Financial support

If you are struggling financially we are here to support you

Changes in your life can have a knock-on effect on your finances. This can lead to your finances getting out of balance, and may even become a worry. If you've recognised you need support, this is often the first step. If you've missed a payment, or are worrying about how to manage your debt, help is available.

I may be unable to make a payment

Payment holidays and Loan repayment deferrals

Managing your money

Getting in touch

Further help and support

I'm worried I can't make a payment, what should I do?

If you're worried you can't make your contractual monthly repayment, or have already fallen behind on payments, we're here to help.

It's important you get in touch with us right away if you're unable to make your monthly payment. Your account will stay up to date if you pay at least your contractual minimum payment, though it will take you longer to clear your balance and may cost you more in interest.

What is my contractual monthly payment?

Your contractual monthly payment is often referred to as your minimum payment and is the smallest amount of your total balance that you need to repay each month to keep your account up to date.

Where your contractual monthly payment can be found:

M&S Personal Loan

Monthly repayments are set out in your agreement.

M&S Credit Card

We'll send you a statement each month showing the minimum payment for that month. If you’ve opted into paperless statements, you can view your statement within Internet Banking or on the M&S Banking App.

M&S Budgetcard, Chargecard or Personal Reserve

If you hold an M&S Budgetcard, Chargecard or Personal Reserve we'll send you a statement each month showing the minimum payment for that month.

Can I adjust my contractual monthly repayments?

Depending on what product you have, we may be able to adjust your contractual monthly payment to make it more affordable.

If you would like to discuss adjusting your contractual monthly payment please call 0345 600 5860. Lines are open 8am-8pm.

I'm unable to make my contractual monthly payment

If you’re unable to make your contractual monthly repayments, it’s important you contact us as soon as you recognise you’re in difficulty, so we can work with you to understand your current financial situation and find an appropriate solution.

When you contact us

When you contact us, we may need to complete an affordability assessment.

We’ll ask you about your monthly income and outgoings such as salary, mortgage payments, rent, utility bills and outstanding balances with other lenders.

When you choose to call us, you need to have this information to hand. You may find it useful to use a budget planner to capture these details.

When you call us, please try to have your account number available.

If you’re struggling with multiple debts, each company will ask you to provide your income and expenditure details. You may want to consider seeking third party support to help you manage your debt.

Ways to contact us

To talk to our specialist team about how we can best help you, call us on 0345 300 1312. Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and 8am-4pm Saturday.

I'm already receiving financial support from M&S Bank, but my circumstances have changed

If your circumstances have changed and you have an existing repayment plan with us, it’s important you keep in touch so we can ensure your existing repayment plan is still suitable.

When you contact us

When you contact us, we may need to complete an affordability assessment, if you haven’t already done this.

We’ll ask you about your monthly income and outgoings such as salary, mortgage payments, rent, utility bills and outstanding balances with other lenders.

When you choose to call us, you need to have this information to hand. You may find it useful to use a budget planner to capture these details.

When you call us, please try to have your account number available.

Ways to contact us

To talk to our specialist team about how we can best help you, call us on 0345 300 1312. Lines are open 8am–6pm Monday to Friday and 8am-4pm Saturday.

I have missed one or more of my contractual monthly payments

If you’ve missed a contractual monthly repayment, and you’re starting to fall behind, we’re here to help.

Missing a payment may have a negative impact on your credit file, which can make borrowing in the future more difficult. You may also incur charges, which may make borrowing more expensive.

I have missed one of my contractual monthly payments, but I am able to make the payment.

If you’ve missed one of your monthly payments but you’re able to afford the payment, please make this as soon as possible. This may reduce the charges you incur and the impact to your credit file.

To make a payment on your:

M&S Personal Loan

Visit manage your loan for more details

M&S Credit Card

Visit ways to pay for more details

M&S Budgetcard, Chargecard or Personal Reserve

If you hold an M&S Budgetcard, Chargecard or Personal Reserve you can make your payment using your bank's online or automated telephone service.

You should quote our bank details, sort code 40-12-57 and account number 99001174, with your M&S card number or account number as a reference.

Alternatively, please call 0345 300 1312. Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and 8am-4pm Saturday.

If you’re unable to make your contractual monthly repayments, it's important you contact us as soon as you recognise you’re in difficulty, so we can work with you to understand your current financial situation and find an appropriate solution.

When you contact us

When you contact us, we may need to complete an affordability assessment.

We’ll ask you about your monthly income and outgoings such as salary, mortgage payments, rent, utility bills and outstanding balances with other lenders.

When you choose to call us, you need to have this information to hand. You may find it useful to use a budget planner to capture these details.

When you call us, please try to have your account number available.

Ways to contact us

To talk to our specialist team about how we can best help you, call us on 0345 300 1312. Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and 8am-4pm Saturday.

