Finance & Leasing AssociationThe Coronavirus crisis is often described as unprecedented, but the effects on people of an abrupt change in circumstances, such as loss of income, are all too familiar – uncertainty, anxiety, and the fear of being overwhelmed.
In the first week of lockdown, one survey suggested that over a third of people were very or extremely worried about their finances. As we enter week eight, which also happens to be Mental Health Awareness Week, that ratio will doubtless have risen.
The first step to tackling any problem is to talk – and this is especially true of financial problems. Help is available. Whatever the circumstances, there will be a solution.
FLA lenders have been providing support to customers since mid-March, and will continue to do so, but as we now approach the point where some payment deferrals are coming to an end, this is the time when customers need to keep the dialogue going with lenders, so that those in need of additional help can be prioritised, and those returning to work can be helped to resume payments.
It will take some customers longer than others to get back to normal – that’s to be expected. The impact of Coronavirus is being felt more keenly in some sectors than others, and the lockdown will ease at different points for different markets and indeed different parts of the UK.
All of this needs to be part of the conversation between customers and lenders so that the right solutions can be found for every circumstance.
Let’s keep talking.
Published 20 May 2020
