Question:
Can I ask my bank for a moratorium on paying for, say, three months? Under what circumstances will they consider it?

Answer:
They will not usually consider a moratorium for three months or even one month for that matter.

However, they are granting them by default as many people are struggling to keep up with their payments and are therefore skipping them anyway.

Recently, one of the major banks announced that they are cutting clients some slack and won’t repossess as quickly as they used to. Still, it does not mean that you can simply stop paying.

Banks are encouraging people who are under pressure to let them know and to discuss a rescheduling of their payments. This can entail extending the period of the loan (usually at a higher interest rate) or to allow the client to pay the interest only until they are back on solid ground.

If you do not pay your bank for three months they will begin to take action by handing you over to a debt collection agency. If you can catch up before then you can reverse the process, but it will adversely affect your credit record.

In the meantime try and find ways to prevent the situation if possible.