There are two different things you might be asking your lender for.
One is a change any lender can agree while you are still up to date. The other is a formal arrangement for someone already in financial difficulty, and the two are governed by different rules.
See the four routes compared on your own numbers.Charter option versus MCOB 13 arrangement
The two routes are judged against the same three questions: whether the lender checks your finances again, what shows on your credit file, and whether the arrangement can be undone.
| Route | Affordability check | Credit-file treatment | Can it be reversed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortgage Charter optionOffered at signatory lenders, on a one-off basis, to borrowers who are up to date on payments. | None. Charter options skip a fresh affordability check (GOV.UK, read 3 October 2026). | Credit score stays as it was (GOV.UK, read 3 October 2026). | Yes, there is a revert option within the Charter's time limit. |
| MCOB 13 hardship arrangementAvailable to any borrower in financial difficulty under MCOB 13 (the FCA's Mortgage Conduct of Business sourcebook), including those who have already missed a payment. | The lender assesses your finances before agreeing terms. | Usually recorded as an arrangement marker, shown on your credit report for three years after it ends (Experian, read 3 October 2026). | Depends on the terms the lender agrees with you. |
This sets out the general position under the Mortgage Charter and MCOB 13. Your own lender will state how a change to your mortgage is reported on your credit file (MCOB 13.3.4AR).
When the lender's duty to help begins
A lender's duty to help you does not wait for a missed payment. It starts the moment you tell the lender you are at risk of falling behind. This comes from a rule called MCOB 13.3.1R, part of the Mortgage Conduct of Business sourcebook, the Financial Conduct Authority's rulebook for how mortgage lenders must treat borrowers (read 3 October 2026).
A call made before your next payment is due brings the same obligations into play as a call made after a payment has already gone unpaid. From that point, the lender has to start looking at your circumstances and working out what help it can offer.
Waiting until you have actually missed a payment gains you nothing here. The duty is already running from the moment you say you are at risk.
What to ask when you call your lender
The words you use when you contact your lender decide which conversation you are having. Asking to extend your term or move to interest-only payments, without saying more, is usually treated as a routine request. Telling your lender you are struggling to meet your payment, or that you expect to miss one, brings a different set of obligations into play under MCOB 13, the FCA's Mortgage Conduct of Business sourcebook. To see how each route works and what it costs on your own figures, read the four routes compared.
The question to ask about your credit file
Before agreeing to any change, ask your lender directly how it will be reported to the credit reference agencies. A lender has to tell a borrower how a change to their mortgage will be recorded (MCOB 13.3.4AR). The answer is not the same for every request, because what shows on your file depends on which route the lender has placed it under.
- Whether the change will be recorded as an arrangement, and what that shows to anyone who checks your file later
- Whether a new affordability assessment will be carried out before the change is agreed
- Whether the change can be reversed, and within what period
Ask for the answer in writing. A verbal answer given over the phone is harder to refer back to if what later appears on your credit file does not match what you were told.