When and how will we contact you?

If you’ve missed a payment and it looks like you might be struggling with your repayments, we may attempt to contact you.

SMS

If we have your mobile number, we might text you to ask us you to contact us. Our text messages may include links to our website and our contact details.

Phone

If we have your phone number, we might call you to discuss your situation and appropriate solutions based on your circumstances.

Automated call

We might use our automated payment service to contact you and ask you to make a payment. If you’re unable to make a payment, or would prefer to speak to someone to do this, you can follow the instructions provided by the service.

Letter

We’ll write to you to advise you if your account falls into arrears, and confirm the status of your account. If you’ve made a payment, or set up an agreement with us, you may still receive a letter from us.

Some of the letters that we send to you are sent as we're required by law to do so. For example, a notice of sums in arrears is a letter we have to send to you by law if you fall two or more payments behind. The wording used in these letters is prescribed by law, and it helps ensure you’ve been given certain information when you’ve fallen behind. We’re required to continue sending you these notices even if you’ve told us about your current circumstances and we’ve made an arrangement with you about your payments.

Keeping your details up to date, will enable us to contact you quickly.

I'm struggling to manage my overdraft

A reduction in your income and/or an increase in your outgoings can have an effect on your finances.

Arranged overdrafts are there if you need a little extra money to tide you over every now and then.

You shouldn't use an arranged overdraft for long-term borrowing and, when you're overdrawn, you should make regular payments into your account to reduce your lending.

If you regularly end the month in your overdraft, you may find it useful to use a budget planner(link opens in a new window) to see if you can reduce any unnecessary spending. You can also receive budgeting advice from third party support.

If you're struggling to manage your overdraft or find yourself relying on it long term, let us know and we can work with you to understand your current financial situation and find an appropriate solution.

When you contact us

When you contact us, we may need to complete an affordability assessment.

We'll ask you about your monthly income and outgoings such as salary, mortgage payments, rent, utility bills and outstanding balances with other lenders.

When you choose to call us, you need to have this information to hand. You may find it useful to use a budget planner(link opens in a new window) to capture these details.

When you call us, please try to have your account number available.

If you're struggling with multiple debts, each company will ask you to provide your income and expenditure details. You may want to consider seeking third party support to help you manage your debt.

Ways to contact us

To talk to our specialist team about how we can best help you, call us on 0345 300 6134. Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and 8am-4pm Saturday.

Payment holidays and Loan repayment deferrals

Cards

From 1 August 2021 you're no longer able to request a new or extend a payment holiday on your M&S Credit Card, M&S Budgetcard, Chargecard and Personal Reserve.

If you have any questions about a payment holiday you've taken previously, please read the information below.

How did your payment holiday work?

Your payment holiday meant you didn't need to make monthly payments over the payment holiday period.

If you usually pay by Direct Debit, we won't have collected any payments from you over this period. If you usually pay by Standing Order, we asked you to cancel this at the start of the payment holiday.

As your payment holiday has now ended, you'll continue to see your minimum payment and the due date on your monthly statement as normal. You may have noticed this is higher following your payment holiday. This is because your minimum payment is based on the amount you owe, which will take into account any increase due to interest or use of your card during the payment holiday.

If you cancelled your Direct Debit or Standing Order at the start of your payment holiday, you'll need to set up a new one if you haven't already. Until then, you'll need to make payments another way. For help with ways to pay, including how to set up a Direct Debit, please visit ways to pay your credit card. You can also find information about ways to pay on the back of your monthly statement.

Did interest and charges apply during your payment holiday?

Interest continued to apply at the usual rates during your payment holiday, as well as standard charges (for example, if you used your card to withdraw cash). We didn't apply any charges for going over your credit limit during the payment holiday. There were also no charges for paying late, as there were no minimum payments due over this period.

As you didn't have to make any payments during the payment holiday period, you may not have paid off all the interest added to your account. This means there'll be interest charged on that interest, as well as on transactions added to your account.

Your balance may also have increased if you continued to use your card during the payment holiday, so you could be paying interest on a higher amount and you may have noticed your minimum payment is higher following your payment holiday.

If you usually make the minimum or fixed payments, it's worth considering whether you can afford a higher amount. This will reduce the extra time it could take to clear your balance and the interest you'll pay.

Did your payment holiday affect your credit file?

Taking a payment holiday didn't impact your credit file, but providers may consider other information when making future lending decisions.

Why aren't payment holidays available any longer?

This is in line with guidance provided by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, there's still support available which will be tailored to your individual circumstances. The options we have available are likely to impact your credit file.

If you need our help, find out how you can get in touch.

Loans

From 1 August 2021 you're no longer able to request a new or extend an existing loan repayment deferral.

