It is crucial that you immediately contact your lending institution and make them aware of your financial problem.

Every lender has a plan in place for dealing with mortgage arrears and helping you get back on track with your payments. They will try to help if you are proactive and honest with them.

If you try to avoid them, refuse to take their calls and just hide out from your creditors, you will soon be in over your head and may lose your home.

There are also some free not-for-profit organizations in the UK whose mission is to try to help you keep your home and your good credit. They will help if you contact them.

Your mortgage lender should be your very first email or call when you realize you have a mortgage arrears issue. Not only do they want to keep your mortgage in place and in good standing, they are also obligated through federal legislation to take your critical situation into account and treat you in a fair, informative and helpful manner.

As of October 31, 2004, the UK Financial Service Authority (FSA) is in charge of regulating each UK mortgage. The legislation says that you must be kept informed about your current mortgage arrears status. Strict guidelines have been set on how the lender must behave before and during any home repossession attempt.

If you are honest with them, your lender just might be able to come up with a more suitable payment arrangement, at least temporarily until you are financially back on your feet again.

The plan your lender can and will put in place for your mortgage arrears situation depends on your payment history to this point, and whether your financial problem is short or long term.

The possibilities they can offer include reduced payments for a set time period, letting you make interest only payments for a pre-determined time period, a short holiday from any payments at all, or an extension on the term of your mortgage. The latter would result in reducing your payments for the length of the mortgage.

If you have already fallen into arrears with your mortgage the options for your lender to offer are fewer. You can pay off the overdue balance gradually by making larger than scheduled payments each month.

If this is not possible you might be able to delay the extra payments for awhile or just add them to the end of the loan period. What the lender determines to accept will depend a lot on the history of your payments on the mortgage up until your financial difficulties set in.

Whats crucial in a mortgage arrears is that you continue to pay something on the due date, even if the total varies each and every month. Communication is an important key to resolving a mortgage arrears in your best interests and saving your home and your good credit.