The sharp rise in redundancies will put further pressure on lenders in terms of forbearance - Comment on the ONS unemployment figures from Phoebus Software

11 November 2020

Richard Pike, Phoebus Software sales and marketing director, says “The UK appears to be on an employment knife-edge. The sharp rise in redundancies, coupled with rising unemployment and benefit claimants, will put further pressure on lenders in terms of forbearance measures required to manage borrowers through these turbulent times. We await to see the full effect the Governments’ U-turn on the furlough scheme will have, but with the extension until March, it is clear that the Government doesn’t see any significant COVID improvement before Q2 next year.

“On this basis, it is more important than ever that lenders keep full records of why borrowers have been offered certain forbearance options against all of those that are available, as if this is queried in the future this could lead to a large increase in complaints.”