If you have any questions about a loan repayment deferral you've taken previously, please read the information below.

How did your loan repayment deferral work?

Your repayment deferral gave you a break from making your monthly loan repayments over the deferral period.

If you usually pay by Direct Debit, we won't have collected your repayments over the deferral period. If you usually pay by Standing Order, we asked you to cancel this at the start of the deferral.

As your deferral has now ended, you'll need to resume making your usual monthly repayments if you haven't already. We'll have written to remind you of when your repayments were due to restart.

If you pay by Direct Debit, we'll continue collecting your repayments. If you pay by Standing Order, please make sure you've set up a new one.

What are your options for making the deferred repayments?

You can continue making your usual loan repayments until you've repaid your loan. This means it will take you longer to repay the loan overall, but the total amount you repay won't change as there won't be any charges or additional interest.

If you wish, you can arrange to pay any part of your outstanding balance sooner. This will reduce the extra time it takes to repay your loan.

Did your repayment deferral affect your credit file?

Taking a repayment deferral didn’t impact your credit file, but providers may consider other information when making future lending decisions.

Why aren’t repayment deferrals available any longer?

This is in line with guidance provided by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, there’s still support available which will be tailored to your individual circumstances. The options we have available are likely to impact your credit file.

If you need our help, find out how you can get in touch.

Managing your money

What steps can you take to help manage your money?

Set up a budget planner

Using a budget planner is an easy way to manage your finances, work out an achievable budget and identify where savings can be made.

List everything that's coming in and out of your account each month. This is the starting point to being able to balance your budget. Your bank statements should help with this.
Identify essential outgoings such as your mortgage, council tax, utilities, travel expenses, childcare etc. These costs are likely to be a set amount each month.
Identify variable outgoings such as groceries, clothes and everyday expenses such as coffee, lunch and newspapers. These outgoings will change on a month-to-month basis, and they are the ones that you can reduce and can have the biggest impact on balancing your budget.
If you have any money left over at the end of the month, you should consider saving it: even small, regular savings can make a difference over time, creating a pot of money you can break into for unforeseen emergencies or even periods when you know your spending will increase, such as Christmas.

Once you've created a budget planner, these are things you can do to organise and take control of it.

Wherever possible, pay your bills by Direct Debit or standing order 1 or 2 days after you get paid, so that you know you'll have enough in your account and can clearly see what's left over.
If your bank has an online banking service, use it regularly to keep track of your spending.
Regularly review your variable outgoings and save money by cutting back on non-essential items, cancelling that unused gym membership or switching to cheaper options.

Manage your debt

It's a good idea to tackle debt problems quickly before things get worse. Of course, before you tackle debt you'll need to address your spending first; so if you haven't done so, you should set up a budget planner to get your monthly outgoings under control. Then, you should consider the following to help sort out your existing debts.

Make a list of all your debts with expensive interest rates first.
Where possible try to move any debts with expensive interest rates to lower rates, for example transferring any store cards and high-interest credit cards to a credit card or personal loan with a lower interest rate – or even an interest-free period.
Contact your creditors to let them know that you are struggling to make your repayments, they may be able to help you manage them better.
Get free debt advice to help you work out the best way to get yourself out of debt quickly. You could contact your local Citizen's Advice Bureau or organisations such as National Debtline or StepChange Debt charity. They'll be able to advise you of the different types of help you can get – for example, there's a Government scheme to help mortgage holders who are struggling to make their monthly repayments. The scheme will pay the interest on your mortgage up to certain thresholds.

Borrowing wisely

Affordable borrowing can support your goals and aspirations, but you'll usually pay back more than the amount you borrowed, as interest will be charged.

It's a good idea to check your interest charges and rates and compare these across your products. If you find yourself in a position where you're borrowing money to pay your debts, this may work out more expensive.

Maximise your income

Have you checked your tax code recently to make sure you're paying the right amount of tax? Are you entitled to any allowances or payments such as Child Benefit, Family Credit, Carer's Allowance or Universal Credit? A quick phone call or a few minutes online will give you the answers.

Check your cover

For essential cover like car and home insurance it's always worth shopping around for the best deal. If you have separate policies for things like your mobile phone and glasses, or you've taken out extended warranties, you could be duplicating your cover – and paying more than you need to.

Save for a rainy day

It's a good idea to keep some money in an easy access rainy day fund for emergencies or unexpected expenses. A sensible solution is to set up a standing order to transfer your money to a savings account the day after you get paid, that way it won't be sitting around in your current account tempting you to spend it.

Ways to get in touch

If you're concerned about your immediate financial situation, it's best to get in touch as soon as possible. As a responsible lender, we'll work with you to ensure you can keep in control of any money concerns you may have, whether they are short or long term.