It is a fact that in the UK during the last six months over half a million people missed their mortgage payment as a result of their existing debts squeezing their affordability.

One of the reasons for missing a mortgage payment is due to an increase in unsecured debts levels on loans, credit cards and overdrafts and having to manage the repayments on all of them. In addition to your unsecured borrowing you have your normal living expenses to contend with such as your weekly shopping, utility bills and council tax.   So if you have missed a mortgage payment there may be an underlying debt problem.

Fortunately missing a mortgage payment will not lead to any additional fines or charges as you would on a credit card debt but missing mortgage payments does indicate potential signs of financial problems.

Your rent or mortgage payment is a priority debt so should always be paid ahead of your unsecured debts such as credit card and loans to ensure no action is taken by your landlord/ lender to evict you.  Continuous rises in the base interest rate has left many homeowners to struggle with their mortgage payments along with other debts so it was a relief for many homeowners when the first rate cut was made back in December 2007 due to the increasing debt problems suffered by many in the UK.
 
The base rate cut may be a little too late for many people with struggling amounts of debt as their Christmas spending in addition to existing debts on loans, credit cards and overdrafts from the previous year begin to hit home.

If you are looking to consolidate your debts through a low interest loan you may have problems in either getting a consolidation loan or one with a low interest rate if you have missed payments on your debts this will be reflected on your credit file and many lenders will then see you as a potential risk in lending money to.
 
A debt management plan may be the best solution to manage your debts and avoid missing mortgage payments.  A debt management plan will allow you to consolidate your credit cards, loans, mail order catalogues and overdrafts into a single more manageable payment; with the interest and charges either stopped or reduced.  You then have less worry to make payments on multiple debts and instead will just have to make your rent or mortgage payment and a single affordable payment into your debt management plan.