Your right to a payment holiday or freeze

Your right to a payment holiday or payment freeze

If you cannot pay, you have more rights than you might think. Lenders are required to treat you fairly, and "payment holidays" or freezes are common negotiation tools.

The Standards of Lending Practice

Banks and lenders that follow the FCA's treating customers fairly rules and the Standards of Lending Practice are expected to:

• Treat you with consideration and a sympathetic response
• Allow you time to seek advice
• Suspend or freeze enforcement while you do
• Consider token payments (often £1 per month) to show willing
• Stop applying additional interest and charges during a freeze

A typical payment freeze

• Initial freeze usually 30 days, renewable
• Token payment of £1 per month is industry standard
• Interest and charges should be paused
• No legal enforcement during the freeze

How to ask

• Write to the creditor asking for a freeze — see our Payment Freeze Request letter template in the Letters section of your dashboard.
• Be specific about what you need: time, frozen interest, token payments.
• Reference the FCA's Treating Customers Fairly guidance.

Mortgages and other products

Mortgage lenders may agree to:

• Payment holidays (usually up to 6 months)
• Switch to interest-only temporarily
• Extend the mortgage term to reduce the monthly cost

Talk to them — they are required to treat struggling customers fairly.

What freezes do not do

A freeze is temporary, not a write-off. After it ends, your full debt is still there. It buys you time to apply for bankruptcy, get an IVA, or arrange a long-term repayment plan.

Where to get tailored advice

If a freeze alone is not enough, talk to a free debt charity or work through our knowledge base on bankruptcy, IVAs, and DMPs.