbers (01 or 02). Calls from landlines and mobiles are included in free call packages.