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Coronavirus: help and support
We’ve updated our information below on how we can help you if you have been impacted by coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Support if you are struggling to make payments
Mortgages, Loans & Credit Cards
If you need help with your payments, we have support options that could help.
Car Finance
For further help and guidance on support available for car finance, you will need to log in to your online car finance account.
Home Insurance
Please contact us on 0345 122 1511 or go to our home insurance page to discuss how we can best help you.
Please visit our money worries page to find out more ways we may be able to help you. Additionally, MoneyHelper Money Navigator Tool also gives instant help based on what you tell it about your circumstances.
Payment Protection Insurance
If you have Payment Protection Insurance you may be able to claim under your policy if you are unable to work due to sickness or unemployment. Visit our Payment Protection Insurance page for details.
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If you are facing, or expect to face, financial difficulties, you can find help and support available on our money worries page. For further support, you can find out more about other free independent advice.
You can call our dedicated team for information and support which may include applying a temporary interest freeze, setting up a repayment plan or refinancing your debt.
Overdraft limit increase
If you need to increase your existing arranged overdraft limit, you don’t need to call us – you can apply online.
- Using our mobile banking app, select ‘Overdraft’ from your bank account menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
- Using Internet Banking, just log in and select ‘More actions’ on the bank account that you have the arranged overdraft set up on. Then select ‘Overdrafts’ and follow the on-screen instructions.
Please find more information about our Internet Banking or help on signing up .
Apply for an arranged overdraft
If you want to apply for an overdraft, you can do this online.
- Using our mobile banking app, select ‘Overdraft’ from your bank account menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
- Using Internet Banking, select ‘Our products and services’, then ‘Overdraft’ and follow the on-screen instructions.
- Using our mobile banking app, select ‘Overdraft’ from your bank account menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
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You may have borrowing across a range of products such as mortgages, arranged overdrafts, loans, store cards and credit cards. A regular review can be really helpful for managing your money as effectively as possible. There are a few options available which may help, subject to eligibility.
- Combining borrowing to reduce monthly payments or the amount you pay overall.
- Changing the term of your mortgage to reduce your monthly payment or pay off faster to reduce the interest you pay overall.
- Switching to a new mortgage deal with a lower interest rate, to reduce the monthly amount you pay.
1. Combining borrowing to reduce monthly payments or the amount you pay overall
If you have multiple borrowing products like store cards, credit cards, personal loans or arranged overdrafts it may help to consolidate them into a single product with a single monthly payment. This will help you budget more easily as you won’t need to worry about multiple payments. It could also reduce the amount you pay monthly and the amount of interest paid overall – but it’s important to understand how much interest you are paying in relation to each.
Sometimes combining all borrowing into one or extending a product term can reduce how much you pay each month, but could result in you paying more interest overall.
Balance Transfer
- If you have multiple credit cards, it may help to keep all your credit balances in one place and transfer high interest balances to a card with a lower rate. There may be a fee to transfer. Our balance transfer page.
Debt Consolidation/Refinance
- Consolidating your debt under one loan may help as unlike a store card, credit card or arranged overdraft, a loan gives you a clear date that your borrowing will be paid off by. More information about debt consolidation.
- If you are a Bank of Scotland or Halifax mortgage customer and have larger borrowing needs to consolidate, you might be able to apply for additional borrowing on your mortgage. Similar to an unsecured loan, you’ll have one monthly payment and a clear date of when your borrowing will be paid off. Information about additional borrowing.
You could lose your home if you don’t keep up your mortgage repayments.
2. Changing the term of your mortgage to reduce your monthly payment or pay off faster to reduce the interest you pay overall
You can ask to change the mortgage term from what we originally agreed with you. This might be because:
- You think you can afford to pay more and would like to pay off your mortgage sooner, reducing the interest you pay over the life of your mortgage.
Note: if you are in a fixed term mortgage there may be early repayment charges, so you need to work out what is most appropriate for you.
or; - You want to reduce your monthly payments by extending your mortgage term. You will need to get our agreement to do this.
Extending your mortgage term can reduce your monthly cost, but remember by repaying your mortgage over a longer period this will however increase the amount of interest you pay overall. Find out more about how you can manage your mortgage.
3. Mortgage product transfers to reduce the monthly amount you pay
You may be able to switch to a cheaper deal by applying for a Mortgage Product Transfer, early repayment charges may apply, visit our switching deals page for more information.
You could lose your home if you don’t keep up your mortgage repayments.
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Making a claim for a cancelled package holiday, flights or accommodation
If you’re struggling to get a refund from the travel provider, and you paid on a Bank of Scotland credit card, we may be able to help. Visit our payment disputes page to see the options available to you before making a claim.
Making a claim for anything else
We want to help you if you’ve had a problem with a transaction on your Credit Card. Maybe there’s something wrong with what you’ve bought or perhaps you’re still being charged for a service you no longer use.
Bank securely online or in branch
Stay connected and stay safe online
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Your money is safe in your account. We’ll never call, text or email to tell you to move money to another account, or ask for your banking details.
Fraudsters are using coronavirus to try out new scams. They're selling items online like face masks, testing kits and hand sanitisers that are fake or don't exist. Before you buy anything online, check reviews to make sure a seller is genuine. And pay by card as it helps to protect your money if there’s a problem.
Look out for other scams by email, phone and text that offer advice, a test or a cure for the virus. The NHS Test and Trace service is now running and it’s free. The vaccine is also completely free. If the NHS get in touch, they won't ask you to pay them or for any of your banking details. The NHS will never ask for copies of personal documents to prove your identity.
You can protect yourself by using the following steps:
- Hang up the phone – Fraudsters can pretend to be your bank or other companies you trust. We’ll never call from the number on the back of your card. If you’re not sure who is calling, hang up.
- Make sure it’s genuine – Even if you know who sent a message, be careful with one that arrives out of the blue. Check that it’s genuine before you reply. Call the sender on a number you trust, not one from an email or text.
- Click with care – Only click on a link in a message if you know it's safe and trust the sender. We’ll never send you a link to log on or ask you to give your personal or banking details.
Here are a few more tips to help you stay safe from scams:
- Protect your devices – Update all your devices as soon as updates are available. Know where your device is at all times and lock it when it’s not in use.
- Protect your passwords – Create a new, strong password for every account you use. It’s best to choose three random words and add numbers or special characters to make it hard to guess. And keep it private.
- Share with care – Take care with what you share on social media. Always keep your personal and banking details private.
Find out more about how to stay safe from scams.
Be ready for changes when you shop online
We are adding extra security checks when you're shopping online, to make sure it's really you.
We can check by sending you a passcode to your mobile, calling your landline or you can use our app. Make sure you’ve given us your latest phone numbers, as if we can’t prove it’s you, your transaction will be declined. See our support page for changes to shopping and banking online to find out more.
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Free digital skills training
We want to help people across the UK access their finance and manage their money, as well as gain essential digital skills for life. Being confident online can help you stay better connected to friends and family, use essential services like online banking or shopping, and saving money.
1-2-1 training and guidance on how to use the internet
The BoS Academy: Boost your digital skills with online training
Other available support
Calls and online sessions may be monitored and recorded. Not all Telephone Banking services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.