Payment deferrals surge past 1.7m on credit cards and loans

The banking and finance trade body revealed its members have provided 1.05 million payment deferrals during the past three months alone.

The data also showed that over 27 million customer accounts have been offered three months of interest-free borrowing on the first £500 of their arranged overdrafts, should they need it.

Customers who have been granted payment deferrals are being encouraged to return to making regular repayments if they are able to do so, but may be offered more support depending through further full or partial deferrals on their circumstances.

These measures are part of a wider support package, which includes the provision of £46bn of lending to over 1.1 million business through Covid-19 lending schemes. There are also now more than 12 million people accessing job retention schemes.

Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance, said: “Many borrowers facing financial pressures are taking up the measures being offered by lenders to help them get through this crisis. The banking and finance industry has a clear plan to help the country through these tough times and is committed to providing ongoing support to those customers who need it.”

Along with UK Finance figures, the Finance & Leasing Association has also put out stats in recent months, showing that forbearance requests to lenders had reached 1.2 million.

Mortgage payment holidays will be a key topic at the Lending Summit in October.