Will delaying repossession make matters worse for the mortgagor

"RBS’ announcement that it is delaying repossession orders by six months is akin to putting a plaster on a wound and ignoring the source of the infection. As arrears management specialists our experience shows that by the time delays are witnessed in mortgage payments, 98% of customers will have accumulated horrendous debts elsewhere, whether it’s credit cards, HPI or loans.

Delaying lenders chasing debts will exacerbate the issues, as the same rules won’t apply to other credit providers – hence we are faced with the ridiculous scenario of customers being harassed to clear unsecured debts – increasing the probability of an inability to pay the secured debt, ergo, the repossession becoming more likely.

The Government needs to place the same restrictions on all lenders and indeed go further by mandating that unsecured loans cannot be chased whilst the customer has mortgage arrears."

What do you think? Emails to andrew@thepublishinggroup.co.uk please.